Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line

This collection of essays by Michael Eric Dyson, who teaches communications at the University of North Carolina, deals with the problem of racial division in America, and explores divisions within the black community. A discussion of O. J. Simpson focuses on the tensions between black celebrities who find a favored niche in white society and those who must contend with a more mundane existence where racism is sharper. Another intra-commnity division arises in the tension between black women and men. One essay points to the similar support bases of Louis Farrakhan and Colin Powell. Another to the rivalries that have developed between the star-studded casts of newly prominent black intellectuals. Dyson offers a wide survey of African-American concerns from racism to rap.