Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America by Eugene Robinson

Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist for the Washington Post. I heard an interview with him on NPR's Fresh Air and I immediately went out and bought his new book, Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America.

I have to admit I didn't grow up knowing a lot of black Americans, and Portland, Oregon is not exactly a hot bed of racial diversity, so it was very interesting to read the insights of an expert. This is a very easy book to read and there are just enough personal stories scattered among the statistics and facts to keep the pages turning.

In a nutshell, Robinson proposes that there is no longer a unified black America, or any one person, ala Martin Luther King or Jesse Jackson that speaks for black people. He presents a very persuasive case that black America has splintered into four distinct entities. First, there are the transcendent elites such as Oprah, Vernon Jordon, Tiger Woods and the like who are among the most powerful people in the US. There is the fast growing middle class that are attaining the American dream, living in nice neighborhoods, running their own businesses, and sending their kids to good colleges. There are two groups of emerging populations, children of bi-racial marriages such as President Obama, who still see themselves as black, and a huge influx of African immigrants, who's children are going to ivy-league schools at a higher rate than white or Asians. Lastly there are the abandoned, or as my friend J White says, the folks left in the hood.

Robinson does a great job explaining how we got to this splintering, and what it might mean for the country in the long run, but the real tragedy and the area of biggest concern are the abandoned. Why are so many black Americans still stuck in poverty, when all around them others are advancing to the middle class and beyond? What can we do to make a difference? If these questions interest you, you will find this to be a great read.