Summary

Pages 47 through 52 – The author describes how, as he continued and deepened his research into the history of violence against blacks in America, he discovered arguments between and about black historians, inconsistencies and uncertainties, agreements and dissents, sometimes within pages of each other. He comments on how his ideas and reading of Malcolm X were the yardstick by which he measured all his other reading; how he explored Washington (the city where Howard University is located) in search of other books, other insights, and other speakers; and how, on these searches, he found both more answers and more questions, all of which led, he says, to greater understanding of himself and his views and values – and to an even deeper understanding of the limitations of The Dream. “I didn’t realize,” he says, “that the boot on your neck is just as likely to...