THE RACE AHEAD

An expert explores the legacy of systemic racism in America.

Stewart opens with a traumatic childhood story of witnessing his father fall from a balcony in an alcohol-fueled stupor. Upon later reflection, the author, who is Black, realized that his father’s anger and substance abuse stemmed not from fundamental flaws in his character but were, instead, “a reflection of the social outcomes resulting from the constraints, conditions, and inequities” imposed on Black and other marginalized people, including poor white men. During service in the military, his father had been passed over for a promotion by a white man whom he had trained, and when he questioned the decision, he was called a racial epithet by his commanding officer. Interactions such as these, the book argues, contribute to a “racism of a thousand cuts” that permeates daily life for Black people historically and into the present. Drawing upon a wealth of data, the book makes a convincing argument for the ways that “flawed systems” (such as the endurance of race-based economic injustice) and “modes of thinking” (such as the model minority myth) contribute to the perpetuation of racial bias in American life. Stewart, a former deputy director within President Barack Obama’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Office of Personnel Management, continues to facilitate diversity and inclusion trainings in government agencies and universities across the country and brings that deep experience to bear here. The book, via an abundance of statistical and qualitative data presented with photographs, charts, and other visual aids, efficiently outlines America’s racist history, taking on controversial thinkers, like Charles Murray, who espouses white supremacist views. Stewart offers an accessible, proactive approach to understanding and addressing racism in order to “create a truly equitable and just society.” Though academic studies are referenced throughout, scholarly readers may balk at the lack of formal citations.

A well-researched, compelling case for the necessity of addressing systemic racism.