Eric Deggans

Great view into journalism, media, race relations. I haven't read any other books on the subject but this seemed to be a fair assessment of what goes on "behind the scenes" and often right in front of our faces.

Mr. Deggans gives away the magician's secrets, whether those magicians are news anchors, radio talk show hosts, screenplay writers or"reality" shows actors, he tells you what to look for to understand what's really happening and how they make it look or sound like something else.

He talks about the problems people have with discussing race, suggests ways we can get past those problems. He talks about drawing attention to racism masked with key phrases and probably most importantly about talking about race before something racial explodes rather than waiting for things to explode.

Another interesting point is that "color blindness" isn't the answer because it ignores differences in culture that really do exist.

A lot of this should be in schoolbooks somewhere. Learning it when your 9 would probably be a lot more helpful than learning it when you're 39.… (mehr)

More timely than the analyses of recent political events are Deggans' thoughts about the intersection of media, race, and the commons. Whether Americans are discussing the racial dynamics of poverty or power, Deggans contends that the future of the commons is inextricably tied to the course those conversations take. Can there be a national discourse, he asked, when media is tailored to appeal to individuals as consumers in search of satisfying their tastes rather than citizens interested in engaging in something collective?… (mehr)

Eric Deggans' book is a valuable one. Quite frankly it is very difficult to deal with the issue of race in America without running into partisan posturing and people from different backgrounds talking past one another. Deggans manages to penetrate to what is behind the words and he does so in a very non-confrontational manner that engages with a wide audience. I think it is an especially important that white Americans read this book to understand how racism functions and perpetuates itself even when no offense in intended. This book, I think, makes a small step toward mending the racial divide in America. It is well worth reading.… (mehr)