America behind the color line : dialogues with African Americans

This portrait is painted largely by essays drawn from interviews Gates conducted with such notable names as Colin Powell, Morgan Freeman, Russell Simmons, Vernon Jordan, Alicia Keys, Bernie Mac and Quincy Jones and provides a fascinating and unique perspective viewed through the lens of four intrinsic elements of the African American experience - Black Hollywood, The Black Elite, The Ghetto and The New South.

Henry Louis Gates' latest contribution to American scholarship examines the legacy of the Civil Rights movement, tracing the fate of black people since the death of Martin Luther King Jr.