“As moving as any of the sermons of the Rev. Martin Luther King, as profound as W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk, as exhilarating in their offering of liberation as James Baldwin’s early essays.”
—David Nicholson, Washington Post Book World
“Cornel West is one of the most authentic, brilliant, prophetic, and healing voices in America today. We ignore his truth in Race Matters at our personal and national peril.”
—Marian Wright Edelman
“Exciting . . . illuminating . . . West’s thinking consistently challenges the conventional wisdom [and] confronts the reader with profound and unsettling insights.”
—Robert S. Boynton, Newsday
“A compelling blend of philosophy, sociology and political commentary . . . It directly takes on some of the most volatile issues facing American society today. . . . One can only applaud the ferocious moral vision and astute intellect on display in these pages.”
—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
Preface 2001: Democracy Matters in Race Matters
Preface 1993
Race Matters in Twenty-First Century America
Introduction: Race Matters
1. Nihilism in Black America
2. The Pitfalls of Racial Reasoning
3. The Crisis of Black Leadership
4. Demystifying the New Black Conservatism
5. Beyond Affirmative Action: Equality and Identity
6. On Black-Jewish Relations
7. Black Sexuality: The Taboo Subject
8. Malcolm X and Black Rage
Epilogue
