Carol M. Swain

It was only fitting that I finished this book this week when, more than ever before, America's white nationalists took the spotlight.

Like many of my countrymen, I was irate. Wordlessly irate. And since I couldn't scream at anyone, I read.

Published (this edition, anyway) in 2002, it is chillingly prophetic. All those books that made the lists this summer? She mentions ALL of those issues. Scholar that she is, she presented some fairly good solutions(I thought) that now, unfortunately, it might be too late to implement.

The section at the beginning, as she recounts interviews with many leaders of these groups, is disgusting and, for me, at least, subliminally terrifying. But Dr. Swain doesn't seem to feel any of that. At least, she doesn't show that in her writing.

I love her grit, her boldness, and her ability to look at both sides without backing down from her convictions or exhibiting fear. Perhaps the boldness comes from knowing her enemies. And, hopefully, now that I am better acquainted with some, I will be braver too.… (meer)

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I received this book from Booksneeze in exchange for a review.
In Be the People Ms. Swain does a great job of presenting the problems we as a nation face and backing them up with facts. I agree with her on many topics included in this book. As an American of faith I see the way this country is changing and wonder with sadness what will become of us if we do not reclaim America.
This book should make you want to look deeper into issues such as abortion, marriage, immigration, politics and our religious freedoms in America, help you to want to stand up and make a difference and become a praying patriot again!
… (meer)

Lots of ambiguity, some finger pointing but mostly a mix of what should or can be done to fix America.

This book Be the People brought out mixed feeling in me as I could agree on some points with Swain and others I just could not see her point. Swain settles on certain topics that are of major concern right now in our country. These include, in no particular order, immigration, our current president Obama, racism, abortion, national security, current policies, the family and a few more. One point she makes I do not agree with can be found in part two of chapter one under "Banished Virtues." Swain talks about how she feels the United States has lost its grace and common sense and wisdom and gives her reason why. Sometimes it is hard to tell if she is one of the masses who live in the U.S. as a whole or one of our leaders. Either way this doesn't make any sense for her to say this as everyone is an individual in society who thinks differently.

Swain also said "in recent years our nation has been shocked or embarrassed by the actions of U.S. troops." Swain continues by telling us that America has lost it's blessings and advantages because of this. Here she is apparently referring to news coverage of atrocities, tortures, rapes, and even murder that has been committed by U.S. troops. My response to this is that it has always been the case, these atrocities and so forth she speaks of have always gone on in America. Look at past wars, have these same acts not been committed, whether in our country or in other countries for generations. The only difference is that with our advances in getting this on camera and recorded by the news media it now feels like these acts are shocking to Swain. Not shocking to me as I am already informed of the evil in our world as a whole which consumes every nationality on this earth. Why pick on just the troops? How about our neighbors and everything that goes on around us? Swain was better off blaming the media for our country looking badly to other countries.

There is one point she makes that is clear, well made, and makes sense especially right now in our current society. Not to pick on Obama, but he is guilty of this. Although Swain uses the words "nationalistic impulses" I feel she is referring to the nations extremists with this point. Swain feels that it is "the nationalistic impulses of blacks, whites and Hispanics", that "threaten race relations" by taking the attention off of the important aspects and problems in society. I agree on this as by having our leaders pursue racial-group interests instead of what our nation needs as a whole really is a waste of time, money and resources. I feel before Obama even got into office he took the focus off of the well being of the nation as a whole and placed it on race. I felt his whole campaign was based on his race and getting a black man into the presidency as he received most of his votes from the lower class, middle class, blacks and Hispanics in our nation. These is not the majority of the people who were losing, or later lost, their jobs due to the bad choices Obama made once in office. The lower and middle class already had nothing to lose, they already had low paying jobs, if they had a job at all. They were not the ones risking everything to get him into office. Yet to this day, Obama continues singling out the upper class and big business for his next election by pushing higher taxes on them to cover the poor. What better way to bring votes in again for his next presidency. The veil continues to flow evenly even now around the face of Obama followers. I would only recommend this book for reflection or speculation. As I believe America still has most of its roots grounded in what is truly right and wrong when it comes to the beliefs and morals of our nation. I also do believe that when the media has to do with what an individual may base their beliefs on, it just doesn't cover the majority of us who believe in the one true and only true God.… (meer)