The Myths That Divide Us: How Lies Have Poisoned American Race Relations, Second Edition

To effectively refute any lie, however large or small, it is first necessary to be properly informed. Toward this end, "The Myths That Divide Us" stands as a most important boo on the subject of America's enduring national dilemma -- race. This treatise offers -- in a clear, logical, and intrepid manner -- powerful evidence that the most serious social and economic problems afflicting black Americans are not due to societal racism, but rather to the tragic disintegration of the black family. By taking this position (which the author supports with hundreds of references to vital sociological, historical, and contemporary research), Perazzo's work differs markedly from the vast majority of books on race. While noting that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared as early as 1965 that the civil rights movement had already achieved its principal goals, Perazzo asserts that King's successors have nonetheless done everything in their power to keep alive the false perception that American society mistreats the black community in a host of ways, both overtly and covertly. "They contemptibly use their personal agendas to keep fueling the fire of racial enmity," he says. Perazzo contends that civil rights crusaders evaluate matters of race by two sets of standards. For instance, one chapter of his book discusses how these leaders relentlessly drew worldwide attention to the evils of South African apartheid during the 1980s, yet have said virtually nothing about the far greater atrocities perpetrated against black victims all over the African continent. Another chapter details how civil rights leaders have loudly denounced the white enslavement of blacks that occurred in a bygone age (and have gone so far as to demand that reparations be paid collectively to present-day blacks), yet they have remained silent about the black-on-black slavery that pervaded Africa since time immemorial. Indeed, these leaders refuse even to denounce the modern-day slavery that currently exists in some African nations. Closer to home, Perazzo demonstrates such major points as these: -- Notwithstanding civil rights agitators' irresponsible charges to the contrary, white racism in the United States has declined dramatically since the middle of the 20th century, to the point where the black Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson has said that America "is now the least racist white-majority society in the world." -- Contrary to popular belief, the American criminal-justice system treats black defendants no more harshly than white defendants. -- Affirmative action has heightened racial tensions while doing almost nothing to improve the economic condition of black Americans, and is merely a variation of similar failed policies elsewhere in the world. Perazzo further details research which shows that: -- Fatherlessness, not race, is the most accurate predictor thaty a child will end up in poverty or in prison. -- Black full-time workers today earn slightly more than white workers of the same age, sex, and IQ. -- College-educated, black working couples earn more than similar white couples in every age group and in every region of the country. This book does not tread lightly in its assessment of those individuals currently recognized as the foremost civil rights leaders in the United States. It exposes them, without apology or euphemism, as charlatans who prefer to sermonize rather than educate; who deliver hackneyed platitudes rather than knowledge; and who substitute elaborate exhibitions of moral preening, for reason.