Review of Black Anxiety, White Guilt, and the Politics of Status Frustration: (Hardcover)

Here is an excerpt from a review by Edward C. Smith (American University) that appeared in the February 8, 1998 edition of The Washington Times:

"Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Smith make a convincing argument that many successful and affluent blacks see themselves as permanent outsiders and doubt that the white world will ever truly accept them. Additionally, they experience tremendous guilt for 'abandoning' the black world of their nuturing.

The book raises some very sensitive issues that most authors writing on the subject of race avoid like the plague. For example, 'The civil rights era was an astounding success, but it left blacks in competition with whites as formal equals, a condition for which many were unprepared. The consequence was a loss in self-esteem and confidence, as hopes were soon dashed in the wake of inflated expectations of progress.'

The corollary to this remark is the authors' forceful challenge to the pervasive notion that white racisim remains the foremost cause of black fear, failure and frustration as opposed to the erosion of the influence of the black church, the breakdown of so many black families and the spread of the drug culture, which fosters self-indulgent escapism and is violently at odds with a spirit of deferred gratification. Far too many young black people living on society's margins no longer see middle class virtues and values as worthy of emulation....

The authors do not pretend that individual and institutional racism have disappeared. And because they recognize the probably eternal presence of racism in our diverse culture, Mr. O'Connell and Mr. Smith offer several sensible ways in which it can be confronted and reversed. Of course, as one might expect, one solution to racial strife that they vehemently oppose is affirmative action....

Today racial advancement in the workplace is commonly achieved through the use of quotas and timetables. Thus, the authors contend that the tensions between whites and blacks over the value and validity of affirmative action will linger for a long time to come. This is the finest book that I have ever read on this volatile and culturally divisive subject."



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