Color-Blind: Seeing Beyond Race in a Race-Obsessed World - Softcover

Cose, Ellis

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060928875 ISBN 13: 9780060928872

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 1998

Synopsis

Is a truly race-netrual society possible? Can the United States wipe the slate clean and surmount the racism of its past? Or is color blindness just another name for denial? In this penetrating and provocative book, Ellis Cose probes the depths of the American mind and exposes the contradictions, fears, hopes and illusions embedded in our complicated perceptions of race. Looking beyond the platitudes and pronouncements that tend to distort reality rather than illuminate it, Cose offers a visionary analysis of the steps we must take if we are serious about finding a true resolution to the thorny problem of race in America.

About this title

Review:

More than 100 years after the end of slavery, more than 40 years after the end of legal segregation, race remains a powerfully divisive force in American life. Can we ever get past it? Ellis Cose is guardedly optimistic that we can, though he cautions that we won't be able to move from race-relations hell to race-relations heaven without first passing through a kind of purgatory where confusion and misunderstandings abound. In this provocative and challenging analysis, Cose looks at Latin America, the Caribbean, and South Africa, all of which have had similar, but different experiences of race. He concludes with a chapter where he recommends "12 steps towards a race-neutral nation."

From the Publisher:

At a time when Colin Powell is being discussed as a possible vice-presidential candidate for the Republican party, a growing segment of the population is asking whether racial prejudice has lost its power. But not so fast: In this startling, sharply insightful, and eye-opening book, Ellis Cose trains his practiced eye on the murky waters of race in America and looks at the acute differences, even hostility, in our perceptions of race exposed by the 0. J. Simpson trial, not to mention the controversial content of The Bell Curve. In doing so he addresses whether it is possible for the United States to simply wipe the racial slate clean and surmount its racist past, or if color blindness may be just another name for denial.

In a world where it is often believed that lighter skin means higher status, money is the great equalizer, and education will set you free, Color-Blind brilliantly reveals why race may be a larger-and smaller-issue than many people think. With the keen observational powers of a professional journalist and the concrete solutions of a true visionary, Ellis Cose delivers his most powerful and important book to date.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0060928875
• ISBN 13: 9780060928872
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288