Left in the dust

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Laurence M. Hauptman

In the nine essays in this volume, Laurence M. Hauptman selects topics from the seventeenth century to the present as examples of some commonly held but erroneous views on Indian-white relations, including campaigns to pacify and christianize Indians, policies of removal, and stereotypes of Indians as mascots for sports teams or Hollywood film sidekicks. Some misconceptions arise from mistaken claims that pass as fact, such as the notion that the U.S. Constitution derived some of its concepts from the Iroquois. The misuse of terms such as genocide and paternalism has also obscured the experience of individual Indian nations or dulled perceptions about Anglo-American avarice. The tribal sovereignty guaranteed by treaties and, at the same time, the Native Americans' United States citizenship have confused many who assume Indians receive special considerations.

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Daria Roithmayr

"This book is designed to change the way we think about racial inequality. Long after the passage of civil rights laws and now the inauguration of our first black president, blacks and Latinos possess barely a nickel of wealth for every dollar that whites have. Why have we made so little progress? Legal scholar Daria Roithmayr provocatively argues that racial inequality lives on because white advantage functions as a powerful self-reinforcing monopoly, reproducing itself automatically from generation to generation even in the absence of intentional discrimination. Drawing on work in antitrust law and a range of other disciplines, Roithmayr brilliantly compares the dynamics of white advantage to the unfair tactics of giants like AT & T and Microsoft. With penetrating insight, Roithmayr locates the engine of white monopoly in positive feedback loops that connect the dramatic disparity of Jim Crow to modern racial gaps in jobs, housing and education. Wealthy white neighborhoods fund public schools that then turn out wealthy white neighbors. Whites with lucrative jobs informally refer their friends, who refer their friends, and so on. Roithmayr concludes that racial inequality might now be locked in place, unless policymakers immediately take drastic steps to dismantle this oppressive system. Daria Roithmayr is the George T. and Harriet E. Pfleger Professor of Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. An internationally acclaimed legal scholar and activist, she is one of the country's leading voices on the legal analysis of structural racial inequality. Prior to joining USC, Professor Roithmayr advised Senator Edward Kennedy on the nominations of Clarence Thomas and David Souter, and taught law at the University of Illinois"--

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Paul M. Sniderman, Edward G. Carmines

If white Americans could reveal what they really think about race, without the risk of appearing racist, what would they say? In this innovative book, Paul Sniderman and Edward Carmines illuminate aspects of white Americans' thinking about the politics of race previously hidden from sight. And in a thoughtful follow-up analysis, they point the way toward public policies that could gain wide support and reduce the gap between black and white Americans. Their discoveries will surprise pollsters and policymakers alike. The authors show that prejudice, although by no means gone, has lost its power to dominate the political thinking of white Americans.

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H.C. Coombs

After more than two hundred years of white colonisation, one of the most important moral issues facing Australian society remains the need for reconciliation with indigenous Australians. In these essays H.C. Coombs reflects on the nature of Aboriginal identity and the ongoing importance of autonomy for contemporary Aboriginal society. He also suggests strategies by which self-determination meaningful to Aboriginal people might be achieved in practice. Some of the chapters have been written especially for this volume, including one in which Dr Coombs makes a thoughtful and provocative contribution to the Mabo debate, linking the High Court's historic decision to prospects for Aboriginal autonomy. Dr Coombs writes with the conviction that 'mainstream' Australia stands to gain as much as Aboriginal people, if not more, from the fulfillment of Aboriginal aspirations. It is a personal and passionate plea for a just society, from one of Australia's most influential and eloquent advocates of the rights of indigenous people.