Description

"at the dangerous edge of social justice" is a searing indictment of reprehensible -- and murderous -- racist behavior in America and a tribute to those who had the courage to confront hatred, knowing full well the cost. Chapters include; Emmett Till, murdered in Mississippi at 14, in 1955; Medgar Evers, killed in Mississippi at 37, in 1963; Malcolm X, killed in New York City at 39, in 1965; Martin Luther King Jr., killed in Memphis at 39, in 1968; James Byrd Jr., killed In Jasper Tx., at 49, in 1998 and Trayvon Martin, killed in Florida at 17, in 2012. Additional chapters include homages to icons Rosa Parks and Fannie Lou Hamer; John Howard Griffin, who dyed his skin black to write the classic "Black Like Me" and Grace Halsell, who dyed her skin black and wrote "Soul Sister"; Rodney King and others. An Epilogue reveals how much America has yet to achieve to become a truly post-racial society: Black Americans are twice as likely as white Americans to live in poverty; Black Americans are twice as likely as white Americans to be unemployed; the median family income of black Americans is only 67 percent of that of white Americas -- and on and on and on. Contains an extensive Sources section, Suggested Readings and Index. This is a sad, tragic -- and powerful -- book.