A Peculiar Indifference - Elliott Currie
In A Peculiar Indifference Elliott Currie provides us with a detailed overview of violent crime in the US, and how it disproportionately affects Black people and communities. This study analyzes the toll that violence has taken and continues to take on Black men, women, and children, compares it to how violence affects white people in the US, and provides the reader with detailed information on how racism, segregation, and white supremacist laws over time have caused genertional trauma and disparities that only long-overdue social action can change.
This isn’t a book that you can rip through - especially the first half. It is very heavy on statistics and can feel a little dry at times, but it is important to really understand these statistics and compare them to others listed. The US, for all its wealth and stature, is one of the most violent countries in the world, and also one of the countries with the most racial disparities, even today in what people seem to call the “post-racial era”.
I think the most important part of A Peculiar Indifference is where the author provides ample information on understanding the roots of violence in African American communities. “Black on Black” violence is such an overused and hollow argument from those intent on maintaining the status quo, but in order to be able to counter that argument, it is important to understand why certain communities are more plagued by violence than others. Elliott Currie takes the history of systematic oppression, segregation, violence, and trauma, committed against Black Americans, and shows how the racial disparities and racism over time have led to what we see today.
I also really appreciated the solutions that the author provides in the latter part of the book: we are not going to change police violence against Black people without changing the system. We are not going to change mass incarceration of Black people without changing the system. We are not going to change racial disparities in all areas without overhauling the system and giving every single person the same advantages.
If you are interested in learning more about violence in the US, and the real racial disparities that exist, and how harmful they are, I recommend reading this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.