Joe R. Feagin and Melvin P. Sikes

Blacks’ experiences of mistreatment at public accommodations is due to white racism, contend Joe R. Feagin and Melvin P. Sikes in the following viewpoint. Though civil rights laws legally require nondiscriminatory treatment of minorities, the authors maintain, African Americans continue to face overt discrimination from whites at restaurants, stores, hotels, and other public places.This discrimination, Feagin and Sikes argue, is rooted in a racist mindset that developed early in America’s history. Feagin and Sikes are the authors of Living with Racism: The Black Middle-Class Experience, from which this viewpoint is excerpted.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Feagin and Sikes, what kind of discriminatory treatment have African Americans faced at some national- chain restaurants"
2. Why do whites often accuse blacks of being “racially paranoid,” in the authors...