Despite some accurate but misleadingly presented information (eg, on p 124, data about PhDs in the natural sciences), this book presents a compelling and accessible argument that systemic racism exists in the US and that it is intentional. I'm left with a few ideas for action, including supporting causes that seek to increase voter registration and turnout and promoting more equitable resource allocation in my area's public schools. I look forward to talking about this one with my teen and my middle schooler.

(The section I mention from page 124 reads, "In 2004, fifty years after Brown, the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education reported that not one black person earned a PhD in astronomy or astrophysics, for example. In fact, of the 2,100 PhDs awarded in forty-three different fields in the natural sciences, not one went to a black person."

This quote, while accurate according to the source cited in the Notes, makes it sound as though no black students earned PhDs in the natural sciences because it leaves out two paragraphs of data from the source---https://www.jbhe.com/news_views/50_black_doctoraldegrees.html:

"A major weakness is that blacks earned 13, or about 1 percent, of the nearly 1,200 doctorates in physics. In computer science, blacks won 0.7 percent of all Ph.D. awards. In the atmospheric sciences, less than 1 percent of all doctorates went to blacks. In chemistry, only 2.3 percent of Ph.D.s went to blacks. In the earth sciences such as geology, oceanography, and the atmospheric sciences, blacks were 1.3 percent of all doctoral recipients, down from 2.3 percent in 2003. In the ocean and marine sciences, only one of the 190 Ph.D.s in the discipline was awarded to an African American. In 2004, 148 African Americans were awarded a Ph.D. in the biological sciences. But they were only 2.5 percent of all doctorates awarded in the discipline. Black Ph.D. awards in the biological sciences did increase by 37 percent from 2003. That year, blacks were awarded 1.9 percent of all doctorates in the biological sciences.

The field of engineering also shows serious weakness in black doctoral student participation. Blacks also trail whites by a large margin in Ph.D.s in engineering. In 2004, 7.0 percent of all white doctorates were earned in the field of engineering. For African Americans, only 4.5 percent of all their doctorates were in engineering. In 2004 blacks earned a mere 1.6 percent of all engineering Ph.D.s. This was a slight improvement over 2003. The huge shortfall in engineering is serious because engineering is a field in which hundreds of thousands of Americans achieve high-income status and middle to upper social status."

Anderson's argument stands even with the more complete information because if there were racial equity in the upper levels of science education, black students awarded PhDs should at least match the percentage of black people in the population and the actual percentages are much, much lower, but the way it's written reminds me of the ways that data can be employed and omitted to make an argument seem stronger and that I need to be more careful about looking up an author's sources if I want a more complete picture.) ( )

A young adult version of Carol Anderson’s 2017 White Rage, We Are Not Yet Equal traces the roots of systematic racism in the United States. Tonya Bolden does a nice job of simplifying the original text without losing the point, and the addition of photographs and some clarifying documents adds to the context. I really enjoyed reading this and did not find the “dumbing down” often seen in YA versions, and having recently finished Anderson’s original book I found the themes and intent very much intact. I think teens looking for anti-racist historical works will definitely enjoy We Are Not Yet Equal. ( )

Carol Anderson's White Rage took the world by storm, landing on the New York Times bestseller list and best book of the year lists from New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, and Chicago Review of Books. It launched her as an in-demand commentator on contemporary race issues for national print and television media and garnered her an invitation to speak to the Democratic Congressional Caucus. This compelling young adult adaptation brings her ideas to a new audience.

When America achieves milestones of progress toward full and equal black participation in democracy, the systemic response is a consistent racist backlash that rolls back those wins. We Are Not Yet Equal examines five of these moments: The end of the Civil War and Reconstruction was greeted with Jim Crow laws; the promise of new opportunities in the North during the Great Migration was limited when blacks were physically blocked from moving away from the South; the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision was met with the shutting down of public schools throughout the South; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 led to laws that disenfranchised millions of African American voters and a War on Drugs that disproportionally targeted blacks; and the election of President Obama led to an outburst of violence including the death of black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri as well as the election of Donald Trump.

This YA is written in an approachable narrative style that provides teen readers with additional context to these historic moments and includes photographs and additional backmatter and resources for teens.

RGG: Well-written, clear, and revealing travesty.

RGG: Well-written, clear, and revealing travesty.