How to Survive America

May 10, 2021
Comedian Hughley and co-writer Moe follow Surrender, White People! with another impassioned, tragicomic treatise on racism in America. Noting that the life expectancy for African Americans is three years less than for white Americans, and that Blacks suffer higher rates of obesity, prostate cancer, and psychological distress, Hughley contends that “Black and brown folks are in a battle for survival every damn day in this country.” He delves into the sterilization of poor Black women in 1960s North Carolina; the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd in 2020; and the spread of Covid-19 in communities of color, finding in these and other examples a tendency to make Black people “the number one suspects in our own demise.” Though Hughley’s punchy tone hits hard, and he finds some galling evidence of discriminatory thinking in action, including Trump administration surgeon general Jerome Adams insinuating that “drinking and drug use and smoking” made people of color more vulnerable to Covid-19, much of the book feels like a rehash of Hughley’s previous outings. His fans will appreciate Hughley’s typically blunt assessments of American history and today’s political and social landscape; others will wish for more original analysis.

May 15, 2021
In his fifth book, the comedian and activist continues his diatribe against the country's "chronic illness" of systemic racism. Throughout his latest, written in roughly the same blunt, no-nonsense style as How Not To Get Shot and Surrender, White People! Hughley focuses on the preposterous assumption that minority populations are predisposed to--and mostly to blame for--the injustices they're forced to endure. Writing with frequent contributor Moe, Hughley combines his comedic talents with personal history and experience as a political commentator to address glaring discrepancies between White and Black populations regarding overall health, access to health care, toxic environments, educational bias, and violence. The author excoriates much of the former presidential administration, especially Jerome Adams and Ben Carson, for callously placing the blame for rising Covid-19 infections on the minority communities where cases were spiking. The author also shows how even wearing a mask during a pandemic can be dangerous for a Black person: "COVID-19 is deadly, but it doesn't kill you as fast as a suspicious cop." This statement seamlessly leads into discussions of the senseless deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others as well as criticisms of the lack of Black executives at Facebook, Apple, Amazon, and other conglomerates. Naturally and appropriately, Donald Trump bears the brunt of the author's vitriol. "We knew Trump was gonna be a disaster," writes the author, "but I don't think anyone could have predicted that this motherfucker would get so many people killed before we could vote him out." Hughley is palpably exasperated by the ineffectiveness of racial equality movements and the generational trickle-down effects of systemic racism. More darkly humorous, with fewer laugh-out-loud moments than Surrender, this book, saturated with justified anger and frustration, speaks to the fact that persistent racism in the U.S. is no laughing matter. An acerbic and laser-focused demand for restorative racial justice from an ardent advocate.

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