Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America

· Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Laila Lalami
4.8
4 reviews
Audiobook
5 hr 48 min
Unabridged
Eligible
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About this audiobook

A New York Times Editors' Choice • Best Book of the Year: Time, NPR, Bookpage, L.A. Times

What does it mean to be American? In this starkly illuminating and impassioned book, Pulitzer Prize­­–finalist Laila Lalami recounts her unlikely journey from Moroccan immigrant to U.S. citizen, using it as a starting point for her exploration of American rights, liberties, and protections.

"Sharp, bracingly clear essays."—Entertainment Weekly

Tapping into history, politics, and literature, she elucidates how accidents of birth—such as national origin, race, and gender—that once determined the boundaries of Americanness still cast their shadows today.
 
Lalami poignantly illustrates how white supremacy survives through adaptation and legislation, with the result that a caste system is maintained that keeps the modern equivalent of white male landowners at the top of the social hierarchy. Conditional citizens, she argues, are all the people with whom America embraces with one arm and pushes away with the other.
 
Brilliantly argued and deeply personal, Conditional Citizens weaves together Lalami’s own experiences with explorations of the place of nonwhites in the broader American culture.

Ratings and reviews

4.8
4 reviews
Stanley O'Shea
November 6, 2022
I expected to listen to a memoir based on the advertisement from some website, but this book turned out to be more politically oriented than storytelling. I love the fact that she did intensive research on these topics and showed us her perspective. I disagree with her on some issues, but seriously, this book is well written with clarity and authenticity.
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