How Race Is Lived in America
   Correspondents of The New York Times
   Introduction by Joseph Lelyveld
  2001 Henry Holt & Co. NY USA
   ISBN: 080506740X


In Pulling Together, Pulling Apart, 15 editors & writers for The New York Times asked one central question: “What are race relations like today?” These are the raw stories & candid observations they found just below the surface of this country's private & public discourse on race relations.

That said: hold onto your hats - this is one windy walk through race consciousness.

Joseph Lelyveld is executive editor of The New York Times & in his Introduction he tells us of the history of how this book came about; how the editors & reporters set about finding answers to their seemingly simple question & what affect their search had upon the group as a whole.

Most of my life I have been an alien, an outsider, cast into an undesirable caste by the society in which I was raised. Thus it seemed ordained that I would find my way to the Anti-Apartheid Movement in London just as Nelson Mandela was incarcerated. After I emigrated to America, I found myself working behind the scenes during the Civil Rights Movement in 1965 Chicago. So, thoughts & writings about the state of racial consciousness in this great nation of ours, has a particular call for me.

To single out any one story, any one article is to separate the beads of a necklace & in doing so destroy the whole, so needs must I review How Race Is Lived in America this way:

In Part I, The Stories:

Shared Prayers, Mixed Blessings by Kevin Sack - in the land of the Ku Klux Klan they share the same church. As black folks sing their hearts out a few white folks wonder why black folks are so obsessed with race.

Best of Friends, Worlds Apart by Mirta Ojito - two immigrant Americans, one black & the other not - both from Cuba who knew each other there. How different it is in America!

Which Man's Army by Steven A. Holmes - integrated since 1948, the US Army is one of the few institutions in which blacks routinely boss whites. It's also about getting promoted & whether race has something to do with it.

Who Gets to Tell a Black Story? by Janny Scott - about an Emmy winning movie that nearly didn't get made because the writer was not the right color.

A Limited Partnership by Amy Harmon - when two men, one black & one white, build an Internet research company garnering each a net worth of millions, who gets the much vaunted position of CEO & why?

At a Slaughterhouse, Some Things Never Die by Charlie LeDuff - one of the things you learn in a hog plant is that not everyone has to work with a knife. Whites, Blacks, American Indians & Mexicans all have their separate stations.

When to Campaign with Color by Timothy Egan - on charting the course of a campaign if you're anything other than white. Three politicians, one state.

Reaping What Was Sown on the Old Plantation by Ginger Thompson - when land rich & money poor white folks & National Park Service folks think about slavery.

Growing Up, Growing Apart by Tamar Lewin - in the course of one year, three girls from three ethnic backgrounds, best friends through Middle School, face the harrowing loss of innocence & the gaining of prejudice.

The Hurt Between the Lines by Dana Canedy - when one word drives a chasm between erstwhile comrades & award-winning coworkers.

The Minority Quarterback by Ira Berkow - through the looking glass as one white football player joins an all black college.

Guarding the Borders of the Hip-Hop Nation by N. R. Kleinfield - what's a white guy doing in the Hip-Hop Nation? Having a blast avoiding the traps & trappings.

Why Harlem Drug Cops Don't Discuss Race by Michael Winerip - what's the one great fear a black undercover cop has? Being mistaken for a perp by his white colleagues who don't work on his shift.

Bricks, Mortar and Coalition Building by Mireya Navarro - how racial & ethnic groups put aside their suspicions & rivalries to achieve political power in a Texas city.

Getting under My Skin by Don Terry - brotherhood across the divide of divided families & blood lines. When one brother looks black & the other does not - which do you choose?

In Part II, Conversations are:
Removing the Filter: Unmediated Conversations about Race;
Writing about Race(and Trying to Talk about It); &
Knowing Your Subject, Knowing Yourself: Journals from the Writers and Photographers who speak their piece about their piece & make peace with the process - their stories are as vital as the previous ones & just as telling as they tell about their own prejudices, foregone assumptions & epiphanies.

How Race Is Lived in America touches each & every one of us: from the farmer in the field eyeing the Indians as they drive by on their way to a hunt he is no longer allowed to make to the dainty dames in Southern places who simply can't understand what all the fuss is about; to athletes whose prowess on the field is less than their will to survive; to best friends torn apart by the pressures of their cultures to laborers in bloody jobs whose blood all runs red & to anyone who sees others shrink away because of their skin color & what it symbolizes.

This is a keeper for it will take a while to think through the dust How Race Is Lived in America raises!

It is to be noted that the Correspondents of The New York Times have just been awarded a Pulitzer Prize for this work - very well done!
(05/06/01)

Rebecca