I'm so happy I ended up reading Dyson's book directed right at 'White America.' As Dyson is a preacher, he finds his most natural delivery for his pleas to come in the form of a sermon-- but his arguments don't take on the backing of religion but provide all the power and punch of a passionate sermon. With this method of writing, Dyson is very effective in making the reader really feel the pain, the anger, as well as the desires and the hope, of Black America in this very difficult era of police shootings, right in your face dog whistling, and the hostile political environment that was in many ways brought about as a response to America's first black President.

I'm sure many passages are sure to rankle readers who are not ready to hear the directness of some of Dyson's arguments about race and privilege (Dyson admits as much himself), and anyone who is too quick to feel 'attacked' by such arguments might struggle to get through this book-- so while I would wish for everyone in America to hear and understand the arguments given by this book, I do think a certain baseline level of 'being woke' might be required for a reader to get the most out of this book, while those not open and ready to read it might have trouble.

What I really appreciated in the end about this book is how it culminated in a roadmap of what can be done to be the best ally to Black America as possible-- make reparations (while Dyson notes ways that can be done on a micro level, and why that matters), educate yourself (in addition to this book, Dyson provides a complete syllabus of the type of reading you can do to be as racially literate as possible), be willing and able to educate your friends and families on these racial issues, participate in community exercises (protests, rallies, meetings-- don't let them be 'just a black thing,' be present and show they are 'an American thing), work internally to root out the idea that there is the 'white self' and the 'black other', get to know intimately people of all races so that they're faces to you and not a foreign concept, speak up against injustice, understand the difference between immigrant and black American experiences, and ultimately develop a sense of empathy.