Review

America in Black and White

One Nation, Indivisible

by Stephan Thernstrom and Abigail Ternstrom

According to liberals, racism is increasingly stifling black progress in America. No black has been hired, gotten into college or otherwise prospered without affirmative action-declared Atlanta's black mayor in 1996. America In Black and White is a fearless challenge to these liberal dogmas. It argues that racism (apart from the "reverse racism" instituted by liberals) has been constantly diminishing, while the lives of blacks have been dramatically improving, over the past century – a trend for which the civil rights movement does not deserve the credit.

The facts, and the causes, of black progress in America

The book traces the political and economic history of blacks in America from the end of the Civil War to the present. What emerges is a picture of continual advancement by blacks. From being rightless chattel, blacks began working themselves out of poverty and into the home-owning middle classes – and beyond. Their average life expectancy rose a full 10 years within only two decades. Once disenfranchised, blacks increasingly became elected representatives. These (and other) advances were occurring well before the civil rights movement of the 1960s came into being. Following the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, this book shows, the lives of blacks improved at a far slower pace. Preferential policies and multicultural grade-school classes have left black children lagging years behind whites in English, math and general cognitive skills. Poverty and unemployment among blacks have declined much less rapidly than before the civil rights movement.

Sadly, the authors' conclusion is wishy-washy. While they say that ending affirmative action pro- grams would not end black progress, they suggest that such programs do have some beneficial effects. A deeper conclusion, however – based on the authors' own evidence – is that affirmative action has stalled black improvement and has institutionalized racial discrimination against any group that happens to be successful.

The authors offer some fascinatingly iconoclastic interpretations: for instance, contrary to the common view that poverty leads to crime, they suggest that cnme perpetuates poverty. The book's real value, however, lies not in analyses, but in the scope of its factual evidence. When confronted wth arbltrary assertions of fact by defenders of "civil rights," readers will find this book a treasure of information.

(704 pages)

This review is courtesy of and copyright © by the Ayn Rand Bookstore.