PRODUCT INFORMATION PAGE It's the Little Things: Everyday Interactions That Anger, Annoy, and Divide the Races View and buy for $10.66 on Amazon.com

Here are some customer reviews of It's the Little Things: Everyday Interactions That Anger, Annoy, and Divide the Races : Ms. Williams conducted "focus groups" around the country, which she purports form the basis of this book. The book presents no formal data on the groups; we are not given the information needed to assess whether the groups were well formed and well run, whether participants chosen provide a reliable sample, or whether the methods for summarizing the participants' views insure that the book portrays them accurately. Thus, this book fails the most elementary tests of credibility. A great many of the books' contentions are supported only by anecdotes from Ms. Williams friends and families. One is left to wonder what evidentiary base, in fact, informs the book. That the book tells more about the author's agenda than her findings is suggested, for instance, by her repeated criticism of young black Americans for "forgetting they are black." As she tells it, young black Americans who do not believe their experiences justify dichotomous racial thinking are woefully naive and, in her view, will eventually find that racism pervades America in ways that these black people do not recognize. This, obviously, is not a finding but a prediction, in which the evidence presented by the subjects--young blacks--is discounted because it does not accord with the author's thesis. That is, the book contends that young black persons who believe their experiences reveal no pervasive racism are simply wrong. Why do the experiences of such young black people not constitute probative evidence? Whatever one thinks of the views espoused in the text--whether one finds them an outrage or a courageous revelation of uncomfortable truths--the fact is that this book provides little reason for any careful-thinking person to believe what is said here. Don't waste your money on this book. As an African American woman, I am very ashamed of her to publish a book like this! She should have tried to get educated a little before writing a book on racial issues. This probably is the dumbest book I've ever read on racial issues in my entire life. But it is! There is really no dialog between the races in this book, which is disapointing. A good book is needed on this subject, but it won't be written by this author. No Black bad behaviour is left unexcused, and no white bad behavior is left uncomdemned. Her generalizations regarding race, without mentioning class, are hysterical. She faults white parents for allowing their children too much personal privacy in the home, and then points to the Columbine incident as an example of this "problem." What about the firepower Black teenagers seem (here in Oakland, at least) to own? Do their parents know about the machine guns? I live in a diverse neighborhood and I would love for the author to spend some time observing the behavior of the people in our community. She might be shocked to see much bad behaviour coming from black people, especially those who have been raised with her much vaulted "home training"! In order to have a dialog about painful subjects, both sides must be willing to hear things that, while true, may upset them. Both sides must be willing to accept difficult truths. Ms. Williams is clearly not ready to do that. Therefore, the potential of her book is lost. Ms William writes about how black and white people see different situations such as things on the job, and just everyday situations. I throught the book was good, but would have liked to have read more from the white perspective. This is a brave and honest book about how it is to be black in the USA. For those of us who are white, it exposes us to the often insensitive actions of white people and the usually hidden thought processes of black people. As with some of the previous reviewers of this book, our initial reaction may be one of anger. Personally I hope people can get beyond that reaction for Lena Williams has done our society a real service by her openess and honesty. In fact I can imagine many of her black peers saying to her, "What's wrong with you Girl!! You're telling the (white) man our secrets and now he is going to use them against us." Rather than feel angry, I left this book with a sense of sorrow and sadness. How difficult it must be to live in a world that constantly makes you feel less than whole; that makes you anxious and afraid of everyday interactions; that makes you hypersensitive to the events and reactions that surround you; that creates such a strong sense of outrage and anger that it colors your whole being and life. It must be an extraordinarily difficult burden to bear.

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