The End of Respectability

American Blacks are entering a new phase in the struggle against white supremacy. Standing firmly in the African American tradition, Walton believes in the possibility of reconciliation with those whites who desire it, offering a hand of friendship and pragmatic ideas for paths forward.

Born into the Civil Rights Movement, author Anthony Walton observed firsthand the opening of opportunity for racial reconciliation. He also saw systemic racism and the vicious backlash against Black progress embodied in the Southern Strategy, Tea Party, and MAGA. Over time, Walton came to believe that moving forward requires a “Third Reconstruction” to accomplish what remains: better health outcomes, secure voting rights, and sustained economic and educational opportunity. Only this approach, he believes, will accomplish what remains unfinished for true African American equality.

Blending social history, bracing analysis, and autobiography, this dazzling collection includes essays published in The New York Times and The Atlantic—including “Willie Horton and Me” and the much-anthologized “Technology vs. African Americans”—as well as new work that probes Walton’s earlier thinking. Throughout, the author delivers insights that wrestle with the hydra-headed, ever-changing realities of an American society in which the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The End of Respectability illuminates recent American history as experienced by a writer who has remained open to hope, unfazed by failures, and unflinchingly dedicated to the truth. This book will leave you changed. And just may incite you to be a part of the change we need.

Praise for The End of Respectability

“Anthony Walton is a formidable intellectual who writes with insight, verve, and conviction. I learned much from The End of Respectability, enjoyed reading it, and hope that it attains the visibility it deserves.”
—Randall Kennedy, author of Say It Loud!: On Race, Law, History, and Culture

“Essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complications of racism and its effects on political polarization in America today. Anthony Walton is a teller of difficult truths, and you cannot read this book without finding that it has given you new knowledge about your own life.”
—Molly Jong-Fast, Vanity Fair politics writer and host of the podcast Fast Politics

“‘After Obama, America stands revealed to itself,’ Anthony Walton writes with profound disappointment in one of his bleak and bold, truth-telling essays. No Black writer wants to play the role of educating white folks, but Walton writes to be heard by all.”
—Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life