The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America

Civil rights workers sometimes said that for every step toward racial progress, the community would often slide two steps back. This ""unsteady march"" is documented in this unflinching portrait of the leviathan of American race relations. Klinkner (The Losing Parties) teaches government at Hamilton College and Smith (a Pulitzer finalist for Civic Ideas) teaches race and politics at Yale. They contend that racial progress hinges on three factors: a pending large-scale war, supportive government rhetoric and strong domestic political organizations or advocacy groups. ""The normal experience of the typical black person in U.S. history has been to live in a time of stagnation and decline in progress toward racial equality,"" they assert. Their dense and compelling synthesis of many primary and secondary sources bears out a long history of atrocities and political maneuvering from the time of the Revolution through the Clinton presidency, while highlighting the role of the black press and the moods of various communities. The authors' theories will likely spur debate, yet they offer scholarly confirmation of a notion widely held in the black community for many decades. Acknowledging that the modern civil rights movement has irrevocably transformed this country, Klinkner and Smith conclude by arguing that there are nonetheless ""abundant similarities"" between our racial and political debates and those of the late 19th century. This important book should be read by all who aspire to create a more perfect union. (Nov.)