Crossings: A White Man's Journey Into Black America

A white man married to a black woman, spurred by a racist joke to feel ``fear and anguish'' for children, Washington Post Magazine writer Harrington decided to ``go out and travel America's parallel black world'' to explore the nation's racial conundrums. As he traverses the North, South and West, Harrington deftly paints vivid, brief scenes: a black businessman visits prison inmates, a worker in a road crew lights up at meeting Jesse Jackson, students at a small college in southern Illinois discuss interracial dating. He meets ``hard cop'' Charleston police chief Reuben Greenberg, filmmaker Spike Lee and novelist James Alan McPherson, who says, ``I'm not a great man, but I'm not just a race person.'' Reflecting on his own relationships with blacks, Harrington revisits relatives and former college classmates. While the insight ``racism still rages, but it is for too many blacks also an excuse'' hardly merits its presentation as a revelation, Harrington rightly observes that America's racial conflicts also involve culture and class. ``Blacks and whites in America are the same and different,'' he concludes, and his thoughtful mosaic should encourage fresh dialogue. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Jan.)