John McWhorter Response
'Losing the Race'
I highly suspect that most readers of ''Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in
Black America'' would be surprised to hear that my book ''remains captive in
a closet of his own experiences,'' as David J. Dent claims in his review
(Nov. 26). Dent asserts that I found my conclusions almost exclusively upon
personal anecdotes, when in fact I refer to no fewer than 96 articles, books
and academic studies. My anecdotes serve as illustrations, not as the core
of my arguments. There are dozens of books by black writers supporting the
victimhood-centered ideology I argue against that make no pretense of being
based on anything but anecdote. Such works are feted by the black
intelligentsia as ''vivid memoirs'' and ''reportage from the front lines.''
Is it possible that Dent's discomfort with my anecdotes, and resultant
dismissal of the book, is based more on ideology than engagement? This is
particularly suggested by his charge that I have had ''limited exposure to
African-American culture'': this is a decidedly creative conclusion to draw
from my book, and is essentially a variation on the typical charge that
black people taking controversial positions are ''not black.'' To dismiss
the weight of my data as ''scant'' and misrepresent the book as a personal
narrative, rather than an empirically based study in which recollections
serve as bolstering illustration, only demonstrates the very problems I
spend ''Losing the Race'' addressing.
To the Editor:
John McWhorter
Berkeley, Calif.
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