He Talk Like a White Boy
Reflections of a Conservative Black Man on Faith, Family, Politics, and Authenticity
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
As a young student, Joseph Phillips once overheard someone say of him, "He talk like a white boy!" The Denver native never thought that speaking correctly would cause others to question his authenticity as an African-American. Little did he know what lay in his future. His choices in music, politics, faith, and family have given rise to many accusations of his not being "black enough." As an actor, Joseph has encountered even more pointing fingers, this time for not being liberal enough for Hollywood. With a frank voice and a loving heart, this brilliant, conservative and outspoken African-American man presents a series of funny and thought-provoking essays that speak to the simple fact that authenticity is far more complicated that one's choice of words or music
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Phillips is not your typical Republican: he's a television actor, a sometime stay-at-home dad and a proud black man. At his best, riffing on the difficulties of not conforming to stereotypes in a nation that refuses to shed them, Phillips is thought provoking and moving. With a memoirist's eye for incident, he writes about sitting out eighth-grade pickup football games, caught between the team of white boys he'd grown up with and the team of black boys who complained he lived in "Honkyville."He's acute on the absurdity of racial perceptions, as when he gets scripts that call for "an African-American neurosurgeon with street smarts." But his political essays often read like blog entries, heavy on outrage and rhetoric (the latter sometimes snappy), and feather-light on nuance and evidence (the latter sometimes dubious). They may draw cheers from those who share his faith in G.W. Bush, but won't persuade those who don't. Phillips's opinions (e.g., on faith, character and the pitfalls of affirmative action) may be the driving force behind his writing, but it's his lived experience that is likely to persuade readers of all colors black, white, red or blue that he has something to say.
