Starting in 2007, Benjamin, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan think tank Demos, and, more significantly, an African-American, spent two years traveling through America's whitest communities—patches of Idaho and Utah and even pockets of New York City—where, according to his research, more and more white people have been seeking refuge from the increasingly multicultural reality that is mainstream America. There's plenty of potential in this premise, but Benjamin writes without any sense of purpose, alternating between undigested interviews with policy experts, self-indulgent digressions on the pleasures of golf and real estate shopping and sketchy portraits of his subjects. Despite Benjamin's countless conversations with everyone from Ed Gillespie, former head of the GOP, to a drunk in an Idaho bar, he never offers any fresh insights or practical suggestions. He concludes by barraging the reader with a series of unearned “musts”: “we must revitalize the public sector,” “we must work hard for a new universalism.” If his time in the nation's whitest enclaves gave him any specific thoughts about how those ideals might be achieved, he would have done well to share them. (Nov.)
Exploring the identity, inhabitants, and social and political implications of...small towns...is the premise of Benjamin's provocative new book.
Widely reported demographic shifts in contemporary America include the increase and diffusion of Latino populations and the relative population decline of Caucasians. Alongside these is a perhaps more subtle corollary, a phenomenon journalist Benjamin calls Whitopia ("white-opia"): disproportionately (generally over 90 percent) white communities that have grown rapidly in recent years, with most of the population growth also white. To learn about such communities, Benjamin here immerses himself in the life, culture, and politics of St. George, UT; Coeur d'Alene, ID; Forsyth County, GA; and Manhattan's Upper East Side Carnegie Hill area. A well-traveled black writer from a multiracial family, Benjamin hardly undertakes this venture incognito. But with his tact, genuine interest in people, and zest for golf, real estate, and socializing, Benjamin ingratiates himself nearly everywhere he goes and gains significant insights from residents, businesspeople and civic leaders. Benjamin's timely journey is surprising and provocative. He critically examines racial and economic segregation, structural racism, hostility to immigration, the rising political power of exurbs, and other sociopolitical realities that bespeak, in his assessment, a growing failure in commitment to the common good—yet he also demonstrates respect for his interviewees and offers his pointed assessments only after a thoughtful, open-minded exploration. VERDICT Written at the lay reader's level and in highly anecdotal narrative fashion, this is for all readers interested in the sociopolitics of America today. It will also be valued by policymakers and social scientists.—Janet Ingraham Dwyer, Worthington Libs.,OH
A black scholar moves into some of America's whitest communities, attempting to do for race what Barbara Ehrenreich did for class. Benjamin opens with a surprising statistic. "By 2042," he writes, "whites will no longer be the American majority." Perhaps even more surprising was the response that he noticed from white communities, particularly in urban areas. In an almost exaggerated version of "white flight," white populations were rising in particular communities across America. The author decided to spend time in three of those places. His first stop was St. George, Utah, home to both a bustling community of new retirees as well as a growing population of young families. There Benjamin rented a house from a rare black Mormon, joined a poker group and befriended a group of retired women. Next was Couer d'Alene, Idaho, where he settled into a pleasant life of work and dinner parties in a community that valued the outdoors. Finally, Forsyth, Ga., where Benjamin immersed himself in a church youth group. The author's experiences in "Whitopia" were surprisingly pleasant, particularly compared to a mugging incident near his home in racially diverse New York. But Benjamin is clear in his conclusion that this trend is not healthy for either white or minority communities. Ideally, he writes, each group should thrive on the resources of the city and on the influence of the other groups. Already, white communities are suffering from problems like unchecked sprawl and bad schools, and low-income minority groups are also losing access to the social capital of middle-class groups. Benjamin's points are articulate and well-reasoned, but many of them seem to function independently of his actual journeyor his time spent in each community. Interesting social experiments unevenly integrated into an intriguing thesis. Agent: Tina Bennett/Janklow & Nesbit
"Benjamin examines the history, politics, economics, and culture of race and class as seen in the growth of these ‘whitopias,' racially and therefore socioeconomically exclusive communities from the exurb St. George, Utah to the inner-city enclave of Carnegie Hill in Manhattan. . . . This is a thoroughly engaging and eye-opening look at an urgent social issue."—Booklist, Starred Review
"It sounds like a recipe for a riot: an inquisitive black writer journeying into some of the most segregated neighborhoods in the country. But Benjamin...pulls off his quest with good cheer."—Time
"[Benjamin] offers in the end a chilling vision of the future for progressive values."—Daily Kos
"The revelatory chapters about New York City made me want to cry . . . Generous and understanding to all of its subjects, Searching for Whitopia is a eulogy for an unsustainable America lifestyle."—Christian Lander, creator of Stuff White People Like
"Exploring the identity, inhabitants, and social and political implications of...small towns...is the premise of Benjamin's provocative new book."—The Daily Beast
"Benjamin writes in rapturous prose."—- The Wilson Quarterly
"A lively and perceptive foray into communities that are trying to bail out of the melting pot."—Mother Jones
"A wry and chilling tour of America's all-white communities."—- Time Out New York
"Benjamin is clear in his conclusion that this trend is not healthy for either white or minority communities. Ideally, he writes, each group should thrive on . . . the influence of the other groups. Already, white communities are suffering from problems like unchecked sprawl and bad schools, and low-income minority groups are also losing access to the social capital of middle-class groups."—Kirkus Reviews
"Exploring the identity, inhabitants, and social and political implications of...small towns...is the premise of Benjamin's provocative new book."
"An account of a black man's journey through the whitest communities of America is bound to be thought-provoking, especially when the voyager is as observant and articulate as Rich Benjamin. A very entertaining read with a message worth pondering."
"Rich Benjamin goes where no (sane) black man has gone before -- into the palest enclaves, like Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, to those places where white Americans have fled to escape from the challenges of diversity. The result is a daring feat of 21st-century exploration that will have you laughing and shuddering at the same time."
"An essential tool in questioning, appreciating and better understanding these most historic times. As we move forward in a brand new America, Rich Benjamin's Searching for Whitopia gives us clues as to how our population might resettle and regroup, on our way to becoming a more (or less) perfect union."
"Rich Benjamin's Searching for Whitopia will be a major publication, widely read and discussed. Its influence is likely to be enduring."
"A courageous book that holds a mirror up to our country--and the reflection is one we can no longer afford to ignore."
"I've always found it easy to dismiss exurban gated communities, so it didn't bother me too much when Rich Benjamin showed them in a less than flattering light, but the revelatory chapters about New York City made me want to cry. . . . Generous and understanding to all of its subjects, Searching for Whitopia is a eulogy for an unsustainable lifestyle that flies in the face of a changing America."
"Benjamin examines the history, politics, economics, and culture of race and class as seen in the growth of these 'whitopias,' racially and therefore socioeconomically exclusive communities from the exurb St. George, Utah to the inner-city enclave of Carnegie Hill in Manhattan. . . . This is a thoroughly engaging and eye-opening look at an urgent social issue."
"[Benjamin] offers in the end a chilling vision of the future for progressive values."
"It sounds like a recipe for a riot: an inquisitive black writer journeying into some of the most segregated neighborhoods in the country. But Benjamin...pulls off his quest with good cheer."
