Insofar as we, critics of the black tradition, master our craft, we serve both to preserve our own traditions and to shape their direction. All great writers demand great critics.

First we have to recognize that the cause of poverty is both structural and behavioral. And the first thing about the behavior part is that we need a moral revolution within the African American community. Look - no white racist makes you get pregnant when you are a black teenager.

Conspiracy theories are an irresistible labor-saving device in the face of complexity.

You have to have a canon so the next generation can come along and explode it.

If America has a civic religion, the First Amendment is its central article of faith.

In the old days, you lived in one neighborhood, you knew all your neighbors and your daughter married the guy next door. That was social and economic progress. That model is gone now. We also had a world order that was fraught but fairly stable.

Lincoln had a tremendous capacity for personal growth - more than any other American President.