A Brief History of the Subordination of African Americans in the U.S.

"In telling the brutal truth of anti-black subordination in America, from slavery to today, in one brief essay, Bootstraps is a great public service and required reading for anyone who wishes to dismantle historical amnesia and white supremacy."

—Sheryll Cashin, author, The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class Are Undermining the American Dream, and Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law, Civil Rights and Social Justice, Georgetown University Law Center

"When so much of our public conversation is warped by hate mongering and disinformation, it becomes critical to know our history well. In this sharp book, respected civil rights advocates offer a kind of history of racial injustice in America for beginners, focusing on the black experience. Would that this stark history, including the truth about government efforts to "lift up" people of color, were required reading in our high schools, as the authors argue. But until it is, we will need concise and unflinching guides to what made our country what it is and what we must face squarely if we are to change it."

—Xavier de Souza Briggs, Vice President, Ford Foundation and author, Moving to Opportunity: The Story of an American Experiment to Fight Ghetto Poverty

"For too long, research institutions like mine have analyzed public policy issues where racial inequities run deep without always acknowledging the tragic history of racist injustice that produced them. Handcuffs and Bootstraps should be required reading for all of us. Its brevity ensures that every policy researcher – whether specializing in health, employment, education, housing, or justice policy – can absorb the fundamental story line and apply its lessons to our work. If we do, we’ll have a better shot at producing findings and recommendations that advance racial equity and justice in the decades ahead."

—Margery Austin Turner, Senior Vice President, The Urban Institute

"Alexander Polikoff and Elizabeth Lassar have written a lucid tract on why understanding the past matters so much. With great clarity, they lay out our racist history and puncture the myth that we are a land of equal opportunity. This brief treatise is worth carrying around in our back pockets, a reminder of who we are, and of the struggle before us."

—Alex Kotlowitz, author, There Are No Children Here and American Summer