The Black Friend by Frederick Joseph
Available At: Mountain Ridge
Categories : Cursing, Racism, Violence, Whiteness
Description: The book teaches young adults about the ideologies of white privilege, anti-racism, cultural appropriations, and others.
YA Label?: Unknown
Notes: This book contains controversial social, political, and racial commentary; inflammatory racial commentary;
references to racism; mild/infrequent profanity and derogatory terms; and violence.
Rating: 2
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The above scale indicates whether, in our view, the referenced book violates established and upheld Federal (Miller Test) and State (Colorado Obscenity Test) standards. Books that violate ALL established standards will have a table printed in red. Under Colorado Law, willful distribution of such material is deemed a Class 6 penalty carrying a fine and/or up to 18 months in prison.
Snippets
Page 3: You’ll notice I don’t capitalize the w in white when referring to white people, though I capitalize the B when referring to Black people. This is a personal preference, because white people are simply defined by the color of their skin, while Black people are a cultural and ethnic group.
Page 15: The world needs you to step up, or get out of the way. (Imagine me saying this in my most superheromonologue-like voice.) Particularly if you are a white person. The world needs to be better, and because of the power that white people hold in our society, much of that change needs to start with white people.
Page 17: WE WANT YOU TO SEE RACE
Page 35: As I look back, another reason I hate that white kids called us Oreos is because many white people hate, and I mean HATE, being referred to as foods. If you call a white person “mayonnaise” or “mayo,” many of them will lose it. But there is nothing more intense (or funnier, assuming you’re at a safe distance) than seeing a white person lose their damn mind about being called a “cracker.”
Additional Snippets Here