A Wake Up Call

Despite the incendiary title, this book seems mainly a recap of syndicated columnist Rowan's opinions on recent political controversies regarding race, from affirmative action to the rise of Colin Powell to the O.J. Simpson trial. It's hard to tell how much Rowan believes his title: while he doesn't consider race war unavoidable, he says he's not optimistic. Then again, the indices of societal decline Rowan cites--less religious observance, economic malaise, divisive arguments over affirmative action--have provoked other Cassandras but few who predict racial violence. His views are liberal but not radical: critical of Republican administrations but also harsh toward Louis Farrakhan and other hatemongers. He sometimes seems to be settling scores, as when he calls Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen an ""enemy of black people"" for making a defensible argument that ""it's time to limit"" affirmative action. Rowan inflates his first-person narrative by quoting his own columns frequently, as if suggesting that he is at the center of these debates. He does perform a service in emphasizing the need to take right-wing militias seriously; his other recommendations include intensified gun control, greater monitoring of the police, intervention in the lives of the underclass, a revival of public works for the poor and alternatives to prison. (Nov.)