Title: White Men Can’t Hump (As Good As Black Men): Volume I: Race & Sex In America
Author: Todd Wooten
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1425957438
Pages: 304
Genre: Ethnic Demographic Studies/Social Sciences
Reviewed by: Anthony Avina
Hollywood Book Reviews
One of the most relevant, powerful and important topics in the world right now is race relations. While so much progress has been made over the years, the struggle for equality and breaking down stereotypes is a constant struggle to this day. It was American soccer player Megan Rapinoe who said, “We need a more substantive conversation around race relations and the way people of color are treated.” In author Todd Wooten’s novel White Men Can’t Hump (As Good As Black Men): Volume 1: Race & Sex In America, the author takes readers on a historical trip through time to discover how sex has affected race relations in a historical context.
Don’t let the title fool readers, as this book takes a serious deep dive into fighting against race based sexual stereotypes and the impact it has had on race relations throughout the years. The unique aspect of this is the author challenges the stereotypes not by showcasing how they are stereotypes, but by showcasing how White America has made these “stereotypes” into negative things, all the while making it something to idolize and achieve as a white man. The author fights to flip the narrative and show Black America that they have nothing to be ashamed of, all the while showing White America (those who peddle these negative viewpoints and pander to racist viewpoints) that it is their own insecurity and hatred that has made this narrative, not the other way around.
The author does a fantastic job of flipping the script and showing how sex was another tool used to put a negative light onto an entire race of people for no other reason than the color of their skin and how America in particular has used skin color to put a value on a person in life. Readers will instantly be engaged in this narrative, and whether or not the reader agrees with, sees the point of, or is against what the author is saying; the thing that all readers will note is how uncomfortable a topic this book delves into. Yet that is the entire point of the book. It’s uncomfortable because it forces White America to take a hard look at how the horrific treatment of Black America not only created a negative viewpoint towards sex and created a double standard in the process, but continues to widen the race relations in our nation and the world at large.
This book is for anyone who is interested in seeing an in-depth study of how sex was used to continue a narrative of negativity against Black America, anyone who enjoys history and anyone who is interested in equality for all and coming to understand how inequality began in the first place. As someone who firmly believes in equal rights, I was instantly engaged in the subject, and the author brings up many good points that speak to some of the atrocities and hardships undergone to this day in our society.
This is a wonderfully insightful, powerful and well researched read. While the book’s data and much of the dialogue details life up to 2006 and before, the tone of the book that the author sets creates an important discussion society as a whole needs to have. Sadly, sex is yet another tool that White Men use to feel superior while degrading Black Men, and only by understanding the negativity surrounding this outlook and fighting to see the positivity can people move forward. In this day and age, this is a book everyone should read, so pick up your copy today.