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Mr. D'Souza presents a rich and heavily documented history of racism in the United States and in the world. His history, like the book itself, tends toward the explosive and controversial rather than the mundane. So, we are treated to the racist babblings of the Ku Klux Klan presented alongside the equally racist meanderings of the current civil rights establishment. We are also treated to a rich compendium of racial statistics, again tending toward the sensational. For example, did you know that in 1991, there were 100 cases of white rapists assaulting black victims, while there were more than 20,000 cases of black rapists assaulting white victims.? What are we to make of this? That black men are sex crazed animals who prefer white women? The white rapists find black women unattractive? D'Souza draws the correct conclusion that rape is a matter of power, not sex, and thus these statistics bear out his hypothesis that blacks are racist too! (He was actually countering a vapid argumen t current in some civil rights circles that blacks can't be racist because it takes power to be racist and blacks don't have any power.) I guess Mr. D'Souza hasn't heard that no one outside of the Beltway or New York liberal intellectual circles thinks that this is a topic for debate.

In the very first chapter, D'Souza sets up a bunch of straw dog questions about racism and proceeds to knock them down, one medium-sized chapter each. Then, in the final chapter, he outlines his conclusions and recommendations. The questions he posed were:

• Is racism just an irrational prejudice?
• Was slavery a racist institution?
• Was segregation instituted to oppress blacks?
• Is American history racist in theory and discriminatory in practice?
• Was the civil rights movement a triumph of enlightenment over the forces of ignorance and hate?
• Has white racism just become more subtle in American institutions?
• Is the civil rights leadership fighting racism?
• Does affirmative action assure equal opportunity for blacks and other minorities?
• Does multiculturalism unite blacks and non-whites immigrants in a fight against white racism?
• Isn't it true that blacks can not be racist, since racism requires power as well as prejudice?
• Doesn't white racism remain the single biggest explanation for black problems?

He invents a new term, civilizational, and then says that black culture is lacking in its values and virtues. I suppose this is a step up from biological stereotyping, but surely an itty-bitty step. This is not prose calculated to make friends in the 'hood. He disses liberal prescriptions artfully, using the simple device of reprinting their own inanities in full. He makes a mockery of black racialist theories by contrasting them with earlier white racialist theories, which they resemble in every aspect, except for who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. In short, he pisses everybody off. I found myself bristling at his words in several sections. It was only after digesting the entire book that I began to realize just how important this book is at this stage of history. Whether you agree with him or not, D'Souza has painted a vivid picture of the problem, surrounding it with ample documented references from the architects of the problem. Not surprisingly, all of us and all our foreparents are implicated. At least he seems to be clear on who are the only people who can and must solve the problem, no matter who caused it...black people themselves.

In summary, Dinesh D'Souza, while taking it relatively easy on his conservative sponsors, has written a wake-up call to all the rest of us by showing us all our own pet theories like so many stupid pet tricks. Just about anyone could profit from reading The End of Racism. You will learn things you did not know. You will be reminded of things you wish you could forget. If you are a libertarian, nothing he says will move you off your beliefs. Conservatives will like him because he offers easy solutions to the "black" problem. Liberals, black and white, are having the most trouble with his words. Next week, I will give you my take on the end of racism. Talk to you later...

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