Race and Morality

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiii

   PDF

2. Moral lnvisiblity

   • Melvyn L. Fein

   Pages 1-21

3. Moral Enemies

   • Melvyn L. Fein

   Pages 23-47

4. “Died of a Theory”

   • Melvyn L. Fein

   Pages 49-69

5. The American Creed

   • Melvyn L. Fein

   Pages 71-98

6. The Culture of Slavery: Origins

   • Melvyn L. Fein

   Pages 99-123

7. The Culture of Slavery: Outcomes

   • Melvyn L. Fein

   Pages 125-163

8. Racial “Empowerment”

   • Melvyn L. Fein

   Pages 165-191

9. Change Strategies

   • Melvyn L. Fein

   Pages 193-223

10. Natural Resocialization

    • Melvyn L. Fein

    Pages 225-247

11. The Black Middle Class

    • Melvyn L. Fein

    Pages 249-270

12. The White Middle Class

    • Melvyn L. Fein

    Pages 271-292

13. Back Matter

    Pages 293-356

    PDF

After I had finished my presentation, a colleague and I sat rocking on the hotel porch to discuss its merits. It was a picture-perfect fall day in Jekyll Island Georgia, and he was a friend. Yes, he explained, what I was saying seemed to be true. And yes it probably needed to be said, but why did I want to be the one to say it? Wasn't I, after all, a tenured professor who didn't need to make a fuss in order to retain his job? Didn't it make sense to just kick back and enjoy the easy life I had earned? The topic of our tete-a-tete was my speculations about race relations and he was certain that too much honesty could only get me in trouble. Given my lack of political correct­ ness, people were sure to assume that I was a racist and not give me a fair hearing. This was a prospect I had previously contemplated. Long before embarking on this volume I had often asked myself why I wanted to write it. The ideological fervor that dominates our public dialogue on race guaran­ teed that some people would perceive me as a dangerous scoundrel who had to be put in his place.

• Moral
• mobility
• morality
• social justice

'[...]it is well researched and provides a substantial amount of social thought on the issue of race equality that is collected in one place.'
Contemporary Sociology, 31 (2002)

• Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, USA

  Melvyn L. Fein

Policies and ethics