Racism Explained to My Daughter
If its success in Europe is any indication, this book should be a best seller in America. Attempting to explain racism is challenging enough, and it is even harder when one is explaining it to a child. Prize-winning author Ben Jelloun (Corruption, New Pr., 1995) meets the challenge, as Bill Cosby acknowledges in his introduction. Written in question-and-answer formatAhis daughter's questions, Ben Jelloun's answersAthe book is appropriately brief. The author does not consider his words final, and so the four responses, from William Ayers, Lisa Delpit, David Mura, and Patricia Williams, parents and writers all, are important in continuing the discussion and applying it to the American scene. The book is easy to read and provocative, touching on discrimination, religion, genetics, stereotyping, immigration, xenophobia, and more. Rare should be the library that does not have it.AJohn Moryl, Yeshiva Univ. Lib., New YorkCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.