How we categorize ourselves, in comparison with how others classify us, is the subject of these eight essays that give the reader much to contemplate. A black Briton who writes for the Guardian and the Nation, Younge is the author of two... Read More

On August 31, 1886, the largest earthquake ever centered in the eastern United States, destroyed much of Charleston, South Carolina. Tremors were felt as far north as Maine and west of the Mississippi River; it was stronger than the 2010... Read More

From 1652 to 1994, South Africa was ruled by a succession of white regimes notorious for exploiting the non-white population. Apartheid, imposed on the non-whites beginning in 1948, made life for blacks a living hell, and for Indians... Read More

Among the far right are media personalities, politicians, and denizens of the blogosphere who spew anti-Obama venom that stirs their followers to such a fevered pitch that three preachers prayed publicly for Obama’s death, notes... Read More

The call of the road might be the most iconic and enduring American image. Authors from de Tocqueville to Steinbeck to Kerouac, motion pictures (who of a certain age could forget John Belushi’s battle cry, “Road Trip!” in Animal... Read More

In 1968, roiled by racial protests, urban riots, and the Vietnam War, life changed abruptly for Omaha, Nebraska, just as it did for the US. ‘The Rhythm Boys,’ Omaha Central’s great basketball team, unified blacks and whites,... Read More

The “Heart of Dixie” is what Alabamians like to call their home state, but the realities behind this image, as the author demonstrates, reveal a place flawed by minimal support of public services, an abusive penal system, disregard... Read More

Much has been and will be written on Barack Obama the politician, but until now, little has appeared on Obama the intellectual. This lucid investigation of the president’s intellectual roots is an important addition to Obama literature... Read More