In Racial Realism and the History of Black People in America, Lori Latrice Martin demonstrates how racial realism is a key concept for understanding why and how black people continue to live between a cycle of optimism and disappointment in the United States. Central to her argument is Derrick Bell’s work on racial realism, who argued that the subordination of black people in America is permanent. Racial Realism includes historical topics, such as Reconstruction, race in the 20th century, and recent events like #BlackLivesMatter, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the killing of George Floyd. As the author lays out, at various times in American history, black people felt a sense of hopefulness and optimism that America would finally extend treasured American values to them only to find themselves marginalized. History shows that black people have had their expectations raised so many times only to find themselves deeply disappointed.

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Martin takes inspiration from legal scholar Derrick Bell’s work on racial realism to argue that Black people throughout history have been, in her words, “duped” into believing that the US can fundamentally change, and thus they can alter their position of racial subordination (p. 1). As Martin argues, that position is permanent and the sooner Black people recognize this reality, the more peace and agency they will achieve and the less disappointment they will experience. They can subsequently channel their energy in more productive ways, such as into exposing the US's symbolic, rather than substantive, promises to change to mitigate embarrassment on the world stage. Underscoring the permanence of African Americans’ subordinate status, Martin cites studies that document racial disparities—both past and present—in education, sports, wealth, and health, including those stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Martin insists that her position is not pessimistic but realistic, albeit largely unpopular. Indeed, in her analysis, preeminent civil rights and Black Power activists like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Kwame Ture were wrong about the US, while Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam is right. Recommended. General readers.