Michael Eric Dyson's book Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line is based on the examination of race and race relations in America. The title has a double entendre; Dyson does not only argue that race defines and rules our private and social lives, but he also makes an attempt to let the reader know that there are strategies and rules for dealing with the black community (especially the black man's role in society). Dyson explores "the issues of power, justice, and equality that divide blacks and whites, and that echo in the black communities as well" (Dyson 8). Dyson does so by examining the trial of O.J. Simpson, the black intellectual and political elite, the traditional black church, a plagued generational divide amongst blacks elders and their children, and the relationship between black men and women. Simply put, he wants to address the question, why does race continue to rule?

In this critical analysis of the book, I will provide a synopsis for each chapter by reconstructing the core arguments. I shall demonstrate how certain arguments that he makes are valid, as well as negatively criticize certain aspects of this book. I will connect concepts that Dyson br

Chapter four discusses black youth, pop culture, and the politics of nostalgia. To understand this chapter, the word "nostalgia" must first be defined. For the purposes of Dyson's argument, nostalgia is defined as how people view the present by comparing it to the past--a past that they feel is better than their present. Dyson claims that the rise of the hip-hop culture has ignited a deep black nostalgia. Many "old heads" long for a revival of past morals and values. However, Dyson points out that each generation goes through this "nostalgialistic" phase, as they grow older.

Dyson also believes that once black men understand that they are not the only ones in this "race" who are afflicted with pain, the community can move forward in unity. Too often black men ignore the plight of black women. Black men should not feel that their mates have it easier in a white society. Just the opposite, black women go through more strife because they are a double minority: they are black and they are women.

Racially, the Simpson verdict was unprecedented and broke many rules. Dyson backs this argument by stating that the trial forced America to start talking about race. America did not have any choice, but to address the bias, bigotry, and blindness that "trace beneath our social existence" (30). Because O.J. Simpson was a black man, who seemingly lied about his involvement in the death of two whites, many in the white community were upset when he was found not guilty. For the first time, whites had to deal with the reality of the wide separation between legality and morality of justice. They had to view themselves as a group denied certain privileges instead of being automatically guaranteed them (32). Dyson says that "these whites tasted the dread, common to blacks, that follows the absolute rejection of the faith one has placed in a judicial ruling's power to bring justice".

Dyson opens this book with the question, "Why another book on race" (2)? He answers, "because we have not learned our lesson" (7). He contends that the rules of race are still unclear to many. Dyson looks to shed insight first by dealing with "The Trial of the Century"--the O.J. Simpson double murder case. Dyson claims that the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial exposed the racial divide that is present in America. O.J. represented a portion of the African-American community that combined "commerce and the conscious crafting of a whitened image" (16). Eventually, O.J. and others in the black population became anti-racial and absent in the fight for political and social reformation. Dyson feels that Simpson traded color for commercial success.

In a civil society one of the main duties of the black church, as a separate sphere of a larger moral environment, is to educate its people. The theology of eroticism is not suggesting a society of free love or sex. What Dyson points out is that this theology will be used to inform people, telling them know how to protect themselves against the harmful "sexual and psychic viruses"(93). He also makes clear that this theology looks beyond physical inhibition and embraces the practice of abstinence as a power expression of sexuality. Not only is this argument consistent to his beliefs as a radical Baptist Minister, Dyson also gives a cohesive solution that will free blacks of their guilty "repression" or gutless "promiscuity"(93).

Throughout this essay I have attempted to relate this book to concepts leaned in class. Race Rules: Navigating the Color Line presents may strong arguments; on the contrary what can be easily assumed can very well be easily denied. In order for the reader to test the validity of Bennett's arguments they must evaluate this essay by the concept of the Criteria of Reasonableness, which states:

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Approximate Word count = 4497
Approximate Pages = 18 (250 words per page double spaced)