Bell begins his thought-provoking book briefly, before the US slave trade, by explaining the Catholic Church's approval of enslaving nonbelievers in Europe. However, he moves on quickly to the seventeenth century with the American slave trade, and the book spans from there to modern-day prejudice. He offers inspiring advice on how society can move forward, writing that "progressive and spiritual-minded American citizens must work together to head off the political and social injustice currently developing..." Bell insightfully points out what may be the true issue behind prejudice and goes on to suggest ways to move beyond it, "One of the greatest problems of the researcher was to understand the questions of revenge and forgiveness on the part of major groups..."

There is evidence that these groups continue in their attitudes long after a conflict ends. The bottom line is that it isn't possible to legislate tolerance; the population must be actively improving attitudes and actions. Finally, the author describes his Bell/Metropolitan Educational Achievement Club (MEAC) as a model that he hopes other communities will study and adopt.

This volume of work is a masterpiece for community organizers and student-assigned reading in social studies, political science, civics, and government classes. It is appropriate for both high school and university coursework. Bell presents facts and impressions with no sanitizing, but he writes that his ultimate goal in writing this is to positively influence race relations going forward. The author doesn't make apologies for history. He documents and references it thoroughly, as he saw it, heard about it, read about it, and studied it. Bell gives a well-organized, eloquent, and convincing case for why such clubs as MEAC are necessary and how they will help solve a national racism epidemic.

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