Brainwashed: Challenging the Myth of Black Inferiority

by Tom Burrell

Paperback, 2010

Status

Available

Call number

305.896

Genres

Anthropology

General Nonfiction

Economics

Politics, Government, Law and Public Policy

Nonfiction

Publication

Smiley Books (2010), Edition: 1, 312 pages

Description

In this powerful examination of "the greatest propaganda campaign of all time"--the masterful marketing of black inferiority, aka the BI Complex--Burrell poses ten disturbing questions that will make black people look in the mirror and ask why, nearly 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, so many blacks still think and act like slaves.

User reviews

LibraryThing member bohemiangirl35

Tom Burrell claims that the Black Inferiority Campaign is the "greatest propaganda campaign of all time." He has put together in one place solid reasons why 150 years after slavery, blacks still lag behind whites and other ethnic groups in the areas of education, wealth, health and more. The end of

slavery was not the end of the mainstream American belief that blacks are inferior to whites. If anything, the belief is even more entrenched now because blacks have internalized the message and push it on each other and to the masses, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.

After asking and answering ten questions and dissecting the various ways that black American behavior today can be traced back to what our African ancestors endured as slaves, Burrell wraps up with a call to action. He challenges everyone who reads the book to "question, analyze, unplug and reprogram" and then join the resolution project to flip the script on old beliefs and challenge how we perceive ourselves.

My only criticism is that the last chapter, while inspiring, is vague. After completing the book, I immediately searched his website and unless I'm missing something, the only things there are his blog and a promotion for the book. I was ready to join this internet-based movement, but there was no information on how to do that.

I wish I could make this book mandatory reading for everyone that I work with and serve through my job.

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