March 2023 MBR The African-American Studies Shelf

The African-American Studies Shelf

The State of Black America
W. B. Allen, editor
Encounter Books
900 Broadway, Suite 601, New York, NY 10003
www.encounterbooks.com
9781641772662, $31.99, HC, 352pp

https://www.amazon.com/State-Black-America-Progress-Pitfalls/dp/1641772662

Synopsis: In a nation that is tearing itself apart over race, trying to speak honestly about the state of black America is a perilous task. Candor and thoughtfulness are often drowned by hysteria, expediency, and sentimentalism. With the publication of "The State of Black America: Progress, Pitfalls, and the Promise of the Republic", compiled and edited by Professor W. B. Allen, seeks to restore these sorely needed virtues to the present discourse, assembling a company of scholars who confront our nation's troubled racial history even as they bear witness to the promise the American heritage contains for blacks.

Collectively, the eight erudite essays comprising "The State of Black America" bring clarity to the murky darkness of America's race debates, reviewing and building upon the latest scholarship on the character, shape, and tendencies of life for black Americans. Together, they tell a story of black America's astounding success in integrating into mainstream American culture and propose that black patriotism is the key to overcoming what problems remain.

Featuring contributions from W. B. Allen, Mikael Rose Good, Edward J. Erler, Robert D. Bland, Glenn C. Loury, Ian V. Rowe, Precious D. Hall, Daphne Cooper, Star Parker, and Robert Borens each of whome were drawn from a variety of disciplines, including history, economics, social science, and political philosophy, "The State of Black America" offers to the world a kind of "toolbox" of intellectual resources to aid careful and sound thinking on one of the most fraught issues of our time.

Critique: A timely and significant contribution to our present national dialogue concerning race relations in contemporary America, "The State of Black America: Progress, Pitfalls, and the Promise of the Republic" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Political and Race Relations collections. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students, academia, political activist, governmental policy makers, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject that "The State of Black America: Progress, Pitfalls, and the Promise of the Republic" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: William B. Allen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Allen) is a resident scholar and the former chief operating officer of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education in Washington, D.C. He is also an Emeritus Professor of Political Philosophy in the Department of Political Science and an Emeritus Dean of James Madison College at Michigan State University. In 2018 - 20 he was senior scholar in residence at the University of Colorado Boulder. He served previously on the United States National Council for the Humanities and as chairman and member of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Recognized for excellence in liberal education on the 1997 Templeton Honor Roll (individually and institutionally), he also has been a Kellogg National Fellow, received the international Prix Montesquieu, and was the 2014 Salvatori Award winner. He has published extensively, including George Washington: A Collection (Liberty Fund, Inc.), Rethinking Uncle Tom: The Political Philosophy of H. B. Stowe (Lexington Books), and George Washington: America's First Progressive (Peter Lang, Inc.).

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