"This book examines the vexing reality of racial conditions in America today: improved overall, but far more complicated than they used to seem, and in important respects continually depressing. Thirteen essays - by some of the most highly respected experts in the nation - present thoughtful, and often competing, assessments of African American progress and of the prospects for its further enhancement." "The book concludes with a discussion of the feasibility of "reaching beyond race" to build stronger political coalitions for racially progressive policies."--Jacket.