cover image Challenging the Civil Rights Establishment: Profiles of a New Black Vanguard

Challenging the Civil Rights Establishment: Profiles of a New Black Vanguard

Joseph G. Conti. Praeger Publishers, $23.95 (264pp) ISBN 978-0-275-94460-5

This detailed, accessible volume analyzes the theories of four prominent black conservatives--academics Thomas Sowell and Glenn Loury, essayist Shelby Steele and Robert Woodson, founder of the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise--who argue that ``ideological pretension has overrun clear thinking and the empirical data of human experience when it comes to discussions of race and culture.'' Accordingly, they do not see racism as monolithic; they are prepared to criticize ghetto culture; and they question racially based affirmative action. While Conti and Stetson delineate their subjects' positions in a nuanced way, they stint on reporting on their critics. Moreover, the authors exaggerate, suggesting that liberals are monolithic on racial issues and claiming that the media ignore these four thinkers. Conti is a doctoral candidate in social ethics at the University of Southern California, Stetson teaches social ethics at San Francisco Seminary. (May)