YOU ARE NOT YOUR RACE

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2022Verified PurchaseAn intelligent and thoughtful book written with honesty and lucidity to analyze the current obsession with racial ideologies. Fe Bencosme eloquently speaks against the use of racial models and categories. She reflects, “Those with the loudest voices in our culture keep insisting the way out of our racial maze is to keep teaching racism.” Her comparison of races to the oceans of the earth is an excellent illustration and step to a better understanding of the concept of race. We have the right to stand up against being reduced to racial caricatures. Cross out, cancel the boxes. We have a right and the responsibility to reclaim our humanity.

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2022Verified PurchaseA beautifully written book that tackles head-on, the current insane ideology centered around the concept of "race" without anger or righteousness. It's a level-headed read covering the myriad facets of this topic using real world and personal experiences to point out the fallacies of the current rote rhetoric that half the population of America is having to navigate now. Fe Bencosme's style is straightforward, succinct and to the point. I got much more from this book than I anticipated. My wish is that this brilliantly rendered book finds its way to those who really should be reading it so the pendulum can start to swing back to sanity before its too late.

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2022Verified PurchaseFe Bencosme weaves the strands of her background and personal experiences together with an honest and insightful discussion of some of the darker currents of our present culture. In so doing she produces an outstanding tapestry of timeless wisdom.She refutes the fallacy of the existence of race as a source of division among humans created in the same image and likeness of their Creator and template. She also offers insights and solutions that are too rarely discussed. “It is true we cannot avoid seeing skin color, but we do not have to assign meaning to it.” She reminds us of the beautiful innocence of childhood where seeds of truth and goodness should be properly sown. Fe reminds us that “what we choose to remember as history does not change the past, but where we choose to focus our gaze does change the present and future.” She turns us back to the wisdom of judging others by the content of their character and with the hopeful, positive assumption of good rather than the dark stain of prejudice.Unlike too many other books that I have found to make good points in their early sections and run out of momentum before they conclude, You Are Not Your Race just keeps building. Fe caps it with a brilliant recap and offers “a constructive alternative” and rules for transcending our current sorry state.I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone and urge them to check the box that says “human”.

Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2022
I completely understand Fe's resistance to being made to feel she has to fit into a box. As someone from a different but comparatively complicated background, I'm also familiar with the feeling.
This well-written and clearly argued thesis on race, humanity, and identity is thought-provoking and people across the ideological spectrum should consider it a worthy contribution to a civilized debate - if such a thing is still possible - on these issues.
The writer is clear about her politics, but she also takes care to consider other points of view while making her constructive, compassionate, and solutions-based arguments. Her experience of the wider world beyond the US makes it refreshingly non-US-centric too.
While some of our perspectives and beliefs are different, I will always strive to focus on "[having] far more in common with each other than things that divide us" (not my quote, but from a speech by Jo Cox, a British MP and former colleague who was assassinated by an extremist in 2016).
Recommended reading, especially for anyone who is prepared to listen to new angles and challenge their own preconceptions. I hope it reaches a wide readership and adds to the discussion.

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2022
Bencosme provides a refreshing and honest look at a delicate topic that warrants a conversation by everyone. Nearly every paragraph written made me pause and think about race in an entirely different way. What Bencosme proclaims in her book is what many Americans likely think but are afraid to openly speak. The author boldly declares that the current way of viewing race is wrong and keeps people downtrodden. Bencosme advocates free thinking and an open mind when it comes to stereotypes and categorization of various ethnic groups. Every liberal and conservative should read this book. We need more conversations and true introspection about racial relations; Ms. Bencosme has opened the gates wide open for this to happen.