Disintegration

By Eugene Robinson

Instead of one black America, today there are four.

“There was a time when there were agreed-upon 'black leaders,' when there was a clear 'black agenda,' when we could talk confidently about 'the state of black America'—but not anymore.” —from Disintegration

The African American population in the United States has always been seen as a single entity: a “Black America” with unified interests and needs. In his groundbreaking book, Disintegration, Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist Eugene Robinson argues that over decades of desegregation, affirmative action, and immigration, the concept of Black America has shattered. Instead of one black America, now there are four:

• a Mainstream middle-class majority with a full ownership stake in American society;

• a large, Abandoned minority with less hope of escaping poverty and dysfunction than at any time since Reconstruction’s crushing end;
• a small Transcendent elite with such enormous wealth, power, and influence that even white folks have to genuflect;

• and two newly Emergent groups—individuals of mixed-race heritage and communities of recent black immigrants—that make us wonder what “black” is even supposed to mean.

Robinson shows that the four black Americas are increasingly distinct, separated by demography, geography, and psychology. They have different profiles, different mindsets, different hopes, fears, and dreams. What’s more, these groups have become so distinct that they view each other with mistrust and apprehension. And yet all are reluctant to acknowledge division.

Disintegration offers a new paradigm for understanding race in America, with implications both hopeful and dispiriting. It shines necessary light on debates about affirmative action, racial identity, and the ultimate question of whether the black community will endure.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 5, 2010
• ISBN: 9780385533706

Eugene Robinson

Eugene Robinson has been at The Washington Post since 1980, serving as assistant managing editor since January 1999. His prior positions included foreign editor, London correspondent, and South American correspondent. Born in Orangeburg, S.C., he graduated from the University of Michigan and worked at the San Francisco Chronicle before joining the Post.

Reviews for Disintegration

[steve_walker-348810 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eugene Robinson, columnist for the Washington Post, presents an interesting thesis on make up of Black America at the same time bring the reader up to date on the last 60 years regarding race relations. One thing becomes clear in this book; race in this country is no longer just a matter of black & white. The growth of other minority groups, the recent immigration of families from Asia, Central America, Mexico and the Middle East, have made the issue more complex. There is also the matter of class to deal with. Class in America is a real issue, sometimes it is straight forward and other times it is confused or mixed up with race. If you want to understand where we may be headed socially as a country in the next 25 years read this book.

[joycepa_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

DisintegrationEugene RobinsonEugene Robinson is perhaps best-known as a columnist for the Washington Post, where he comments on the national scene, particularly politics, from his post in the nation’s capital. But he is also an author of several books. This, his latest, is an examination of what he describes as the end of what had been a more or less monolithic Afro-American community.In Robinson’s view, previous to the mid-60s, Jim Crow laws in the South and de facto segregation in housing and discrimination in employment in the North resulted in a more or less communal experience among blacks, and forged an identity and unity that allowed them to survive and to struggle for their rights. But the passing of the Civil Rights Acts in the mid and late 60’s opened up possibilities in housing and employment for blacks that had not existed. In addition, reform of immigration laws saw a wave of black immigration from the Caribbean and Africa. These critical events, according to Robinson, resulted in the splintering of black Americans into four distinct groups: The Transcendent--those with wealth and power; the Mainstream--middle-and upper middle class blacks, the majority; the Emergent--two subgroups, those who are biracial and those who are the new immigrants; the Abandoned--those who live in a cycle of poverty and its attendant ills.To make his case, Robinson uses an impressive and eye-opening array of statistics about black America that had me amazed. “Everybody knows” about the Abandoned and their problems. But how many people really know about the other groups? I had no idea just how large the black middle class was, no idea of the extent of the Transcendent (of whom Barack Obama is merely the most obvious). While I knew that there was immigration from African countries and the Caribbean, I had no idea of the extent--or the kind of people who were immigrating; they are among the best educated of all immigrant groups. It goes on and on.I found it highly informative and utterly fascinating, doubly so because of having read Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns immediately before starting Robinson’s book.But the end of the book somewhat weakens what has gone before. Robinson seems to shift focus, as if he started out to do one thing with the book and wound up doing something else. He ends with serious concern about the Abandoned, which is natural enough--but has very little new to offer. As he himself says, “everyone knows” about these problems, “everyone knows” that Something Has To Be Done. But what? Robinson does not come up with any new ideas, just generalities that “everyone knows.”That was disappointing, but should not deter anyone from reading this excellent, informative book. Highly recommended.