Dark Thoughts: Race and the Eclipse of Society

In Dark Thoughts prominent sociologist Charles Lemert compellingly argues that race is the central feature of modern culture; this was true for the twentieth century and it will be true for the twenty-first. If we want to understand how the world works, Lemert explains, we must understand the centrality of race in our lives and in the foundation of our society. We must also be able to face up to what we've done to one another in the name of race. In his characteristically engaging prose, the book tells of the important moments of the twentieth century through the writings of such major figures as W. E. B. Du Bois, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Anna Julia Cooper, Nella Larson, and Malcolm X, always with an eye to the complicated ways that race weaves itself through the fabric of our lives. In short vignettes before each chapter Lemert also shares his own complicated history with race--proving a rare and unflinching account.Dark Thoughtsreflects the most urgent social issues at the beginning of thetwenty-first century: race relations, multiculturalism, and social justice.