Little Rock: Race and Resistance at Central High School Book

Imagine one aging man who gives one single speech with such power that he prompts another man to write a book. Bill Cosby gave a stirring, scathing, passionate speech on the fiftieth anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education case and Juan Williams wrote Enough. Cosby asked, "What good is Brown vs. Board if nobody wants it?" and decried the decline of the black family in America over the last fifty years. Cosby was born at a time when around 80% of black children had married parents. Today, 70% are born out of wedlock and many children barely know their fathers.
Juan Williams makes two major points: 1) The plight of black America is not all the fault of white racists. Rather, there are many things black people can do for themselves to relieve their struggles with poverty. 2) The early leaders of the black community were of one mind. Washington and DuBois differed as to how black Americans should better themselves, but they agreed that they all needed to learn skills and get an education. An article after emancipation admonished in its title, "Learn Trades or Starve." Today's leaders, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, do not help anyone by advocating lower sentences for crack abusers. Instead, they should tell kids not to do crack!!!
What makes this book interesting is that Juan Williams is not by any means a conservative commentator. He burnishes his liberal credentials with frequent jabs at Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, but he still manages to recognize that his community is in trouble. In the inner cities, there are no Republicans in power to blame for failing schools. Black people today must pursue education and hard work and they can achieve success without the need for government hand-outs.