Race and Morality : How Good Intentions Undermine Social Justice and Perpetuate Inequality

After I had finished my presentation, a colleague and I sat rocking on the hotel porch to discuss its merits. It was a picture-perfect fall day in Jekyll Island Georgia, and he was a friend. Yes, he explained, what I was saying seemed to be true. And yes it probably needed to be said, but why did I want to be the one to say it? Wasn't I, after all, a tenured professor who didn't need to make a fuss in order to retain his job? Didn't it make sense to just kick back and enjoy the easy life I had earned? The topic of our tete-a-tete was my speculations about race relations and he was certain that too much honesty could only get me in trouble. Given my lack of political correct­ ness, people were sure to assume that I was a racist and not give me a fair hearing. This was a prospect I had previously contemplated. Long before embarking on this volume I had often asked myself why I wanted to write it. The ideological fervor that dominates our public dialogue on race guaran­ teed that some people would perceive me as a dangerous scoundrel who had to be put in his place. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Moral lnvisiblity....Pages 1-21 Moral Enemies....Pages 23-47 “Died of a Theory”....Pages 49-69 The American Creed....Pages 71-98 The Culture of Slavery: Origins....Pages 99-123 The Culture of Slavery: Outcomes....Pages 125-163 Racial “Empowerment”....Pages 165-191 Change Strategies....Pages 193-223 Natural Resocialization....Pages 225-247 The Black Middle Class....Pages 249-270 The White Middle Class....Pages 271-292 Back Matter....Pages 293-356 "This book attempts to explain why it has been so difficult to solve America's racial problems as the country has moved from what the author describes as a closed caste to an open class society. The author contends that Americans fail to perceive how the legacy of slavery interferes with social mobility and highlights the values that middle-class blacks and whites need to uphold, most prominently the emphasis on freedom as opposed to total equality."--BOOK JACKET.