This could be a fairly quick read in the sense that it is just over 100 pages; however, it requires the reader (particularly the white reader) to stop and reflect on the meaning of the text, and its implications for the lives we lead and the communities in which we live. It's written in easily accesible language, which belies its intense subject matter.

It's a powerful and important text. Everyone should read it, preferably coupled with Dr. Beverly Tatum's "Why are all the Black kids sitting together in the Cafeteria?". There are strong implications for the future of our country in this book, and I believe that the conversations this book starts can only serve to strengthen our society. But these conversations require a willingness to open ourselves up to some raw and painful truths about what it means to live in a country which has, as former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently said, a horrible defect of racism and slavery. This birth defect is implicit in our institutions and plays a role in our everyday interactions as well as the long term policy making of our government.

My only complaint about this book is that the discussion questions at the end of each chapter are leading, structured in such a way that makes it obvious how the author wants you to respond rather than provoking authentic reflection and discussion.