Alfredo Perez
11/17/14
Afrs. 20
Dr. Cheek
8-9:15
Assertive Black/ Puzzled White

After reading Assertive Black Puzzled White by Dr. Donald Cheek, there were a variety of thoughts and questions that ran through my mind. I never have read a book that even came close to this topic, let alone how in depth the author went on a topic he is very passionate about. This book is valuable to many people in the sense of understanding why Black people talk and act the way they do. I thought the whole book was very clear on the message it was communicating, being that one must understand the Black mindset for their actions before you label them as aggressive instead of assertive. I feel that if more people read this book there will be more of an …show more content…
With White people it is more of a basic and cliché conversation that one would have with a new acquaintance such as weather, work, sports, etc. These conversations usually feel awkward and scripted compared to when Black people talk to other Black people which is more loud, fun, and comes natural. This reminds me a lot of how in high school, all my close group of friends who were Mexican tended to communicate more naturally and seemed more fun compared to when we would hang out with the White group of distant friends. I found that we would use more slang, inside jokes, and laugh more when we weren’t with our White group of friends. After reading this book it made more sense because I also found that we naturally segregated ourselves from them and none of us cared to understand the other side and how they function. There are a few questions that I have after reading. Did Dr. Cheek think of this assertive training all by himself? Or has this idea of assertive training before he wrote this book? Also, do you think that this training will be successful in what it is meant to do? The reading was very relevant to our class and discussion because anything related to race is always relevant for us to analyze just to understand what is going on in the world around us in order to become informed citizens. I believe this was a great book to assign for our class, the book is short, has tons of information, and gets to the point from the beginning. In order for