Review by Booklist Review
Keyes received media attention during his campaigns for the U.S. Senate on the Republican ticket and, since losing his contests, has become a radio commentator and talk-show host. In this essay on the causes of the plight of urban blacks, Keyes, an intense rhetorician, should irritate all the apologists for, and would-be expanders of, the welfare state. He begins with an exegesis on how enslaved Africans survived bondage, seeing in the historical development of the black family and Christian church sources for rejuvenation: they continue to be black America's strengths. Keyes then attacks the "betrayal" of "the special moral identity of black Americans" by the established civil rights groups, which habitually demand that the feds materially succor the community, a reflex that Keyes believes mires blacks in "perpetual supplication." In his prescription, empowerment comes from the self and the church and education, not subsidy programs. Though the liberal targets of Keyesian morals will probably dismiss this essay, the fact that it revolves around the nature of black identity and its antecedents in the long night of slavery--a question as central as anything to getting out of the crisis--merits support. ~--Gilbert Taylor
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Black conservative Keyes, who hosts a radio talk show in Baltimore, here presents a broad-brush essay on the history and state of black America. He offers some overblown rhetoric-comparing the ``covert totalitarianism'' of the ``liberal welfare state'' to that of the Soviet Union-as well as suspect analysis, praising Martin Luther King Jr.'s statesmanship but ignoring his increased concern about economic inequality. But he does make worthy points: contra the notorious Moynihan report, black families long embraced family values; the black church has always fostered a black identity with ``moral and religious convictions''; Jesse Jackson jettisoned mainstream black values such as opposition to abortion as he gained prominence. Keyes blames Great Society liberalism for hitching black leaders to a federal tether while vitiating local power bases. This leads to his lightly sketched solution: respect local black institutions and values via ``community empowerment,'' or local self-government that allows neighborhood taxation, law enforcement, welfare programs and education. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A strong but limited argument that the moral center that enabled African-Americans to survive slavery and segregation will serve just as well through the perils of inner-city drugs, poverty, and joblessness. Keyes, a black conservative radio talk-show host, paints the history of African-Americans--from slavery through Jim Crow, the civil rights movement, and the present--as an inherently American battle for liberty, justice, and equality. The problem is that he doesn't go much deeper than this. Each chapter begins with a thumbnail history lesson and segues into a superficial discussion of current hot topics (e.g., welfare, black-on-black violence, Jesse Jackson, Clarence Thomas). Each chapter ends with a verse from a traditional gospel song--the same songs, one presumes, that salved the wounded spirit of blacks throughout the years. When Keyes focuses on religion as a subject, he is at his strongest, forcefully arguing that many African-American leaders have wrongly blamed the black church for being too passive. Keyes points out that while the influence of the church, once the foundation of the African-American community, has declined, no other social structure has emerged to fill the void. His conservatism, however, tends to blur his observations. He talks about the racism of Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, and launches into an anti- choice diatribe about abortion being a black genocide--a theory that not only lacks credibility but also ignores the free will of the thousands of African-American women who choose abortion (in fact, the unique problems of African-American women are hardly explored at all). Urging African-Americans to be ``masters of the dream,'' Keyes repeatedly celebrates a history of triumph over adversity and implies that if African-Americans would only accentuate the positive, their lives would be better. There's nothing wrong with reclaiming black history. But what's needed now is a vision for the future. Keyes provides none.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Review by Booklist Review
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review
