Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Capitalist Gold-digger, 15 Sep 2003
Having been exposed to a rather scathing review of the book by a person who had yet to read it in its entirety, I approached the book with an open mind, resolving to bring no preconceptions to it as I read, and determined to stay with the book until its very end.Unfortunately, the book IS rubbish. I would advise anyone tempted to find out for themselves to do so by browsing through it at a bookstore, thus avoiding paying money for it and falling victim to this elaborate scam. Dr Onyeani's entire thesis may be summarised thus: Africans (everywhere) consume everything, but produce nothing. They don't manufacture computers, planes, guns and other military weapons, luxury cars, etc. They don't own internet companies, newspapers, banks, media corporations, etc. The book is one continuous whinge at the failure of Blacks to "rise" above their Caucasian "conquerors" (his words). He consistently refers to the success of George Soros and Bill Gates, using them as examples of the Caucasian killer instinct which Blacks, in his opinion, lack. It would be bearable if subsequently he came round to offering a cogent means by which the collective shortcomings of the black race, which he gleefully highlights, can be reversed. Alas, no such luck. On page 177 of a 179 page book, he writes: "After what I believed was the final chapter in the analysis of the sad state of the black race, I decided that I must also offer some solutions to the problems I had enumerated. It was then that I developed the so-called "writer's block"." How convenient! He goes on to explain that, by applying his principles of "Capitalist Niggerism" (again, his words), he has been able to intimidate the importers of Heineken beer into advertising with his newspaper. Beyond that, it is unclear how his principles have differentiated him from the rest of the black race he so readily castigates. Instead he obsessively uses the collective "we" in a shameless attempt at extending the culpability for his personal shortcomings to the entire black race. In my opinion, the book is an outpouring of pent up frustration at unfulfilled ambition. There is nothing of value in it, and you would be better directed to read Robert Kiyosaki's "Rich dad, Poor Dad" if you wanted a financial wake up call. You buy Capitalist Nigger at your own risk.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Very little substance here, 26 Dec 2007
My recommendation is simple: don't buy this book, it's a waste of money - it has nothing new to say. This is not a scholarly work or even a moderately well-researched book. Nor is it well-written or well-organised; rather, it is disjointed and excruciatingly repetitive.
The blurb on the cover of the book states that the writer is editor and publisher of the African Sun Newspaper (aimed at African Americans), and implies that he is somewhat distinguished academically (although we are nowhere told what his qualifications are). I did a Google search on the African Sun Newspaper: there was no mention of it in the Allied Media Corporation's current listing of over 250 African American newspapers. Nor was there any mention of it in Wikepedia. I did another search on the author, Chika Onyeani, and there were no listings either - actually, the search was aborted by Google with a warning that the name could be associated with a possible computer virus!
What about the content of the book? It's nothing more than a rant against the laziness and `slave mentality' of Blacks wherever they are in the world, be it Africa, America or (presumably) elsewhere. We are told that Blacks are the ethnic group with largest proportion of higher academic qualifications out of all ethnic groups in the USA; Black ranks have a disproportionately large share of lawyers, doctors, dentists, academics. However, Blacks are slammed by the writer for failure to demonstrate entrepreneurial flair, or to invest in the building of Black communities and neighbourhoods. Blacks in Africa also come in for a verbal lashing. We are told they have merely substituted indigenous Black oppressors for their previous colonial, Caucasian oppressors and that this likewise results from their ignorance, laziness and slave-mentality.
I searched in vain for evidence of academic scholarship but found none: nowhere does the writer use the tools of economics, sociology, psychology, demographics, political science etc. to distil a penetrating analysis of a complex situation. No secondary sources of respected academic research are tapped. Instead, the author appears to rely entirely on his own impressions interspersed with a smattering of anecdotal evidence from taxi drivers and others. His simplistic prescription for answers to the problems he purports to describe are merely risible.
I purchased `Capitalist Nigger' in South Africa where the author was on tour - not to carry out research - but to promote sales of his book! I think I detect a whiff of hypocrisy here. How frequently he criticises his fellow Blacks for being greedy, taking the `easy' route to loot; for mortgaging their future in favour of short-term gain. He pledges to make `Capitalist Nigger' "the best book for advancing the debate on the state of the Black race." ...and...in the process... to make a lot of money." Now we're getting there!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad but not great......, 7 Dec 2008
There is nothing new in this book as such, but what is new is that this man understands the flaws with many African people across the world. Unlike many far-left white liberals and far-right African nationalists, this man understands that Africans and those whom have African Parentage and heritage are being kept down only by themselves. Everyone has the ability to achieve, but the brain numbing rhetoric that is being plugged into Africans BY Africans and that is being sympathised by white liberals so to emphasise this is that "you will never achieve because of the white man". What this book says is, the white man isn't holding you down, nothing is holding you down only words from those that wish to keep you there for their own benefit. I will always say, until we get past such trivial biological differences as skin colour then we as a race will progress - this book is simply looking at a certain demographic of people, that and it's lack of anything new to me is reason for my rating. However, it should be a wake up call to its target audience, don't blame everyone else and don't even blame yourself, but acknowledge your ability and achieve, like we all can.
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