The majority of those interviewed are from the Chicago area, which has always been a righteous place to study race. Mr. Terkel talks with blacks, whites, Asians and Latinos, but basically his is a bipolar approach. This word is coming at me now, and it's very startling. Just in the kind of things you hear people say. By the time you are finished, you will hear from someone who speaks to your own experience and attitudes.
Some truths emerge.
It is clear that for many blacks things are better, but it is inescapable that everyone feels jeopardized. Too many of these voices tell us that we're sliding backward, losing the battle to the politics of convenience and government by talk radio. Part of what is frustrating about this book is that it seems like we've heard much of it before. However, there is a powerful cumulative effect. I came away from the book heartened rather than discouraged, for the voices in the most powerful of these stories revealed more hope and strength than despair.