Dying of Whiteness

By Jonathan M. Metzl,

Book cover of Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment Is Killing America's Heartland

Book description

As Dying of Whiteness shows, the right-wing policies that resulted from this white backlash put these voters' very health at risk-and in the end, threaten everyone's well-being. Physician and sociologist Jonathan M. Metzl travels across America's heartland seeking to better understand the politics of racial resentment and its impact on…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Dying of Whiteness as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I don’t live in the USA, so the American debates about gun control and against universal health care often seem…odd. Why would someone think this is a bad thing? Metzl’s book gives at least one explanation.

Using interviews and observations, he shows how right-wing backlash policies are actually supported by people who are hurt by them because they appeal to a race-based sense of identity and privilege. This book was painful for me, but it explained some things that the news doesn't cover.

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