Who We Are:: A Portrait of America Based on the 1990 Census

This study by the urban affairs columnist of the New York Times interprets the raw data from the Census Bureau's national census of 1990. The book contains much information that will come as no surprise to most readers: the number of teenage pregnancies in all ethnic groups is increasing; more than a million Americans are in jail or on probation; the Reagan-Bush administrations benefitted the rich primarily. And there are data which are essentially meaningless, like education measured quantitatively rather than qualitatively. The statistics show the results of racism in the nation: higher infant death rates, shorter life span, 84% joblessness or poverty-level employment for high school dropouts and fewer nuclear families among America's black society. Given the figures compiled here about the country's many troubles, the book serves as a warning that changes must be made. First serial to the New York Times Magazine and Cosmopolitan; author tour. (Mar.)