TURNING BACK: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought and Policy - Hardcover

Steinberg, Stephen

  • 4.36 out of 5 stars
    11 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780807041109: TURNING BACK: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought and Policy
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0807041106 ISBN 13: 9780807041109
Publisher: Beacon Pr, 1995

Synopsis

In a critical assessment of the views of sociologists and public policy-makers on race and racism, the author argues that intellectuals have tried to formulate theories that cover up the roots of racism and social inequality.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Stephen Steinberg teaches in the Department of Urban Studies at Queens College and the Ph. D. Program in Sociology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Reviews

In this astringent, accessible study, Queens College sociologist Steinberg (The Ethnic Myth) takes issue with "the scholarship of backlash"?academic works that oppose remedying racial inequality. Gunnar Myrdal's classic An American Dilemma, the author points out, portrayed racism as a moral problem but did not go so far as to challenge "major political and economic institutions." By the 1960s, the paradigm had shifted, but recommendations in national critiques such as the Kerner Report for achieving racial equality were never implemented. Steinberg takes on both Daniel Patrick Moynihan and sociologist William Julius Wilson for legitimizing the retreat from race-based policies, and even argues that left-winger Cornel West's critique of black "nihilism" differs little from conservative views of ghetto culture. The author sees the retreat from affirmative action as "an unmitigated disaster for African Americans" and warns that U.S. "immigration policy amounts to a form of disinvestment in native workers." And, he says, history suggests that the current step back from racial justice may be followed by a populist move forward. A trenchant, closely reasoned critique of the nation's failure to confront its continuing legacy of racism.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Publisher
Beacon Pr
Publication date
1995
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0807041106
ISBN 13 
9780807041109
Binding
Hardcover
Edition number
1
Number of pages
276
Rating
  • 4.36 out of 5 stars
    11 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780807041215: Turning Back: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought and Policy

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  0807041211 ISBN 13:  9780807041215
Publisher: Beacon Press, 2001
Softcover