Two Nations: Black and White, Separate, Hostile, Unequal

by Andrew Hacker

In this groundbreaking study, Andrew Hacker offers a fresh and disturbing examination of the divisions of color and class in present-day America, analyzing the conditions that keep black and white Americans dangerously far apart in their ability to achieve the American dream.

Why, despite continued efforts to increase understanding and expand opportunities, do black and white Americans still lead separate lives, continually marked by tension and hostility? In his much-lauded classic and updated version reflecting the changing realities of race in our nation, Andrew Hacker explains the origins and meaning of racism and clarifies the conflicting theories of equality and inferiority. He paints a stark picture of racial inequality in America—focusing on family life, education, income, and employment—and explores the controversies over politics, crime, and the causes of the gap between the races.

Reasoned, accurate, and devastating, Two Nations demonstrates how this great and dividing issue has defined America's history and the pivotal role it will play in the future.

Genres: Nonfiction, Race, History, Sociology, Politics, Anti Racist, Political Science

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Andrew Hacker is an American political scientist and public intellectual.
He is currently Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at Queens College in New York. He did his undergraduate work at Amherst College. This was followed by graduate work at Oxford University, University of Michigan, and Princeton University where he received his PhD degree.

Hacker taught at Cornell before taking his current position at Queens.
His most recent book, Higher Education? was written in collaboration with Claudia Dreifus, his domestic partner. Professor Hacker is a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Afterall, a very considerable amount of black Americans have achieved impressive careers, winning many of the rewards bestowed by white america. Still, there is no way that even the most talented of these men and women will be considered eligible of the honorific of "white". They are, and will remain accomplished blacks, regarded as role models for their race."

"Of course organizations cultures take many forms. But in the United States, an overarching feature is that they tend to be inherently white."

"White America often respond that it rests with blacks to put aside enough of their own culture so they can be absorbed into the dominant stream. Blacks can only shake their hands and reply that they have been doing just that for several centuries, very little to show for it."

I was required to read this book for My Contemporary of Black Experience Sociology class. Even if this was not for Academic purposes, this book was exceptional to say the least. Usually I don't care for textbooks but this book was so pivotal! The quotes in this book does not summarize how evocative and unforgettable this book is.

I am very aware of the discrimination that Blacks face before and after Slavery, and I take pride in being black. I also know that not all white people are racist bigots as assumed by some, but there are a great number are. Knowing this has shaped my understanding of society as a whole, but I treat people as individuals first before I look at skin color. I have friends from all races, probably more than my own race.

Political affiliation, history of slavery and other themes are highlighted in this book.

Very daring, and controversial but it is also really sad how true this is.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author: Andrew Hacker teaches political science at Queens College in New York City. He previously served as a professor of government at Cornell University. Another book written by Hacker is The End of the American Era. He has also contributed to journals and publications including: The New York Review of Books, Time, Newsweek, Harpers, Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and Fortune.

Nature and Scope: Statistics are used to conduct a study of race, society and inequality. The role and meaning of race in contemporary America are analyzed.

Thesis: Being black has always meant inequality in all aspects of American life as compared to being white

Summary of Main Ideas: The framework for racism in the United States was laid down in the institution of slavery. This beginning for African-Americans has set them up for continued inequality and decreased opportunity. The founding ideals of our country seem not to apply to the black population, which becomes a continuing moral dilemma for Americans. Our nation has become concretely divided by race. One set of rules applies for those considered white and another for those who are black. The results of this division can be seen in the difference between family structures, income levels, opportunities for advancement, chances for higher education and the quality of the education received, as well as in the bureaucracies of government in the form of government aid, treatment by law enforcement agencies and political representation. White Americans have always been able to explain, rationalize and justify the state of blacks in American society, however that does not change the current conditions for blacks. America needs to come to terms with the division in society that has been created by Americans.

Critical Analysis: I found the book easy to read with more then adequate supporting data. In fact the major punch of the book comes in the form of revealing and frequently startling facts presented in the form of charts and tables. The data demonstrates that the gap between the races in social and economic terms is showing no signs of narrowing, and in fact may even be widening in some respects. The idea of "Two Nations" is frightenly real. Some passages would be useful in a high school class for discussion on race relations.

[Lazone Grays Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25.

In this book, Dr. Andrew Hacker presents statistics and provides commentary regarding black and white (racial) outcomes & attitutes on a variety of subjects in a surprisingly accessible format. Each chapter reads like a magazine article. All the subjects are fairly distinct from each other, and most of the information does not repeat from chapter to chapter, which, in my opinion, adds to the pleasant reading experience. Because of this book, I am very interested in reading works from authors like James Baldwin, J. Anthony Lukas, Gunnar Myrdal, and Alexis de Tocqueville.

Due to this book's title and subtitle, I figured it would be an academic dive into race through the lens of Critical Theory. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that this is not the case (at least not entirely). I did not agree with all of the commentary that he provided, since this book was not written from a Christian worldview. However, given the subject matter, I felt like the commentary was very balanced and fair.

There were two main problems that I had with the book. The first is that Dr. Hacker explicitly states that he is not trying to provide solutions or recommendations on how to deal with the problems presented. While I appreciate the candidness, I have to wonder why the book was written in the first place. What's the point of writing about societal issues in such detail if you don't have a plan or proposal to solve the problems? It just seems like a waste of time and a wasted opportunity not to propose something to the readers.

Now, the second problem. This book was originally published in 1992, and I have a second (possibly third???) edition published in March 1993. Why is that important? The subsequent editions of this book include a note about the Rodney King riots, which occurred two months after the book was published. On a human level, I really feel bad for Dr. Hacker. The events of the riots certainly validated some of his observations, particularly those in chapters 11 (Crime: The Role Race Plays) and 12 (A Politics Based on Race). However, aside from a few additional paragraphs in the preface, the riots are never mentioned in the book again. I really wish that the additional information that came from the riots had been included in subsequent editions.

I am reading this book nearly 35 years after its initial publication. I am glad that I had the opportunity to critically engage with the data and the commentary. I learned a lot, and a lot of the observations and opinions still apply to our world today. But the book's foundation is built on statistics, all of which are 30+ years old. I'd love to read an edition that's been updated for the 2020s. Dr. Hacker is still alive and teaching, so maybe we'll get a new edition one day. Overall, for the general public, I'm not sure that a book with such outdated statistics is worth a close read, even though I enjoyed it.

[Gayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written in 1992 and the statistics are a little outdated. But I still learned a lot. There are a lot of statistics in it though.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

For its clear-eyed assessment of inequality in education, employment, and other social realms, Two Nations is a valuable contribution to the discourse surrounding racial dynamics in the present-day United States. (Though first published in 1992, and updated in 2003, Andrew Hacker's observations on the gap between Black and white America remain painfully relevant in 2021.) Echoing Derrick Bell's Faces at the Bottom of the Well: The Permanence of Racism, published in the same year, and prefiguring Ibram X. Kendi's Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Hacker makes a compelling case that racism is ineradicable from America's social fabric. Here is the foundation of Kendi's argument that racist policies are not the manifestation of racist ideas: rather, that racist ideas are conceived ex post facto to justify those policies put in place to maintain power structures.

While his deconstruction of social dynamics is lucid and persuasive, so does Hacker too often reduce his observations to overly broad brush strokes, without quantitative or even anecdotal evidence to support his arguments. In assessing "white guilt" in elections between Black and white candidates, Hacker progresses quickly from citing data to armchair psychology:

In exit polls where the contest involves a white and a black candidate, more white voters will say they backed the black contender than in fact did. ... This lying would suggest that a fair number of whites want to present a tolerant face, even to a total stranger. More than that, at least some may actually feel sorry for having voted as they did. They may have felt that the black candidate was better fitted for the job, yet they could not bring themselves to vote for him or her. To an extent, then, they are angry with themselves. So they take advantage of the exit poll, using it as an opportunity to atone.

Likewise, in discussing the gender gap between Black women and Black men in the workforce:

If and when organizations feel compelled to hire more black workers, they generally prefer to take on black women rather than black men. Black women, like all women, are perceived as being less assertive and more accommodating. Thus there is the hope that black women will show less resentment or hostility and will be less apt to present themselves as 'black' in demeanor and appearance. A further concern of white employers, albeit not one openly stated, is that having black men and white women work together might lead to relationships that could either be misunderstood or have some grounding in fact.

Two Nations is frequently given over to such ruminating–and, to be fair, Hacker's interpretations make sense–but more substantial evidence to support the author's hypotheses would present a more damning case.

[Scott Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing provocative book. I wish there was an updated version but his analysis of 23 years ago rings true today. At the end he talks about the epidemic of violence in black neighborhoods and concludes that "These are young men who do not know whether they will live another year, and many have given up caring... No other American race is wounding itself so fatally. Nor can it be said that black Americans chose this path for themselves." It is a must read for anyone concerned about racism in America.

[Corey Nazer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really sad commentary on race relations within the United States. Eye opening.

[Ernest Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book captured Americas problem now even though it was written in 1992. Andrew Hacker dealt with the tough subject matter plaguing our great "merica". He approaches the anthropology of America from a an unbiased position. White privilege is a real thing that I think it will take other white people to point out and to have for the dominant culture to take their blinders off..

[Heidi Bakk-Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My copy is from the early 1990s, so it's obviously dated, but the fact that a lot of the same things could be said about today is both depressing and ... well, depressing. The author is an old white dude, and sometimes his effort at equanimity, and even justifying white racial anxiety, made me bristle with protest. But as a middle of the road sort of analysis, it was still a pretty useful read.

[Rafael Suleiman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very compelling book on social inequality in America.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Travis Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very insightful, but still ok. But just...okay

[Redemption 87 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn't give solutions to white racism in America--the solution is obvious! But, these authors have to protect empire.

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book

[Thomas Ray]

Library-of-Congress E185.615 H23 2003
College Library Equity & Diversity Collection, 1st Floor, Rm. 1193

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andrew Hacker does an excellent job of letting the reader look at how each society- black and white- live, think, pick political candidates etc. Hacker takes us inside the races with statistics and narrative that is hard to lay down. He looks at families, crime, education, jobs and more. Another must read to gather more understanding of each other's races.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book when I read it. It is a very well researched book with a lot of support for any point that it makes. Although the fact that it is probably 10 years old might make a lot of the statistics no longer relevant. I should reread it.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book, last updated in 2003. The last chapter is focused on politics and is particularly interesting to read given Obama's election.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

proved the point

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, well-researched and eye-opening. A must read.