Rituals Of Blood: The Consequences Of Slavery In Two American Centuries (Frontiers of Science)

African Americans have triumphed over slavery and continue to fight the good fight against racism and segregation in America, but according to noted Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson, the battles have exacted a heavy price on Afro-American social relations. With pointed, precise, and often painful prose, Patterson outlines several areas of contention in the black community: combustible male-female relations, the destructive media images of African American males, and the horrible legacy of lynching and its parallel of religious sacrifice. His conclusions may be controversial for some, as were those of 1997's The Ordeal of Integration, but Patterson takes on the role of a doctor willing to endure the protests of his patient to lead him to good health. --Eugene Holley Jr.