Nov/Dec 1995

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"The End of Racism: Principles for a Multicultural Society," by Dinesh D'Souza. Free Press, 724 pp.: $30

Born in Bombay, India, in 1961, Dinesh D'Souza is a first-generation immigrant who became a U.S. citizen in 1991. D'Souza, a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, is the author of the widely debated bestseller "Illiberal Education: The Politics of Race and Sex on Campus" (1991), in which he documented the sometimes bizarre manifestations of the academy's commitment to political correctness. In August of this year, Michael Cromartie, director of the Evangelical Studies Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., talked with D'Souza about his new book, "The End of Racism: Principles for a Multicultural Society," which promises to be even more controversial than its predecessor.

Dust-jacket blurbs are rarely worth quoting, but the startling tribute from political scientist Andrew Hacker that graces "The End of Racism" is an exception to the rule: "The End of Racism is wrong, dead wrong, on almost every topic it discusses and the explanations it offers. Yet it is an entrancing book, and I could not put it down. If I found myself arguing with every sentence, that shows how Dinesh D'Souza compels his readers to reassess their own assumptions."

WHAT DOES YOUR TITLE THE END OF RACISM MEAN?

I am not saying that racism has come to an end. I am saying that racial discrimination has abated considerably from what it used to be. I am saying that racism is not the main problem faced by blacks today. I am saying that racism does not explain black failure. I am prescribing the end of racism--what we should do to get there--and I'm arguing that, in contrast, the liberal enterprise has been devoted to ...