Rating: 
Summary: The Gold Standard
Review: This book is the gold standard against which all other works on affirmative action must be judged. Nowhere else will you you find anywhere near as much hard data on preferential programs, test scores, and the like. Nowhere else will you find a better discussion of the history of dishonesty and downright lawlessness of executive branch bureaucracies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, of the Clinton Administration's criminal end-around on Supreme Court decisions that went against it, and of the perverse behavior of the Supreme Court itself, whose history of flouting the Constitution and the Civil Rights laws alike, gave the Clinton Administration its playbook for cheating. The Thernstroms also show how little interest most "civil rights" organizations ever had in equality before the law. No wonder the Thernstroms are so hated by the cynical, ruthless multicultural/civil rights elites. This book is a classic case of talking truth to power.
Rating:
Summary: The moralists of the Right
Review: This book renders a thoughtful and persuasive treatment of the facts of racial divisions in the United States. The problems encountered by the Thernstroms in propounding on this subject can be summed up in what one anti-reveiwer on this page has written in order to smear another reveiwer with whose opinion he apparently disagrees. To wit, the anti-reveiwer does nothing more than cite a case brought by the CFTC against the son of the targeted reveiwer whom he's attempting to marginalize, much as those who don't agree with the Thernstroms' attempt to marginalize them; and with the same type of faulty facts and sloppy research, just as in the instant case I cite.It's unfortunate that the debate of such momentous and substantive issues, such as the racial problems addressed by the Thernstroms, cannot take place in more temperate tones. It would also be more helpful if reveiwers would focus on and respond to the facts presented in this book, on the merits, rather than opposing them because they affront the complainants belief system. This book reflects some sobering and instructive work. Let's hope the more emotionally balanced among us can use it to further the goal of racial harmony rather than to continue being divisive.
Rating:
Summary: The moralists of the Right
Review: This book renders a thoughtful and persuasive treatment of the facts of racial divisions in the United States. The problems encountered by the Thernstroms in propounding on this subject can be summed up in what one anti-reveiwer on this page has written in order to smear another reveiwer with whose opinion he apparently disagrees. To wit, the anti-reveiwer does nothing more than cite a case brought by the CFTC against the son of the targeted reveiwer whom he's attempting to marginalize, much as those who don't agree with the Thernstroms' attempt to marginalize them; and with the same type of faulty facts and sloppy research, just as in the instant case I cite. It's unfortunate that the debate of such momentous and substantive issues, such as the racial problems addressed by the Thernstroms, cannot take place in more temperate tones. It would also be more helpful if reveiwers would focus on and respond to the facts presented in this book, on the merits, rather than opposing them because they affront the complainants belief system. This book reflects some sobering and instructive work. Let's hope the more emotionally balanced among us can use it to further the goal of racial harmony rather than to continue being divisive.
Rating: 
Summary: important
Review: This book should be read by those who are against and for affirmative action. However, the book neglects the whole premise of race-based admissions: why are those who are against affirmative action so focused on race? Why are they so forceful in their arguments that admissions should be fair for *everyone*, but are oddly silent when it comes to preferential admissions for student-athletes, legacies, or those whose parents make sizable donations? The focus on race, and neglect of these other areas, shows too clearly where those who are against affirmative action are coming from...
Rating:
Summary: A Summarized Tour de Force
Review: This is a beautiful book. I have been alive through most of the events documented in the book. In the times that have gone by I have wondered if the programs the government has sponsored for minorities have made any difference. I hear the continuing rhetoric of the civil rights movement indicating that times are little if any better than in the times of Jim Crow or even slavery. It is wonderful that blacks have made significant gains in the years covered in this book and also wonderful that this book is able to so clearly relate those gains. This book is superb as a one volume summary of economic, political, and educational progress made by blacks. The data, often presented in tables, is very informative, and makes it valuable as a source book of basic facts and ideas concerning the relations between the two races. The conclusions drawn from the data seemed both reasonable and moderate. I did not see the book as one of the previous reviews stated to be a conservative tract. This reviewer pointed out that the authors did not use 1996 data in talking about black representation which is true in the sense that no tabular data was presented but the authors did point out that all black candidates that had been redistricted by the courts decesions won if they ran. That would certainly support the authors contentions about black representation. The reasons that I rated the book as a 9 instead of a 10 is that the chapter on the voting rights acts missed the right level of detail for me. It was either too much for an overview or not sufficiently detailed if it was intended to be exhaustive. That chapter did not really jell for me. The second reason is that I was mildly disappointed that the authors did not enter onto the grounds of discussing potential solutions for the remaining disparities in education and crime. I can certainly see why they didn't as those are very difficult problems without obvious solutions.
Rating:
Summary: A great book!
Review: This is truly a great book about race relations in America. It presents a great case against affirmative action and I suggest that anybody interested in the great debate about race in this nation should buy this book! Also, to the person who wrote "Look at the fact there are no black actors who've won Oscars" in his review of this book, I suggest that he look up Cuba Gooding Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Louis Gossett Jr., and Sidney Poitier. They are all blacks who have won Oscars.
Rating:
Summary: gdcanyon@earthlink.net
Review: This was a class text about race in America. It is a careful balance between recognizing past discrimination (which some conservatives ignore) and demonstrating the problems of some common themes of black victimization (which some liberals ignore). Most of all, this book was very imformative. I think it is FAR more imformative than "The End of Racism" by Dinesh D'Souza (another book I read). This book gives reasons why blacks and whites may feel the way they do. It also documents how far we have come in our race relations in this country. Please read this book if you wish to obtain insight in race relations in the United States.
Rating:
Summary: gdcanyon@earthlink.net
Review: This was a class text about race in America. It is a careful balance between recognizing past discrimination (which some conservatives ignore) and demonstrating the problems of some common themes of black victimization (which some liberals ignore). Most of all, this book was very imformative. I think it is FAR more imformative than "The End of Racism" by Dinesh D'Souza (another book I read). This book gives reasons why blacks and whites may feel the way they do. It also documents how far we have come in our race relations in this country. Please read this book if you wish to obtain insight in race relations in the United States.
Rating: 
Summary: Social Science with an Agenda
Review: While this book seems convincing upon first glance, there are many logical flaws. The Thernstroms have written this book with an agenda, and the resulting bad social science becomes evident upon closer examination. In the chapter on politics for instance, the authors use 1994 numbers to illustrate their point that blacks are properly represented in government and therefore don't need protection. The problem is the 1994 numbers include all the black representatives from the majority black districts which they oppose so strongly. If you subtract those districts, then you suddenly find that blacks are vastly underrepresented by any measure. Be careful when you read this book, if you do not look our for flaws you may buy their story. Examine the data in their tables, and decide for yourself if the disparity between the two races is really satisfactory. This book should be exposed for what it is, a piece of dangerous and suspect sophistry.
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