Deep Denial explains why race is still with us, and what the Civil Rights Movement can tell us about today. Part I takes a broad historical view, from seventeenth century Virginia through World War II., examining the origins of white supremacy as a structural feature of US society and describing its evolution over time. Part II features the Civil Rights Movement, how it emerged in the post-WWII era, how the struggle was waged in the 1950s and '60s, and how it subsequently devolved from a vibrant community-led, issue-based movement to a bureaucratic, government-sponsored, needs-based nonprofit industry that remains with us today. Each chapter begins with an intimate and unsparingly personal account from the author's own life. After drawing the reader into his topic, he lays out the historical facts, while still retaining the master storyteller's sense of engagement with the reader.