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Reviewed: Apr 3, 2008

Why African Americans Can't Get Ahead by Gwen Richardson
Cushcity Communications, January 2008
174 Pages, Paperback, $14.95
ISBN: 098002501X
Genre: Non-Fiction

RAW Rating: 4.5 (out of 5)

Is there an answer?

In WHY AFRICAN AMERICANS CAN'T GET AHEAD, Gwen Richardson asks some very potent questions.  But, she does not leave it there; through in-depth research and her own quest for answers she has uncovered some eye-opening revelations about the fiber of American society that has set too much of the tone for African Americans (AA).  Dr. Thomas Sowell, an AA economist and senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, graphed ethnic groups by their economic success.  Blacks and Native Americans were at the bottom of the scale.  Richardson took that information, determined to find the reasons why.  She found that the history of AA played a major role in shaping attitudes, negative and positive, as we struggle to become economically affluent.  She further notes that while a solid, successful AA middle class does exist, the fact remains that there has been little improvement in the net worth of most AA households over the past decade.

She challenges the AA communities to help determine their own outcome using what she calls Group Economics, which she defines
as 'the deliberate, purposeful and persistent spending of dollars with a business enterprise owned  and/or controlled by an individual within one's own ethnic group, nationality or organization'. She artfully defines the challenges of a race, but also presents a cutting-edge solution to these challenges. 

Richardson wishes there were a magic wand that would cause AA to understand the concept of group economics but, being a realist, she knows it will take more than magic to accomplish this.  WHY AFRICAN AMERICANS CAN'T GET AHEAD is being described as a break through book, and if African Americans will give full attention to the concept, breakthrough will indeed be the appropriate terminology.  I urge you to please read the book and embrace the concept.

Reviewed by aNN Brown, RAWSISTAZ.com
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aNN is a Computer Systems Analyst who resides in Newport News, VA. She is an avid and eclectic reader and enjoys sharing her views on authors and books.

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