By Ellis Cose. Unswayed by the fact that the rise of a black middle class and a measurable decrease in explicit racism among whites means progress, advocates for greater racial equality point to precarious accomplishments and nagging resistance. Frustrated to see their good will denied, an increasing number of whites respond by turning their attention elsewhere or claiming to be victims themselves.
Guilt is gone.
With some exceptions, whites no longer feel it and blacks no longer want them to. Ellis Cose, a contributing editor at Newsweek, has written a book this country desperately needs, one with genuine healing potential. And he has done so without modifying his belief that significant racial injustice persists in the United States. While discrimination for most blacks is an unfortunate fact of life,'' he writes, ''it is no longer . . . Americans like to make their political judgments from anecdotes.