The truth is that an ugly experience with racism is never more than a trip out of the door of their homes for most African-Americans. It is not at all reaching to speak of the intransigence of whites in regard to racism. The blogosphere is as good an example as any. References to a black or brown person in this largely Rightist venue are often patronizing, insulting or both. Bloggers such as Glenn Reynolds, Dean Esmay and the pseudo-Klansmen at Silfray Hraka have posted material that reads like it was written in 1903, not 2003. (A recent example I recall is Esmay's ridiculous claim Strom Thurmond treated his mixed-race daughter well.) More telling, some 'liberal' bloggers do not hesitate to join them in their racism at the drop of a hat. Apparently, Lasch-Quinn is living in some alternate universe where racism is dead. The rest of us are not. If Dickerson said progress was made as a result of the civil rights movement and that white people's stubborness about their racism is still a crushing problem, she isn't being contradictory. She is just telling it like it is.
Not surprisingly, the reviewer commends Right Wing African-American pundits such as Shelby Steele and Orlando Patterson while she damns Dickerson with faint praise. My understanding of her review a day after reading it is that I learned enough about Dickerson's book to buy it, but more than I cared to in regard to Lasch-Quinn's biases. I may or may not agree with most of what Dickerson says, but I would have appreciated a more balanced treatment of her work.
Note: This entry also appeared at Silver Rights.
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