E Pluribus Plurum

After reading Two Nations, one can only conclude that racism is an intrinsic part of life in the United States of America. Step by step and issue by issue, Hacker, with the help of a mountain of statistics and data, makes it clear: Racism cannot be ignored. In fact, Hacker asserts that the severity of the racial divisions has created two nations - one black, another white - within the United States.

In the introduction Hacker states, "Everyone of us could write a book about race." From these first words through the final pages, including statistical tables and references, he demonstrates the reality of the division of the country into black and white.

The very fact that this book could be written using data from many government agencies, research from private corporations, and material from educational institutions is a clear indication of Hacker's point. We are divided in such a way that even in the collection of data about ourselves as a people we must have separate statistics for whites and people of color.

I am sure that Hacker can and will be attacked for his reading and interpretations of such data. For instance, in his analysis of the SAT (a nationally administered standardized college entrance exam), he explains that the test only measures "how well students have prepared for the admission competition, which in turn reflects a willingness to adapt to a structure of success set up by the adult society." Hacker also argues that "the way people cast their ballots often provides an index of how they think and feel about race."

These statements confront those people who believe in the fairness of the educational system and other American institutional structures. Hacker does present his case well, however, and he demonstrates again and again the intentional planning for the continued white control of institutional power.

THE HURDLE FOR ME IN Two Nations was accepting Hacker's judgment that issues regarding race are primarily a division between black and white Americans. He argues that other groups (Asians and Hispanics primarily) have been allowed to put a visible distance between themselves and black Americans, and that "none of the presumptions of inferiority associated with Africa or slavery are imposed on these other ethnicities." He suggests that second and subsequent generations of Hispanics and Asians are merging into the white category. These assessments lead Hacker to conclude that the disparity between black and white is the primary concern when addressing the issue of race.

Hacker may be ultimately right, but I can't help wondering if Asians, Hispanics, and Native Americans in the United States would agree with this conclusion. In light of recent happenings in Los Angeles, do non-black minorities become "honorary" whites only to provide a buffer zone between black and white?

The value of this book, however, lies in Hacker's ability to peel back the layers of lies and excuses of racism through the use of analysis and statistics. He demonstrates regularly how the issue of race influences the daily decisions and thinking of the American people.

Choices about places of residence, parenting and family issues, income and employment, education and schooling, crime, and the American political system are all dissected by Hacker. The results, as he concludes, are that "a huge racial chasm remains, and there are few signs that the coming century will see it closed."

If you believe that "things are getting better"; "blacks like it the way it is"; "the solution is welfare reform"; "all we need is equal educational opportunities"; "government programs will solve the problem"; or "a change in personal attitudes is all we need," read Hacker carefully. He shows how the institutions of the United States of America are basically divided, and therefore, there are no easy solutions. Each of these concerns is compounded by layers of bureaucracy and lies.

Hacker argues starkly that, in order to combat the divisions between black and white, white people will need to know what it means to be white. As I read Hacker, I began to see that we white European Americans need to address the white problem of control and power. The "black problem" will best be resolved when fair, free, and equal have the same meaning for both nations.

Hacker ends the book with these words: "So the question for white Americans is essentially moral; is it right to impose on members of an entire race a lesser start in life, and then to expect from them a degree of resolution that has never been demanded from your own race?"

This book is a must! Be prepared to think, and be ready to learn.

Susan Ruehle was on the pastoral team of Reformation Lutheran Church in the inner city of Milwaukee and was an anti-racism trainer when this review appeared.

Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal. By Andrew Hacker. Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992. $24.95 (cloth).