Searching for Whitopia by Rich Benjamin

Searching for Whitopia by Rich Benjamin
c.2009, Hyperion
$24.99 / $32.99 Canada 354 pages, includes notes

Reviewed by Terri Schlichenmeyer

The invitation contained everything you needed to know to have fun.
Well, almost everything…

You knew the date and time and where to be. You knew who was throwing this shindig. But the invite didn’t say a word about what to wear.

So, naturally, you showed up dressed to the nines, sporting shiny things on your fingers and ears. Unfortunately, everybody else was in shorts and T’s, and you stuck out like a sunflower in a parking lot.

Everybody likes to fit in, so imagine seeking out situations in which you’re a minority. Read the new book “Searching for Whitopia” by Rich Benjamin, and you might be surprised by an interesting picture.

When President Obama was elected last year, many Americans sighed with relief: maybe now we could put racial problems behind us. But Rich Benjamin says nothing could be farther from the truth. Things are about to change again, in a big way.

Within the next 32 years, whites will no longer be the majority in America. With that in mind, Benjamin decided to study a phenomenon he calls Whitopia: a city or ‘burb with an overwhelmingly white population. Whitopia has “ineffable social charisma, a pleasant look and feel” (think Mayberry or Leave It to Beaver). According to statistics, many U.S. cities are already “whiter than white” and are becoming whiter.

Minorities, it seems, need not apply.

Benjamin decided to move into three Whitopia neighborhoods and live in each for awhile, in order to study things up-close.

In Utah, he found friendship, Poker Night, and an organized push to severely restrict immigration. Named one of the safest places in America, Benjamin says “the cozy warmth inside depends on keeping the enemies without.”

In Idaho, Benjamin entered a retreat for a white separatist religious sect, and discovered, to his surprise, an “unexpected blessing in… brewing crisis.”

And in Georgia, Benjamin found high-priced homes and panicked residents, afraid their land might revert to area blacks whose ancestors’ farms were seized by whites nearly 100 years ago.

I had a hard time with this book for many reasons.

First, the good news: author Rich Benjamin gives his readers much to ponder. “Searching for Whitopia” is thought-provoking and could start much-needed, important dialogue.

But…

Benjamin throws stats, facts, reasoning, cute stories and jaw-dropping tales at his readers at an alarming pace, and then later repeats them. More than once, I caught myself bored and skimming, or reading a sentence multiple times because of content overload. I also wondered often if there was a point to his points.

Perhaps most egregious is that Benjamin (who is black) claims “The ‘black-white race divide’ bores [him]” but he seems eager to emphasize it. Moreover, he understandably condemns racial comments and overgeneralities, but then makes them himself.

If you want to tackle this book, please do. The subject matter is important enough to take a serious look, but be sure to read it with time, many grains of salt, open eyes, and open mind. Otherwise, “Searching for Whitopia” is just an invitation to frustration.

Role of a Lifetime by James Brown

Role of a Lifetime by James Brown (with Nathan Whitaker)
Faith Words (2009)
$24.99 / $29.99 Canada 203 pages

Reviewed by Terri Schlichenmeyer

It’s Sunday afternoon, and there’s nowhere else you’d rather be than in front of your TV. You’ve got chips, liquid refreshment, the remote, and you’re wearing your lucky slippers. Gotta support the team, you know.

But as you reach for a snack, you miss the game for just a second and something happened. You didn’t catch it. Argh! You’re momentarily lost. Thank goodness for sportscasters, right?

But what do you know about the folks who bring you the nuances of the game? Learn about one of them by reading “Role of a Lifetime” by James Brown (with Nathan Whitaker).

From almost the moment he was born in February, 1951, James Brown says he was a “mama’s boy”. Mrs. Brown ruled the family with an iron glove covered in velvet; she demanded excellence from her five children; and she raised them with Bible verses on her lips. Mr. Brown worked hard for his family at various jobs, and likewise expected results. His parents’ high examples, moralities, and life-lessons are the ideals that James Brown still carries with him.

Despite that he’s most famous for his work with FOX and CBS during football games, Brown’s first love was basketball. He was fortunate, he says, to have had good and honest mentors during his teenhood, and he worked hard to make them proud. His athleticism garnered attention from several colleges, but, with the idea of a “fall-back career” in mind, he attended Harvard. Following a disappointing summer in Atlanta when Brown was turned down by basketball’s Atlanta Hawks, he took his degree and stepped into the corporate world.

And while he was there, he learned lessons that sustained him through his career, first on local TV stations in the Washington, D.C. area; later, with FOX; and now with CBS Sports.

There are seven “ingredients” that make success, says Brown: “Good Communication Skills, Appearance, Personal Relations, Punctuality, Thirst for Knowledge, Being a Team Player, and Overcoming Adversity.” Put them all together, and you’ve got a winning combination.

Wow.

I didn’t much like “Role of a Lifetime” at first. The first few pages made me think this was just going to be another look-at-me sports bio, and I’ve had enough of them.

But I kept reading. I’m glad I did.

Author James Brown has written a book that goes beyond sports (although there’s plenty of that for any fan). This book is part motivational for any young person who wants to be a success. It’s part business, for anyone who needs a cautionary tale or two for advice. It’s part testimony to faith, which makes it an easy gift for anybody. “Role of a Lifetime” offers relationship advice as Brown talks about his parents’ marriage as well as his own. And it’s, of course, a biography about the friendly face you see each week on the TV but might not know a thing about.

But now here’s your chance. Pick up a copy of “Role of a Lifetime” and enjoy. If you’re a business-minded sports fan, this is an unbeatable book.