Paul Robeson Jr Speaks

"Feisty and persuasive essays championing the principle of multiculturalism. Robeson (son of the legendary black actor, singer, and activist) pushes the 'culture war' controversy beyond the narrow confines of university campuses to show how the outcome of this debate could fundamentally affect all levels of U.S. economic and social life."––Kirkus Reviews

"Thoughtful, well-reasoned essays . . . define with unusual precision the issues at stake in the nation's angry cultural wars."––Booklist

"Argues that the melting pot paradigm has excluded blacks. On campus, he says, it should be replaced by the mosaic model."––The New York Times

"A provocative and timely look at current discussions of race, gender, and multiculturalism in American political and cultural life."––Joan W. Scott, Institute for Advanced Study

"I have seldom read a book that is filled with as much prophetic good sense as this one. [It] has more than enough honesty, verve, and brilliance to become a primer for all who have seen the future and believe that it can only work if we commit here and now to the best values of multiculturalism."––David Levering Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor, Rutgers University, author of W. E. B. Dubois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919

"At a time when anti-Semitism has done such unspeakable damage to the historic ties of Blacks and Jews in America, the reasoned and moral tone of Paul Robeson, Jr. on this subject is a welcome and much-needed balm."––Henry Siegman, Executive Director, American Jewish Congress

According to Paul Robeson, Jr., the controversy about multiculturalism is in fact a profound ideological struggle over the values of our national culture. More than a question of the politics of race and gender, the debate is about whether melting-pot culture, the foundation of American life, should be replaced by a mosaic culture incorporating the values of the diverse groups that make up America's population.

     Robeson contends that the melting pot image has not worked for blacks, who are excluded by definition from the blended culture of the ethnic American dream. Basing his argument in part on a rejection of the idea of radical individualism, the author suggests that the absence of a concept of group rights in American history places blacks at a disadvantage.

     Robeson attacks mainstream American culture itself in a series of interrelated essays on his father (Paul Robeson), Clarence Thomas, liberals and conservatives, cultural diversity in the workplace, gender and minorities, blacks and Jews, the black middle class, and the university.

In didactic prose, Robeson, a lecturer who is the son of the famous singer/actor/activist, offers 10 uneven, sometimes redundant essays on multiculturalism. Because the concept of America as a melting pot does not accommodate the assimilation of blacks, he argues, only "group" rights, an idea he doesn't adequately explain, can guarantee equal opportunity. His essay on the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas adds little to the debate, while a more powerful piece describes his father's passion for both Afrocentrism and universalism. Robeson makes a thought-provoking distinction between affirmative action, which he supports for minorities, and quotas, which should help the poor. Analyzing tensions between blacks and Jews, he suggests that the conflict has been exaggerated. Robeson's energetic faith in the Democratic Party's progressivism seems wishful. These essays would have gained power had Robeson offered more of a personal touch or done more to knit them together.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Feisty and persuasive essays championing the principle of multiculturalism. Robeson (son of the legendary black actor, singer, and activist) pushes the ``culture war'' controversy beyond the narrow confines of university campuses to show how the outcome of this debate could fundamentally affect all levels of US economic and social life. Robeson views the panorama of American history--from the Emancipation Proclamation to Ross Perot--as an ongoing struggle pitting the dominant melting-pot philosophy of American life against an alternative ``mosaic'' orientation. Most forms of racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination, Robeson argues, are rooted in melting-pot culture. By discarding the notion of group rights in favor of radical individualism, the melting pot has coerced nonwhite and ethnic-white (e.g., Polish-American) immigrants into conforming to a cultural standard defined and controlled by Anglo-Saxon males. Blacks have fared worst under this system because racial differences preclude full assimilation. Indeed, a ``core melting-pot principle'' has always been to encourage ethnic-white hostility toward blacks in order to assure ``WASP ascension.'' Robeson contends that the solution is to adopt a multicultural mosaic view of society that encourages ethnic/racial group rights and identities. A mosaic society would promote a diverse culture shared by all groups while stigmatizing none. Repudiating radical individualism, this mosaic orientation would employ a ``communitarian logic'' that would seek balance between economic profit and human needs. In related essays, the author comments on the Clarence Thomas controversy, women's rights, and Bill Clinton, whom he praises as the first truly mosaic-minded President. Though the prose veers toward scholarly denseness, these essays cover vital ground in the debate over the future of America's cultural soul. (First printing of 10,000) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Robeson Jr., lecturer on history and archivist of his father's papers, argues that the U.S. "melting pot" image should be replaced by another, such as a mosaic, which suggests greater freedom to retain cultural differences and still be a part of society. Examples from history and current events, such as the Clarence Thomas hearings, Clinton's election, and the Republican presidential campaign, reveal a well-read and informed mind. There is one jarring inaccuracy, in the chapter Gender and the Minority Fixation: "a majority of nineteenth-century White feminists who fought for women's suffrage did not support... abolition." In fact most early suffragists, white or black, were abolitionists first who used their skills to further feminism. Other than this one misstep, this fine book is recommended for all public libraries.
- Anita L. Cole, Miami-Dade P.L. System, Fla.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.