Saving the Race

Book excerpt: W.E.B. Du Bois’s The Souls of Black Folk is one of the most influential books ever published in this country. In it, Du Bois wrote that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line,” a prophecy that is as fresh and poignant today as when it first appeared in print in 1903. Now, one hundred years after The Souls of Black Folk was first published, Saving the Race reexamines the legacy of Du Bois and his “color line” prophecy from a modern viewpoint. The author, Rebecca Carroll, a biracial woman who was reared by white parents, not only provides her own personal perspective, but she invites eighteen well-known African Americans to share their ideas and opinions about what Du Bois's classic text means today. Lalita Tademy, author Stanley Crouch, cultural critic, novelist A’Lelia Bundles, great-great-granddaughter of Madame C.J. Walker, author David Graham Du Bois, stepson of W.E.B. Du Bois, writer, teacher, activist Touré, novelist, contributing writer for Rolling Stone magazine Julian Bond, chairman of the board, NAACP Thelma Golden, chief curator and deputy director for exhibitions and programs at the Studio Museum of Harlem Kathleen Cleaver, former communications secretary of the Black Panther party Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., civil rights leader and lawyer Cory Booker, former New Jersey councilman, mayoral candidate, activist Jewell Jackson McCabe, founder and president of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women Derrick Bell, professor of law, New York University Elizabeth Alexander, poet and writer Clarence Major, author, poet, artist Terence Blanchard, horn player, film composer Reverend Dr. James Forbes, senior minister of Riverside Church, New York Patricia Smith, poet LeAlan Jones, author The result is an insightful and illuminating collection of interviews both provocative and inspiring. Saving the Race paints a fascinating, complicated, and colorful portrait about the “souls of black folk” in twenty-first century America.