Writer, speaker, and historian (PhD Candidate, University of Mississippi) Jemar Tisby has created an authoritative masterpiece. The Color of Compromise relies on history as “the main vehicle to take us on a journey toward greater racial understanding.” And what a journey Tisby takes us on.

The author topples multiple sacred cows as he dismantles the prevailing textbook narrative that nearly deifies both the early European settlers as well as the men who wrote the Constitution. Yes, the document was vital for our nation, but it also legalized systemic racism—and misogyny. Had the Founding Fathers actually been willing to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense” for everyone (as written in the preamble for the US Constitution), the history of the United States would have been radically different.

By defining racism as “prejudice plus power” and a “system of oppression based on race,” Tisby challenges the false belief held by many white Americans that they’re not racist simply because they do not commit overt acts of racism (e.g., they’re not members of the KKK and they refrain from using demeaning racial language). The tragic truth is that nearly every American has been or continues to be affected by racism: Either we benefit from the system or we have been victimized by it. That’s because systemic racism is a root sin that was poured into the cement of our country’s foundation. (Root sins are also evident in smaller institutions—e.g., certain churches or denominations—and family systems—e.g., the sexual immorality in King David’s line.)

To read the remainder of this review, click this link to Englewood Review of Books.

And please buy this book!! It’s incredible.