The New Color Line [Hardcover]

Paul C. Roberts (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 25, 1995

An examination of the civil rights laws of the past thirty years including their unintended pitfalls and the perversities of affirmative action.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Readers who find attacks on recent civil rights laws and regulations too mild will relish Roberts and Stratton's shifting of the debate back to the 1950s. "The demise of liberalism" and "the assault on freedom of conscience" have their roots, the authors argue, in Brown v. Board of Education and the 1964 Civil Rights Act: "Democracy gave way to judicial and regulatory edicts, and persuasion gave way to coercion." In their defense of democracy, majority rule, and goodwill as the vital bulwarks of a liberal social order that must be rescued from decades of judicial dictatorship and "the proliferation of privilege," Roberts and Stratton take shots at everyone from Gunnar Myrdal to Lani Guinier, but the venom they heap on "critical race theory" legal scholars in particular--comparing them to anti-Semitic proto-Nazis--marks this analysis as more extreme than it may at first appear. Curiously, Roberts and Stratton seem not to notice that quotas and privileges were essential tools in the distribution of wealth and power in the U.S. long before Earl Warren was born. Popular subject, expect demand. Mary Carroll

Review

Paul Roberts and Lawrence Stratton maintains that one of the great ironies of history is the "colorblind" 1964 Civil Rights Act which resulted in stripping white males of their constitutional protections and turning them into second-class citizens. The New Color Line: How Quotas and Privilege Destroy Democracy maintains that it is now legally necessary to discriminate against white males in order to avoid civil rights lawsuits and to achieve mandated race and gender proportionally in the work force, university admissions, training programs, mortgage financing, and even disciplinary actions. Civil rights legislation has turned America into a caste society. There are two classes of citizens: those protected by civil rights laws and white males who are not. That this problem began when the Supreme Court based its public school desegregation decision, Brown v. Board of Education, on the premise that the innate racism of white Americans precluded a democratic solution to segregation. Thus, Brown resolved segregation at the expense of the democratic process. The 1964 Civil Rights Act substituted coercive regulation for freedom of conscience, thus displacing another bedrock of democracy. The authors proposed solution is goodwill, persuasion, and freedom of conscience as the avenues to social progress if Americans are to preserve their democracy. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 247 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc.; First edition (November 25, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895264625
• ISBN-13: 978-0895264626
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,271,505 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written and persuasive, April 27, 2000

By 

Gary C. Christopher - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Color Line (Hardcover)

I found this book to be a riveting and well written account of a period in our history that I previously knew little about. Even supporters of school desegregation (as we all are nowadays) will be shocked by the intellectual dishonesty through which victory was achieved in this case. And even more disturbing is the blatant diregard shown by the courts for the will of the majority as expressed through our legislative institutions. It may have all worked out for the best in Brown v. Board, but it hasn't in many, many subsequent cases where the courts have overreached their authority.

I am looking forward to reading Robert's and Stratton's next book.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You have to be open-minded....., July 26, 2001

By 

Deckard (Bryan, Tx United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Color Line (Hardcover)

I think it telling that the ANONYMOUS reviewer on Feb. 2nd below seemed to have little to say about the book, but instead bloviated about the vast-right wing conspiracy. I doubt he/she read it - probably just some Democrat intern with little else to do.

This book offered an actual in-depth inspection of the danger of allowing the courts to rule - something the Founding Fathers warned about but continues to go on with barely a mention. I think the Founding Fathers would have been disappointed in our apathy. They fought a revolution for less.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book!, December 25, 1999

By 

John (Delaware) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The New Color Line: How Quotas and Privilege Destroy Democracy (Paperback)

I just received my copy as a Christmas gift. Mr. Stratton autographed my copy. It is a great book, very precise and in depth commentary. Mr. Stratton's unique view on the Brown decision was a breath of fresh air. I can not wait for Mr. Stratton's next publication!