Angela J. Hattery is professor and director of women and gender studies at George Mason University. Her books include Interracial Relationships in the 21st Century. Earl Smith is the Rubin Distinguished Professor of American Ethnic Studies and director of the American Ethnic Studies program at Wake Forest University. He is the author or editor of several books, including Race, Sport, and the American Dream.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1: Marriage and Divorce: Why are all the Black men marrying White women?2: Raising Children: Do Blacks use corporal punishment more than Whites? 3: Transition to Adulthood: Why not have a baby I have nothing else to do with my life4: Intimate Partner Violence: The Dirty Little Secret5: Education: What about affirmative action? Where are the guaranteed seats for White students? 6: Sports: The Ticket Out of the Ghetto?7: Poverty and Wealth: Look at Oprah, Obama and Jay-Z, the playing field must be level8: Incarceration: Blacks commit more crime than Whites 9: Health, Nutrition, and Chronic Disease: Why is there a MacDonald’s on every Martin Luther King Drive in every U.S. city?10: Politics: Will African Americans now dominate government like they do the NBA?11: What Can be Done?: A challenge to lawmakersEpilogueRecommended Readings and FilmsAbout the Authors

Authors Smith and Hattery provide evidence against theories that the election of President Obama either ushered in a postracial America or had a positive impact on African Americans as a whole. . . . Throughout the volume’s 11 chapters, arranged in topics ranging from the domestic (e.g., marriage, divorce, and child rearing) to issues of economics, crime and punishment, poverty and wealth, and politics, the authors explore and dispute the myths about the status of African American life now with varying degrees of efficacy. . . . Recommended . . . for high schools and undergraduate students of American or African American studies, sociology, or criminal justice.