 | |
| Author | Cornel West |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Race issues |
| Genre | Social science |
| Publisher | Vintage Books |
Publication date | 1993 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 159 |
| ISBN | 0-679-74986-1 |
Race Matters is asocial sciences book byCornel West. The book was first published on April 1, 1993, byBeacon Press. The book analyzesmoral authority and racial debates concerningskin color in the United States. The book questions matters of economics and politics, as well as ethical issues and spirituality, and also addresses the crisis in black American leadership.
The book consists of an introduction, followed by eight essays, many of which previously appeared in other publications, such asThe New York Times Magazine,Dissent andZ Magazine. In order, these essays are:
Michiko Kakutani praisedRace Matters, writing inThe New York Times "one can only applaud the ferocious moral vision and astute intellect on display in these pages", though she criticized his proposed solutions to racial problems as 'vague and sentimentally utopian'.[1]
A positive review inThe Washington Post stated that "there are parts of this book that are as moving as any of the sermons of the ReverendMartin Luther King Jr., as profound asW.E.B. Du Bois'The Souls of Black Folk, as exhilarating in their offering of liberation asJames Baldwin's early essays".[2]
Race Matters received a positive review inPublishers Weekly, which called the book 'powerful' and said that the essays 'solidify [West's] position as one of the nation's leading public intellectuals'[3]
The book was positively received byKirkus Reviews, which praised West's 'clear thinking and sensible analysis' though stated that, in aiming for a broad audience 'West perhaps too much curtails his customary intellectual range'.[4]
