The American public needs to see race relations through a wider lens, according to a new book by University of Tennessee history professor Robert J. Norrell.
“The House I Live In: Race in the American Century,” recently published by the Oxford University Press, is a study of 20th century American race relations. Norrell describes the way ideologies and values have shaped the state of equality in the United States today.
“I think readers should consider race relations in a long-term context, rather than confining it to a short span of time in history,” Norrell said.
“I find it more interesting to think about race reform and civil rights in a broad sense,” said Norrell. “By writing the book in a long-term view, I feel I’m able to offer a more complex perspective on the subject.”
Norrell has written several other books on race relations and Southern history, including “Reaping the Whirlwind: The Civil Rights Movement in Tuskegee,” “A Promising Field: Engineering at Alabama,” and “James Bowron: The Autobiography of a New South Industrialist.”
He has received a number of awards, including the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.