Promotional Information

Winner of the Horace Mann Bond Award of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for Afro-American Research at Harvard University

About the Author

Philip A. Klinkner is an associate professor of government at Hamilton College.

Rogers M. Smith is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania.

Reviews

"[An] unflinching portrait of the leviathan of American race relations.... This important book should be read by all who aspire to create a more perfect union." - Publishers Weekly, starred review; "Could it be that our unswerving belief in the power of our core values to produce racial equality is nothing but a comforting myth? That is the main argument put forth by Philip Klinkner and Rogers Smith... The Unsteady March is disturbing because it calls into question our cherished national belief and does so convincingly.... [It] is beautifully written, and the social history it provides is illuminating and penetrating." - Aldon Morris, American Journal of Sociology

Political scientists Klinkner (Hamilton Coll.) and Smith (Yale) argue that American racial progress has occurred only in ten- to 15-year bursts and then only in three specific sets of circumstances: when war required black bodies, when fighting an enemy required egalitarian rhetoric, or when domestic political protest pressured for reforms. Progress, they note, has always been followed by years of stagnation and decline, as the white elite reconsolidates its (entrenched) power, blocking reform and embracing inequalities. In other words, whether we shall overcome depends on the national will to realize classic American ideals. The authors' rigorous, exhortatory exposition promises to unsettle some readers, but, in the end, it stands with important works such as Jennifer L. Hochschild's Facing Up to the American Dream: Race, Class, and the Soul of the Nation (Princeton Univ., 1995). It calls on Americans to confront the persistent black-white divide and the disparity between democratic promise and practice. Recommended for the U.S. politics, history, or race relations sections of public and academic collections.ÄThomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., Tempe Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

"[An] unflinching portrait of the leviathan of American race relations.... This important book should be read by all who aspire to create a more perfect union." - Publishers Weekly, starred review; "Could it be that our unswerving belief in the power of our core values to produce racial equality is nothing but a comforting myth? That is the main argument put forth by Philip Klinkner and Rogers Smith... The Unsteady March is disturbing because it calls into question our cherished national belief and does so convincingly.... [It] is beautifully written, and the social history it provides is illuminating and penetrating." - Aldon Morris, American Journal of Sociology