Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man?
- Book Review,
by Charles Barkley
From Publishers Weekly
Don't let the cheeky title, the byline or the picture on the cover fool you: this is a serious book that's not about Charles Barkley. Instead, this work, edited by the Washington Post and ESPN's Wilbon, is a candid collection of 13 interviews by Barkley with prominent Americans like Bill Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Tiger Woods, Morgan Freeman and comedian George Lopez on the oft-avoided subject of race. Barkley, well known for outspokenness as a player and an on-air commentator, challenges his interviewees to deal with this delicate issue head on. Barkley wisely keeps his opinions brief, letting his dynamic counterparts take center stage. In doing so he gets these stars to open up on how American society fares on such topics as racism, race relations, welfare reform, economic and social discrimination and creating opportunities for minorities. Mixed in with the bigger name celebs and politicians are lesser-known folk, such as Robert Johnson (the NBA's first black owner), the Children's Defense Fund's Miriam Wright Edelman (who laments that there are "580,000 black men in prison compared to about 45,000 who graduate from college each year") and Rabbi Steven Leder. For all the different backgrounds and opinions, all the participants believe the racial divide in America can only be bridged with a combination of reforms to our educational, medical and economic practices and a strong self-evaluation by the African-American community. Everyone also agrees that a core group of strong black leaders must emerge for these changes to be enacted. Surprisingly, this eye-opening book might point to Barkley as just such a leader. (Apr. 5) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly, March 14, 2005
Don't let the cheeky title, the byline or the picture on the cover fool you: this is a serious book...
Book Description
Who's afraid to talk on the record about the way things really are in this country where race is concerned? Not Charles Barkley, and now, thanks to him, not a host of other important people who carry a wealth of wisdom with them, from Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to Samuel L. Jackson, Tiger Woods and Ice Cube.
This is the most personal and important book Charles Barkley has written. He lays himself open here, and because he does, he brings the same straight talk out of everyone with whom he engages in his journey around America to talk about the things that matter most that are the hardest to say - things having to do with race, and money, and identity. Why is it that we can all talk about all sorts of big issues, but when the subject of race is raised, we all freeze up? Who but Charles Barkley can put us into the passenger seat next to him for one of the most fantastic American road trips in recent memory? Who's Afraid of a Large Black Man is so surprising, challenging, and entertaining, so compelling to read, that its importance sneaks up on you and knocks you clean into another state of mind.
Bold, honest, funny, moving, occasionally shocking-everything we feel we can't say but it really is time we did. Only Charles Barkley could make this conversation happen, and for that alone he is a national treasure.
About the Author
Charles Barkley is the author of I May Be Wrong But I Doubt It. He is a studio analyst for TNT's Emmy Award-winning program Inside the NBA, appears several times a year in sports specials on HBO, and is a frequent contributor on CNN. Named one of the fifty greatest NBA players of all time, he was selected to eleven All-Star teams and won the NBA's MVP in 1993.
Michael Wilbon is a Washington Post sports columnist and the co-host, with Tony Kornheiser, of the ESPN show Pardon the Interruption.
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