Book Precis: Analyzing Perspectives on Racial Discrimination

This annotated bibliography presents a precis of four key works addressing racial discrimination, focusing on its historical and psychological impacts. The first entry examines 'The Color Complex,' highlighting the prevalence of colorism among African Americans and its roots in historical marital practices. The second entry analyzes an article on African women in Illinois during the late Victorian era, challenging racial stereotypes and emphasizing their intelligence. The third entry discusses 'White Man, Listen!' which explores the psychological trauma experienced by Black individuals due to the behaviors and attitudes of White individuals. Finally, 'The Mis-Education of the Negro' is summarized, focusing on how the conditioning of Black people by White propaganda leads to vulnerability and exploitation, while advocating for educational reform. Each precis identifies the strengths and limitations of the respective work, underlining their significance in understanding and addressing racial inequality.

Running Head: BOOK PRECIS
Book Precis
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1BOOK PRECIS
1. Russell, Kathy, Midge Wilson, and Ronald E. Hall. The color complex: The politics of
skin color among African Americans. Anchor, 1993.
In this book, the authors talked about the prevalence of racial discrimination. The main
argument of the book is that the shortage of women in the American society obligated the native
Indians in the American society to marry women from Africa. However, the children of such
couples were treated as Africans within the American society because of their skin color and
hence, were widely discriminated against.
The strength of the book is that it reveals the evil of racial discrimination in the society,
which also undermines the universal right to equality. The limitation of the book is that it does
not provide a solution to end such discrimination. This is significant in the contemporary times
as it is the obligation of every State to uphold the spirit if equality without discrimination.
2. Carlson, Shirley J. "Black ideals of womanhood in the late Victorian era." The Journal
of Negro History 77, no. 2 (1992): 61-73.
In this article, the author talks about the African women living in Illinois, United States,
during the twentieth century. This article focuses on these women who were, in every respect,
similar to the women of the Western society in their demeanor. However, because of their racial
background, these women were more intelligent than the women of the Western world, which,
during those times, was considered to be a masculine quality.
The strength of this article is that is objectively seeks to break the myth of the racial
superiority of the ‘white’ people and to portray that people are equal in all respects. This article
has an important limitation, as it does not focus on the problem faced by the women in the

2BOOK PRECIS
Eastern world where the women are more prone to submission. This article is historically
significant as it can prove to be a source of inspiration for the women in the modern world.
3. Wright, Richard. White Man, Listen!(1957). Doubleday, 1964.
In this book. the psychological impact of racial discrimination has been analyzed vividly.
The book discusses an important concept called the ‘frog perspective’ whereby, the ‘black’
people view the ‘white’ people from an inferior position. This is the result of years of
imperialistic behavior and submission.
The strength of the book is that it analyzes the psychological trauma faced by the ‘black’
people due to the thought process and behavior of the ‘white’ people. The limitation of this book
is that it puts the entire blame of the trauma on the ‘whites’ and does not inspire the ‘blacks’ to
fight for their own rights. This book is significant as it seeks to reveal the historic oppression
done by the ‘white’ population.
4. Woodson, Carter G. The mis-education of the Negro. Book Tree, 2006.
The book focuses on the conditioning of the ‘black’ population by the racial superior
‘white’. Decades of the ‘white’ propaganda has made the ‘blacks’ believe that they are socially
situated at a lower position than the ‘whites’. Hence, this leads to the ‘blacks’ to become
vulnerable to be exploited by the Western society.
The strength of this book is that it focuses on the in-depth analysis about the personal
lives of the ‘blacks’ in order to find a solution to make them confident in themselves. An
important limitation of the book is that it does not focus on the societal conditions which has a
bigger role in conditioning the people. The significance of the book lies in the need to reorganize
the prevailing educational system.

3BOOK PRECIS
References:
Carlson, Shirley J. "Black ideals of womanhood in the late Victorian era." The Journal of Negro
History 77, no. 2 (1992): 61-73.
Russell, Kathy, Midge Wilson, and Ronald E. Hall. The color complex: The politics of skin color
among African Americans. Anchor, 1993.
Woodson, Carter G. The mis-education of the Negro. Book Tree, 2006.
Wright, Richard. White Man, Listen!(1957). Doubleday, 1964.