Review of “Black Mosaic: The Politics of Pan-Ethnic Diversity,” by Candis Watts Smith, 2014. New York: NYU Press, paper, 276 pages.
StreetSense is a champion of diversity…
February is Black History Month in this country and an important celebration indeed. Plus a timely one… with the current administration obsessed with the destruction of “DEI” movements and policies they feel threatened by.
Black History Month is important, and StreetSense is devoted to explaining diversity and to helping make more people aware of the huge contributions of African Americans to US culture, government, history, art, music, dance, literature, philosophy, and other areas (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_History_Month).
This book is definitely germane to the work we do with the homeless in Chicago—and many other cities—where Blacks are sometimes the largest group within the unhoused population. For example, well over 80 percent of the homeless in Chicago are Black… even though just about 1/3 of Chicago residents are Black (https://www.chicagohomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Homeless-Estimate-2023.pdf).
Candis Watts Smith provides for the reader some very interesting information about African Americans, Blacks who are recent immigrants, Latinos who have dark skin and ancestors from Africa, and people in the USA who are of mixed ancestry. She gives us an important book here because it is so crucial to come to better understandings of cultural and political beliefs of different Americans.
She also gives us a timely book here for February of 2025, given the current discussions nationwide about racial differences, about what it means to be Black, and about issues of fairness and equality in our nation.
At the core of this book is a qualitative study performed by the author to look at a wide variety of issues, ranging from how people label themselves to what political and social topics are important to different individuals. What is in a name? What do different people associate with the label “Black” as opposed to “African American” and also “African?”
The author looks at a variety of issues, asking interviewees about group feelings and identity, ancestry and nationality, political attitudes and beliefs, and impressions of racism in the United States. She also asks about people’s views of Barack Obama, their racial identity, and whether their identity it has changed over time, and their personal friendships. The author discovers many interesting opinions and ideas, and she provides a thorough report here on her findings.
The author posits a “diasporic consciousness” and finds out some interesting ways in which Black persons are bound together in unity by race—despite some big differences among them in culture, origin, ancestry, language, and many other factors (p. 6). This unity is a very interesting discovery in the study—though some have discussed it previously. This study documents current thought through recent interviews of a very wide group of interview subjects. The author is to be thanked for bringing these different voices together in one book.
Social workers, counselors, street helpers, and others who attempt to help the unhoused can get good use from this book. Understanding Blacks within the homeless context is a tremendously important piece of the puzzle for helping in the windy city. How people become homeless-and how racism and the lack of opportunity in Chicago contribute to that life—is essential to consider.
Educators can use this book in many ways also. As personal reading, it can reveal some very intriguing realities and opinions of those people who were interviewed, as well as political interests.
As background reading, it can help point educators to other sources to explore for ideas on structuring units and lessons related to cultural differences, how political movements work, and what it means to be American.
As content for social studies courses, the book can point teachers toward several important issues and beliefs that are covered the standards and benchmarks (See especially the information on marginalized groups, diversity, and traditions within the “History” section of the “Illinois Learning Standards: https://www.isbe.net/Documents/IL-Social-Science-Standards.pdf).
There is so very much here that needs to be understood by students in the classroom—to help them understand their classmates and the other citizens of our nation.
I recommend the book for all Americans to read because the author has done a tremendous job of getting so many disparate opinions about complex issues.
Candis Watts Smith is to be commended for bringing such disparate voices discussing so many important questions—and answers—together in one book. There is much more to be done in order to understand racial and cultural traditions, beliefs, differences, and similarities.
Smith has indeed contributed greatly to the conversation by compiling these voices here and keeping the discussion going in a lively and inspiring fashion.