Exploring the basic conflict between the legal equality that black men possess as U.S. citizens and their social isolation stemming from white America's perceptions of them as culturally alien, the author sets out to provoke, stimulate, and change the negative images and stereotypes that indicate a fundamental defect in the mainframe of American culture. As the author states, the purpose of this book is not to defend the black male, but to deconstruct him and to libertate him from the negative images and stereotypes that have stultified his existence. Largely through the victories of the Civil Rights movement, everyone in the United States is-formally-equal. Yet there remains a basic conflict between that legal equality and the social isolation of black men that stems from white America's perceptions of them as, by nature, culturally alien.This tautly argued, eloquently written, and passionate book is must reading for anyone concerned with the ongoing problems of the American dilemma. Each essay in this wide- ranging book will provoke, stimulate, and change one's view of the myths and stereotypes surrounding black men.

Explores the pervasiveness of negative images of black males in U.S. society indicating a fundamental defect in the mainframe of American culture itself.

PrefaceIntroductionThe Blessings of HistoryGangs of New York: The Study of the Jogger TrialWhat's My Name: The Politics of Reception and the Politics of RapGuess Who's Coming to DinnerWill You Let the Tiger Loose?: The Rhetoric of Race in American Criminal TrialsCrimes of Identity: The Birth of the Racial ProfileDon't Hate the Player, Hate the Game: The Black Male as the AthleteAppendixBibliographyIndex