White Violence and Black Response

Book excerpt: 'This book is a splendid contribution to American history, and it deserves praise for its comprehensive and sensitive treatment of a topic that many would like to avoid. By taking the reader through the maelstrom and horrors of the black experience since the Civil War, the book provides a greater understanding of the pathological nature of racism and the profound contradictions between our national ideals and the realities of American society. It also helps dispel the myth that violence has been merely tangential to our national experience. American Historical Review