Americans are as safe, well fed, securely sheltered, long-lived, free, and healthy as any human beings who have ever lived on the planet. But we are down on America. So why do we hate us? According to Dick Meyer, the following items on this (much abbreviated) list are some of the contributors to our deep disenchantment with our own culture: Cell-phone talkers broadcasting the intimate details of their lives in public spaces Worship of self-awareness, self-realization, and self-fulfillment T-shirts that read, “Eat Me” Facebook, MySpace, and kids being taught to market themselves High-level cheating in business and sports Reality television and the cosmetic surgery boom Multinational corporations that claim, “We care about you.” The decline of organic communities A line of cosmetics called “S.L.U.T.” The phony red state–blue state divide The penetration of OmniMarketing into OmniMedia and the insinuation of both into every facet of our lives You undoubtedly could add to the list with hardly a moment’s thought. In Why We Hate Us, Meyer absolutely nails America’s early-twenty-first-century mood disorder. He points out the most widespread carriers of the why-we-hate-us germs, including the belligerence of partisan politics that perverts our democracy, the decline of once common manners, the vulgarity of Hollywood entertainment, the superficiality and untrustworthiness of the news media, the cult of celebrity, and the disappearance of authentic neighborhoods and voluntary organizations (the kind that have actual meetings where one can hobnob instead of just clicking in an online contribution). Meyer argues—with biting wit and observations that make you want to shout, “Yes! I hate that too!”—that when the social, spiritual, and political turmoil that followed the sixties collided with the technological and media revolution at the turn of the century, something inside us hit overload. American culture no longer reflects our own values. As a result, we are now morally and existentially tired, disoriented, anchorless, and defensive. We hate us and we wonder why. Why We Hate Us reveals why we do and also offers a thoughtful and uplifting prescription for breaking out of our current morass and learning how to hate us less. It is a penetrating but always accessible Culture of Narcissism for a new generation, and it carries forward ideas that resounded with readers in bestsellers such as On Bullshit and Bowling Alone.

This book examines how racist political rhetoric has created damaging and dangerous conditions for Students of Color in schools and higher education institutions throughout the United States. The authors show how the election of the 45th president has resulted in a defining moment in U.S. history where racist discourses, reinforced by ideologies of white supremacy, have affected the educational experiences of our most vulnerable students. This volume situates the rhetoric of the Trump presidency within a broader historical narrative and provides recommendations for those who seek to advocate for anti-racism and social justice. As we enter the uncharted waters of a global pandemic and national racial reckoning, this will be invaluable reading for scholars, educators, and administrators who want to be part of the solution. Book Features: Uses Donald Trump’s presidency as a case study to show how and why racist rhetoric can be used to mobilize large numbers of U.S. voters. Examines how the current administration has changed perspectives on contemporary racism that will have a lasting impact throughout the K–16 educational system.Demonstrates how the current discourses around race and immigration are resulting in increased racism and violence in schools and universities.Provides strategies for how anti-racist social justice efforts in education will need to shift to respond to the new landscape. Contributors: John Rogers, Michael Ishimoto, Silvia Rodriguez Vega, Carolina Valdivia, Marisol Clark-Ibáñez, Josefina Espino, Carolina Diana Lopez, Darsella Vigil, Valerie Gomez, Tanya J. Gaxiola Serrano, Naruro Hassan, Saskias Casanova, Keon M. McGuire

IPBA BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AWARDS SILVER MEDALIST A BOOKLIST AND KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF 2019 "Well-researched, cogently argued... avoids clichÉs and deeply examines the complex relationship between Islam and the West." —Booklist, starred review White supremacist racism has many faces. A foreign policy that focuses on "American interests" and exploits foreign resources is one of those faces. Nowhere has this become more evident than in the Middle East. Decades of covert intervention by the CIA in the Middle East came home to roost when Al Qaeda operatives hijacked American airliners and flew them into the World Trade Center towers on 9/11, horrifically killing 3000. With Americans still in shock, George W. Bush asked, "Why do they hate us?" His bizarre answer, "They hate our freedoms," squandered an opportunity for national introspection. Instead, he unleashed the power of a $330 billion "defense" budget on the villages of Afghanistan and subsequently on Baghdad. In the years after 9/11, Islamophobia became a mainstay in American society and in American political rhetoric. It was the unfettered hate speech toward Muslims that opened the door for closeted racists to come out into the open with hate speech toward all nonwhite groups. In Why Do They Hate Us?, author Steve Slocum brings to light Islam's origins as a social justice movement and paints a beautiful portrait of Islam's peaceful mainstream. Why Do They Hate Us? is sprinkled with stories from the lives of everyday Muslims and anecdotes from Slocum's five years living in Kazakhstan, allowing the reader to catch a glimpse of the true soul of Islam. You'll never look at Muslims in the same way again. "In an era of rampant Islamophobia, Slocum's book is essential reading." —Todd H. Green, author of The Fear of Islam: An Introduction to Islamophobia in the West "Effectively countering pernicious, misinformed narratives, this is an essential contribution to interfaith studies." —Publishers Weekly

Is the Muslim world really a seething mass of anti-Western hatred, or is the true situation more complicated than that? In this important and ambitious new work, Mark Levine presents a vivid and compelling picture of the human face behind the veil of the ‘Axis of Evil’ and sets out an alternative roadmap for better relations between the West and the Muslim world. Going beyond the stereotypes and below the media radar, this book explains why, contrary to the popular perception, ‘they’ don’t hate ‘us’ – or at least, not yet.

The controversial bestseller that caused huge waves in the UK! The Independent calls it "required reading." Noam Chomsky says it "contains valuable information that we should know, over here, for our own good, and the world’s." We call it our biggest book so far and will be backing it from day one with guaranteed co-op spending, a national publicity and review blitz, talk radio bookings, various retail sales aids including postcards, and of course the usual full court press on the Web and via email.This is NOT just another 9/11 book: it is the book for those of us trying to understand why America—and Americans—are targets for hate. Many people do hate America, in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa, as well as in the Middle East. Ziauddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies explore the global impact of America’s foreign policy and its corporate and cultural power, placing this unprecedented dominance in the context of America’s own perception of itself. In doing so, they consider TV and the Hollywood machine as a mirror which reflects both the American Dream and the American Nightmare. Their analysis provides an important contribution to a debate which needs to be addressed by people of all nations, cultures, religions and political persuasions—and especially by Americans.Described by The Times Higher Education Supplement as "packed with tightly argued points," the book is carefully researched and built to withstand the inevitable criticism that will be aimed at it. A book that some reviewers will love to hate and others will praise for its insights, it’s guaranteed to cause a stir.

One of the most recognisable, respected and inspirational men on earth, Muhammad Ali is the world's most famous boxing hero. Ali brought unprecedented speed and grace to the sport, and his charm and wit changed forever what the world expects of a champion athlete. In the words of over two hundred of Ali's family members, associates, opponents, friends and enemies, this comprehensive and honest portrait relates his legendary sporting accomplishments, as well as the high drama of life outside the boxing ring. From Olympic gold in Rome, to stunning victory over George Foreman in Zaire, every historic victory and defeat of Ali's career is covered. His controversial embrace of the Nation of Islam - with the renunciation of his 'slave name', Cassius Clay - and the historic refusal to be inducted into the US Army makes for compelling reading. Ali became America's first national conscientious objector, and with a willingness to stage his fights in Third World locales, he continued his advocacy for people in need which was honoured in 2000 when he became a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Charismatic, dedicated and a skilful self-publicist, Ali is the living embodiment of the American Dream. This is the biography to match his achievements.

In the United States, political argumentation occurs in institutionalized settings and the broader public forum, in efforts to resolve conflict and efforts to foster it, in settings with time limits and controversies that extend over centuries. From the ratification of the U.S. Constitution to the presidency of Barack Obama, this book contains twenty studies of U.S. political argumentation, grouped under four themes: early American political discourse, Abraham Lincoln’s political argumentation, argumentation about foreign policy, and public policy argumentation since the 1960s. Deploying methods of rhetorical criticism, argument analysis and evaluation, the studies are rich in contextual grounding and critical perspective. They integrate the European emphasis on politics as an argumentative context with the U.S. tradition of public address studies. Two essays have never before been published. The others are retrieved from journals and books published between 1979 and 2014. The introductory essay is new for this volume.

After 9/11, rightists capitalized on an atmosphere of fear and confusion to resuscitate the “culture wars” of the 1990s and once again targeted the academy. Using tactics reminiscent of the McCarthy era, religious firebrands, militant neoconservatives, and free market fundamentalists engaged in a concerted effort to silence voices critical of the ‘war on terror’ and liken legitimate dissent to treason. Brandishing a discourse of “patriotic correctness” (PC) that was informed by American ‘exceptionalism,’ Christian nationalism, anti-intellectualism, and virulent anti-liberalism, this coalition portrayed the professoriate as a dangerous cabal seeking the demise of ‘Western civilization.’ In Cold Breezes and Idiot Winds, Scatamburlo-D’Annibale explains why the most recent assault on academe must be understood in relation to the right’s broader offensive against liberalism. For decades, conservatives have worked diligently to construct a network of foundations, think tanks, and campus organizations dedicated to demonizing progressive thought, the legacy of the New Deal era, and the democratic social reforms of the 1960s. The author provides a detailed examination of this ideological infrastructure and how it advanced the agenda of PC post-9/11. She explores how the campaign for PC was aided and abetted by a right-wing media apparatus, how it continues to threaten academic freedom on campuses, and how it is currently infecting the larger body politic and contributing to the increased toxicity of the nation’s public dialogue. While purveyors of PC often invoke “culture war” rhetoric, Scatamburlo-D’Annibale adroitly reveals that their ultimate aim is to protect corporate power from any form of democratic accountability.

Contains public messages and statements of the President of the United States released by the White House from January 1 to June 30, 2002.

The world's governments, including the United States of America, have decreed that person or persons who worship one historical figure known as Jesus Christ be detained and sent to a reeducation center. Worshipping the historical figure known as Jesus Christ has been outlawed due to the terroristic and intolerant nature of this religion. Those individuals found to be guilty of worshipping the historical figure will be detained until they renounce this intolerant philosophy. Since the above decree, Christians have been forced to hide. The church, the bride of Christ, has been forced to go underground. Christians around the world have formed into small groups. Gene teaches, supplies, leads, and loves one such group of people. As he goes out to gain supplies for his flock, he is kidnapped by a group of bounty hunters looking for a big payday. Now Uncle Gene, as he is known to his brothers and sisters in Christ, must endure the horrors of a fallen world to protect his fellow Christians, protect his faith in Christ, and try to save those who hate him. 2