Reckoning with Race:

A Talk with Gene Dattel, Author of

Reckoning with Race: America's Failure

Author Gene Dattel will speak on "Reckoning with Race" on Tuesday, January 16 at 6 p.m at the Ernest A. DiMattia, Jr. Building of The Ferguson Library in Stamford.

His appearance is part of a series on Civility in America sponsored by The Dilenschneider Group, Hearst Media Group in Connecticut and The Ferguson Library.

Amidst continuing racial unrest and endless calls for a “national conversation,” why is it that Americans cannot have a frank discussion about race?  In Reckoning with Race: America’s Failure, Gene Dattel confronts America's seemingly intractable problem with an enlightening and provocative analysis.  He examines racial issues through black voices. Tracing American racial issues from the early nineteenth century to the present day, he shows why the mass of black Americans have failed to enter the economic mainstream and take their place as first-class citizens. The book deals with the past - injustices, discrimination, the lack of mobility, and the obstacles to assimilation.

Reckoning with Race pulls no punches in assessing the role of black leadership since the 1960s.  Mr. Dattel contrasts the heroes of that decade to present-day leaders and their organizations, noting their reactions—and those of white America—to the racial roadblocks of the post—civil rights years.

Mr. Dattel is also the author of Cotton and Race in the Making of America, the seminal work on the socio-economic implications of slavery and cotton industry. 

Robert L. Dilenschneider, founder and president of The Dilenschneider Group, who conceived the idea for the series, said, “Incivility has become socially acceptable and commonplace.  The lack of civility in every segment of society, from politics to academia, from the media to the blogosphere, from talk radio to the pulpit, has become a crippling epidemic that threatens the future of our country.  Something must be done.”

For information about the series, call (203) 351-8231. Register below.