The title caught my eye at the library and it sounded a good read. Have never read 'Kaffir Boy' so didn't know what to expect at all with not having read anything about the book prior to picking it up.

The book is pretty much what it says on the tin. The author takes 10 lessons, adds his own personal experiences and talks about how the US can heal its racial divisions in Part 1. In Part 2 he discusses where to go from here what are the key points in this healing.

The negative are on point. Without being super familiar with the author (and not really that interested in Googling further), the book is either an appeal to a "both sides are at fault" (or more) mentality or the author is an idealist about how to fix things or he didn't go beyond the surface of the various topics he brings up.

There are multiple instances of this. He discusses safe spaces and couches them as possible places where people self-segregate and never leaves the bubble to actually engage on the topic. He claims neither major party candidate in the 2016 election actually appealed to all races of people. He talks about actor Mark Wahlberg and how Wahlberg was an inspiration for changing his life after being arrested.

The author does not engage further on these topics: never accounts for the inequality of effort, accessibility, platforms, willingness to engage, etc. regarding safe spaces and seems to assume everyone involved must want to engage and/or listen, etc. He says he wondered what white people were thinking regarding commentary that Hillary Clinton's campaign would win X state due to a surge of voters of color (why was he so worried about *white* voters and not people of color on the flip side eyeing the Trump campaign?). He fails to mention Wahlberg seems to have never reached out to his victim (who is Vietnamese).

Overall it felt the author never quite got *there* for me. It could be he is writing for a particular audience that does agree and feel the same way he does. But I couldn't help but really but notice this when he discusses Khzir Khan and the 2016 Democratic National Convention (Khan gave a moving speech about his son, the late Army Captain Humayun Khan, who gave his life in the Iraq War). The speech was widely circulated and created a lot of conversation, part of which involved Khan's criticism of Trump. Mathabane discusses other parts of the speech such as how Khan talked about seeing tombstones of soldiers of all faiths being buried at Arlington Cemetery. The closest the author gets is noting Khan asks Trump in the speech if the latter had ever been to Arlington to see the graves. Having just read Khan's book it was maddening and puzzling that the author would frame Khan's speech in this way, while ignoring Khan's jabs about whether Trump has read the Constitution and is willing to criticize his own party leaders. At the end Khan specifically calls people to vote for the healer (Clinton) and not the divider, Trump.

If one had no familiarity with Khan's speech then I could see how Mathabane's summary of it would support his stance of how Khan's speech was about our common humanity. There was a lot more to it that was perhaps, yes, outside the scope of what Mathabane is discussing. But it made me wonder why on earth didn't he pick another example.

That said, I suspect this is a book that will appeal to particular people. But after parsing through his examples I find I'm skeptical about the author's approach. Glad it was a library borrow. 1 Carol1,700 22

Please see my review that is posted on Amazon.com under C. Wong.2018 amazon-vine non-fiction1 Andre583 176

Ubuntu is a Zulu word for our common humanity. This is Mark Mathabane’s prescription for healing the racial divide in America. If all could learn to use the language of Ubuntu, instead of rely on stereotypes of each other we could get a lot closer to a more civil existence. This is a tall order and he seemingly places the burdens equally. It’s facing and fighting a racism without racists, which is difficult if not impossible. I admire his effort and his overcoming of horrific circumstances growing up under Apartheid in South Africa.

His understanding of the particulars here in America don’t always seem well thought out. He suggests that Michael Brown was shot in Ferguson, MO for stealing cigars. Ouch. And he invokes Martin Luther King, Jr. frequently but seems to lock him into a particular period, and leaves out much of King’s later years radicalism. He breaks the book into two parts. Part one deals with The Ten Obstacles To Racial Healing over ten chapters and part two is The Ten Principles Of Ubuntu: The Keys To Racial Healing covering another ten chapters.

All of the advice he offers is practical often buttressed by his personal experiences. The book has a highly optimistic feel almost to the point of being idealistic. I can imagine readers taking self inventory and challenging their own thoughts and actions to bring their language closer to Ubuntu. If this is the aim of this book, then he will have succeeded. Thanks to Edelweiss and Skyhorse Publishing for providing access to an advanced ebook. Book will hit shelves Jan. 18, 2018. Stephan628

Nelson Mandela used the philosophy of Ubuntu to end the apartheid in South Africa. To Americans, this means little because we have no real knowledge of how horrible those events were. Using this philosphy of human life matters above all else, and treating each other with love, we could change the social dynamic that seems to have split with the current political parties. Awesome read. Megan568 11

There are some egregious editing errors in this book.
I think that M.M. is far too generous and hopeful in his assessment of what POTUS might do to instill racial reconciliation, given his latest racist Twitter tirade. But the concept of ubuntu is tragically lacking in the U.S. and it's one of the things my South African husband misses most. It's real. africa political-current race Tyesha Best4

great read

I read this slowly, one of the few books I’ve done this way. I chewed and the put into practice then came back for more morsels. Wash, rinse, repeat. Lovely book that I wish was mandatory in classrooms. Jennifer16

This was a DNF for me unfortunately. Marie1,620 8

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