"Whatever your thoughts on contemporary racism, this illuminating book written with eloquence and scientific reasoning is absolutely fascinating and a vitally important read.
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This is a book for everyone, it is written from a scientific point of view, yet is conversational and peppered with a sharp wit which makes it easy to read and oh-so interesting. Facts about racism are laid out, how you choose to interpret them will still come from your chosen beliefs, but it hopefully makes you evaluate and consider your own responses. Author Keon West is a social scientist at the University of London, and confirms that this is a complex topic, but looking at it from a scientific route (where science asks: “for a rigorous and honest examination of the evidence”), facts about contemporary racism are available to see. He acknowledges that there are many types of prejudice that can and do interact with each other, yet here we concentrate on racism. He confirms that in science: “what matters is evidence” and the ability to make predictions, he wants you to be sceptical to the research and investigate further yourself. Included in the book is worldwide research however most has come from the US and Western European countries, including the UK. My advice is to enter with as open a mind as you can, as this illuminating read deserves to be respected and so it sits as both a LoveReading Star Book, and Liz Pick of the Month. The Science of Racism is not only fascinating, it is an utterly compelling and necessary read. Highly recommended.
Polls show that half of us think racism doesn't exist . . .
In the ground-breaking The Science of Racism Professor Keon West cuts through the divisive anecdotes and rhetoric with decades' worth of clear, factual, rigorous science - the data that reveals truths about racism that are shocking and tragic, but also (somehow) funny and entertaining.
He explains how we know, for example, that Black people are up to 50 per cent less likely to be called in to interview than identically qualified White people. He shows how we know the financial cost of selling items online while Black. He reveals the effects of racism on our friendships, relationships, healthcare and justice system. And he exposes the continued prevalence of racism, and the inadequacy of our many attempts to address it.
Whatever you've read before, this book will ensure that you never see racism in the same way again.
Professor Keon West is a social psychologist at the University of London. He earned his doctorate from Oxford University in 2010 as a Rhodes Scholar and has since published more than seventy quantitative papers on prejudice and discrimination in many of the best peer-reviewed social-psychology journals, including Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Perspectives on Psychological Science. Professor West has written for national and international newspapers and been the host of numerous radio and television shows on the topics of prejudice and discrimination. He is a citizen of three countries and has, over his life, been a resident of four. He is a husband, a father of two boys, a hobby photographer, and a huge fan of Star Trek. He has always been Black. Keon is the co-author of an audiobook, Skewed. The Science of Racism is his second book.
