Black Lies, White Lies: The Truth According to Tony Brown

From Publishers Weekly Like a series of talk shows (the author hosts Tony Brown's Journal on PBS), this somewhat disjointed book raises both interesting and half-baked ideas, with no one topic fully developed. Brown's basic theme on race relations is sound: blacks shouldn't expect whites to rescue them, but whites must also see that their fate is linked to that of all fellow Americans. A prominent black Republican, Brown has harsh and sometimes appropriate criticism of black leaders, but he undermines his case with a broad-brush assessment of the black community (which he divides into four "tribes") and exaggerated references to black leaders' support for (and America's drift to) "socialism." Also, Brown argues that AIDS is misidentified and connected mainly to drug use, sees "cultural diversity" (defined vaguely) as a cure for institutional racism and proposes the Internet as a new frontier for black entrepreneurship. And he may run for president, riding an idea for self-help associations "within electronically-linked neighborhoods." Author tour. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review PBS commentator and show host Brown provides a strong challenge of both black and white leaders' lies in Black Lies, White Lies as he attacks self-victimization trends and condemns integration efforts. Black Americans must take control of their own lives instead of waiting for white structures to assist, Brown maintains: his hard-hitting ideas and controversial opinions provide much food for thought. --