Customer Reviews

Paved with Good Intentions: The Failure of Race Relations in Contemporary America

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I would simply like to clarify the [editorial] Weekly review on this website. Amazon shoppers beware the reviewer never bothered to read this book.

I've read this book threee times, it's pure gold. Nowhere does Taylor mention anything about death sentences for drug dealers or anything about no appeal death sentences....

Talyor also does not ignore the claim of "insitutional racism." He addresses it in great detail showing how its proponants offer on evidence to back it up. Taylor does not just blame black for their problems as [the review] sugests. Taylor simply asks for people of all colors to take responsibility.

The...review is erronous. Amazon.com shopper deserve better.

This book is one of many that emerged in the early to mid-1990s concerning issues of political correctness, race, and immigration. I read several of these books; Dinesh DSouza and Martin Gross are the first that come to mind. David Horowitz is another who covers these issues in some of his writings. These books are still important because even though we dont hear about these issues as much today, they are even now stalking the American landscape. Jared Taylors book seems to be the best one I have read to date. Paved with Good Intentions, written in 1991, is Taylors manifesto on the corrosive and divisive issue of race relations in modern America.

Paved with Good Intentions is not a racist tract, but is a calm, expertly documented approach to the race question. Taylor writes with neutral reasoning as he covers every aspect of the problem. Taylors purpose is not to denounce blacks and other minority groups, but rather to open a dialogue on an issue that threatens to destroy the country. I dont think anyone denies that race is a big problem in America. Taylor explains that this is the result of obfuscation by guilty whites, fast buck hustlers, and misguided do-gooders who have more to gain from racial tension than peace.

Some of things you will discover while reading this book:

Crime: blacks commit the vast majority of crime, with most of the crimes directed towards other blacks. Far more racial crimes occur when blacks victimize whitesespecially rape, which is overwhelming black against white. The media tends to play up crimes where the perpetrator is white and the victim black, while downplaying (or just plain ignoring) racial crimes committed by blacks against whites.

Affirmative action is bad: economic policy favors minorities and excludes whites. Minorities get breaks in education, business, housing, hiring, and a host of other areas. Instead of raising the living standards of blacks, affirmative action has worked to instill in blacks a hatred of whites, while making little difference in the lives of many poor blacks. Schools exclude better qualified whites in preference for minority students. Many of the under qualified students end up dropping out of school when they discover they lack the necessary skills to compete. Entrance tests to schools and jobs have been altered, or dumbed down, in an effort to raise test scores. This occurs in important occupations (police, firefighting) where the best people are needed, but are not getting the jobs.

Racism: there is a constant cry of racism over the most ridiculous issues. Like Peter and the Wolf, these constant cries desensitize the public and cost minorities credibility. Taylor does an excellent job revealing the truth about racism, namely, that it doesnt exist in the levels that it once did. The claim of institutional racism is shown to be a falsehood, to say the least. Taylor shows that government agencies employ a large percentage of blacks, which are unlikely to engage in any sort of institutional racist programs. Claims that AIDS or drugs are a racist conspiracy by whites to destroy blacks are equally fallacious. According to Taylor, if whites are so bent on destroying blacks, why would they waste time using methods that cause harm to the white community? Why would they waste billions of dollars to improve minority positions in society?

Jared Taylor doesnt hate minorities. His writing shows a real concern for these issues. He seems to want a return to Martin Luther Kings idea of a colorblind society, an idea that is subverted daily by those who seek to profit from racial animosity. Until an open, honest dialogue emerges, these problems will only get worse. I think for many people really dont understand the full picture when it comes to this issue. Books like this could open eyes when voters find out what the politicians are really up to in Washington. I recommend this book to those amongst us who have an open mind, and to those who want to start thinking for themselves.

Jared Taylor has taken sober aim at one of this country's most intractible social ills: the dissonance between justice and equality in a free society. Too often, our system is found to be badly out of focus with regard to fairness as well as fact. Mr. Taylor skillfully documents this time and again with failure after failure on the part of the "equality of opportunity" industry, academia, government, workplace, and media. Still, as Mr. Taylor mentions in the introduction, this is a hopeful book, replete with honest conclusions and recommendations in a cogent epilougue.

This book will sadden, shock, infuriate, and validate many a reader. More still will be called to examine the myths of the so-called civil rights movement as it currently exists in America. It is often unpleasant reading, but paradoxically it is a page-turner; the truth often has this quality about it. I recommended this book to all my friends upon finishing it. Even if you are a dyed in the wool liberal (or perhaps especially if you are) you owe it to yourself to read this book.

I'm saddened by the difficulty Mr. Taylor has encountered in publishing and selling this book. Perhaps America is not ready for the truth in such a straightforward way as it is presented here. This is truly a visionary work.

Jared Taylor discusses the failure of race relations in the United States, in this carefully written, scholarly work, in which he cites case after case, time after time when the government mandates and court orders have failed to gain the desired result.

This is not some wild-eyed, white power, white supremacist talking. Taylor's approach is thoughtful, reasoned, and hard to reproach.

He discusses racism, from both sides, and including its accusatory use as a weapon of intimidation. He discusses the failures of Affirmative Action, and double standards, and the permanent underclass, and the fact that equality before the law is no longer even a concept, and possible solutions.

This is a good book. His other book, 'The Real American Dilemma,' is also worth your time.

Joseph Pierre,
Author of THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS: Our Journey Through Eternity

This one of those very few books that I want my son to read before finishing high school. It debunks the current consensus on race relations in this country, and provides fact after fact, footnote after footnote, and source after source to back up it's assertions. No empty rhetoric here! On the contrary, it is a well-researched, well documented work. In a communication I had with the author, he stated that writing it was not the hard part, getting it published was. He mentions that many publishers, worried about public outcry, stated that the only way they could publish such a book was if the author was black. A telling statement on Truth vs. Political Correctness in our society.

I heard Mr. Taylor on a talk radio station some years ago and became interested in this book. This book not only is a great read which I was not able to put down, but also contains fascinating information on the taboo subject of racial differences. Read if you dare!

As a journalist I read dozens of political books, Left and Right and most are all the same, an endless rant by some "political anylist" dronning on about what's wrong with America.

But I've never seen anything like this!!!

Taylor breaks down the facts about race relation in America. As Thomas Jefferson said, "Nothing is more certain than that these people shall be free; and being free these two people cannot live under the same government."

As Taylor demonstrates, 150 years after slavery blacks and European Americans have proven incapable of living together. Yes I too believed that race problems were just caused by mis-understandings, but as Taylor shows the problems go much deeper to the point that we must agree to disagree and go our seperate ways.

As hard as it is to accept, we must embrace the horror that integration has destroyed this country. This is not a conclusion Taylor arrives at lightly nor would I ever have reached it if not for his book.

Some conservatives wine about Taylor being a bit extreme and warned me about this book. But by the end I agree with Taylor 100%.

Taylor is a ver talented writer. It moves smoothly yet quickly I was suprised how fast I finished it.

If you are unsure of his writing style try reading, 'The Color of Crime' which is free online at many web sites.

The intrepid author presents a sound, fact filled, case explaining the seemingly incurable "Negro Problem." The book isn't a hodgepodge of KKK or white Nazi rantings. It is a book of facts. Typical are facts regarding black college degrees. Blacks tend to get degrees in the easiest majors- sociology, social work, government management, teaching- and get very few degrees in the more difficult disciplines like mathematics and the sciences (some school years, zero blacks graduate with Mathematics degrees). However, Taylor does little to explain the black man's problems in adapting to the Information Age. Agricultural workers for most of their time in America, blacks adapted poorly to industrialization and, if not for affirmative action, would adapt poorly to the information age. Blacks have had success in sports, entertainment and government but the first two are accessible to only the very talented or very lucky of any race. Government, especially with the black political takeover of scores of big cities, is the great economic refuge of the blacks today and a major reason why the black middle class is so much bigger today than, say, in 1968 when Martin Luther King was murdered. Mr. Taylor does do a good job explaining the black dependence on government largesse. Why are blacks so Democratic? Because the government furnishes middle class employment on one end and alms for the economically incompetent on the other end. Mr. Taylor discredits affirmative action without explaining specifically why blacks instinctively know that affirmative action is vital to their economic well-being. One needs to read between the lines to comprehend that Taylor knows how dependent blacks are on affirmative action. Mr. Taylor is somewhat disingenuous when he challenges blacks to quit hiding behind affirmative action and better themselves by competing with other Americans without the bootstrap of affirmative action. Strong black intellects like Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams may not need affirmative action but most blacks quite rightly realize that their economic status would decline if they had to compete head-to-head with white and orientals. I feel sure Mr.Taylor knows this but he, like Pat Buchanan, must use this line of argument to attack affirmative action. Declaring oneself against affirmative action because it is explicitely anti-white would open the door to being condemned as a racist and nobody in public affairs can allow that label to be pinned on himself no matter how bright you are. The flaws of this book are easily outnumbered by its virtues. Buy this book. Tell your family to read it. Tell your friends to read it.

An excellent book. The Author debunks the myth that affirmative action is beneficial to those who are given preferential treatment in order to "level the playing field". He analyzes the claims of the "Black Leaders" and liberals that Western Culture is institutionally racist (in both the economic arena and the judicial process) against African Americans and uses statistical data to refute the claims. He clearly points out (again using facts, logic and statistical data) that the "underclass" status of minorities has more to do with the disintegration of the family unit (illegitimacy is reaching record highs in the black community) as opposed to the myth of a racist nature of western culture. Further, he observes that the liberal policies in society today have encouraged the breakdown of the black family unit thereby exacerbating the problem to epidemic proportions. This book is a bane to those anointed liberals who believe that they have the exclusive answers to the racial issues in this culture. They don't realize that they and their programs have done more damage to the African American male stature in American Society than the Klan could have ever hoped to do. Read this book with an open mind and you won't be disappointed. If you are a liberal, don't waste your money, this book will only confuse you with logic and facts. However, it you appreciate the wisdom of such noted Black thinkers like Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Clarence Thomas and Larry Elder, you will enjoy this book.

The fact that this book is written by a relatively unknown writer and published by a solid, but non-establishment publishing company means that few people have or will hear about it. That's too bad, because it is almost painfully well reported, carefully argued, and thoroughly packed with facts, not opinions. It is a shocker, a real shocker. Taylor lays bare the double-talk and obfuscation that so thickly covers the issue of race in America, but he does so without rhetoric, even though his editorial point of view is both clear and determined. The never-before-told stories of ordinary people both black and white who have suffered under our thirty year regime of political correctness and blindness in the area of race, make this book hauntingly powerful.