Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line

"You couldn't ask for a fairer-minded, better-informed, or more enjoyable guide."
--Elle

As a former welfare father who is also an ordained Baptist minister and a Princeton Ph.D., Michael Eric Dyson is one of those rare intellectuals who act not only as interpreters between black and white America but as bridges between the academy and the street. In this brave, bracing, and vastly readable book, he identifies the hidden rules that govern interactions between the races and within black communities, poisoning our language, our politics, and our thinking.

From the O. J. Simpson trial to the generational politics of gangsta rap, and from Colin Powell to Louis Farrakhan, Dyson takes on the most contentious issues of the 1990s. Again and again he shows us that, in a society that prides itself on being color-blind, race is more important--and more pernicious--than ever. Filled with eloquence and erudition, wit and moral common sense, Race Rules is an invaluable guide to the America we really live in as well as a redemptive vision of the one we want for our children.

"Dyson's insightful analysis comes to life on topics ranging from hip-hop culture to black leadership. "
--Atlanta Journal & Constitution

This collection of essays by Michael Eric Dyson, who teaches communications at the University of North Carolina, deals with the problem of racial division in America, and explores divisions within the black community. A discussion of O. J. Simpson focuses on the tensions between black celebrities who find a favored niche in white society and those who must contend with a more mundane existence where racism is sharper. Another intra-commnity division arises in the tension between black women and men. One essay points to the similar support bases of Louis Farrakhan and Colin Powell. Another to the rivalries that have developed between the star-studded casts of newly prominent black intellectuals. Dyson offers a wide survey of African-American concerns from racism to rap.