post traumatic slave syndrome by joy degruy leary

DeGruy Leary says, 'Let's see.skull bones being white lead him to the conclusion that Europeans were the first humans?' But that's clearly not what the quote says. Besides, it is white in color, which we may fairly assume to have been the primitive color of mankind.'ĭr.

'For, in the first place, the stock (Georgian) displays. Blumenbach is arguing that modern humans originated in Georgia, in the Caucasus: Here is what she quotes from him on page 61. Worse, she misrepresents the German anthropologist, Johann Friedrich Blumenbach. For example, she does seem to imply that, because our society is structurally racist, all European-Americans are racist by definition.

Unfortunately, her message is weakened in a couple of places by glaring overstatements and errors. De Gruy Leary is excellent on the trauma of slavery, and her personal stories (on how to teach and motivate a group of learning-disabled African-American tweens, for example) are illuminating. It takes conscious, disciplined effort to break the chain of abuse, and surely there can be no worse abuse that that endured by the enslaved peoples - African and otherwise - of the Americas. Trauma DOES get handed down in families! Surely that is inarguable by now.

Much of her historical information is illuminating, and her main argument - that, due to their history of slavery, African-Americans perforce had to learn methods of coping that have been handed down through the generations, and which are no longer serving them well - simply makes sense. De Gruy Leary seems a gentle person who writes with a simple, clear, style. It's amazing to me, looking on Amazon, how divisive this book is. Every adult American should read it, for it offers much substance in spite of its flaws. A frustrating, thought-provoking and important book.

Post traumatic slave syndrome by joy degruy leary