The book is a well-researched political-social history of racism and prejudice in America that began well before the founding of the country. The focus is on the experience of the African-American but shows how those biases, once entrenched, can be extended to other minority groups and to those not in the mainstream of society.
The thesis is that at the founding of the United States of America, the Fathers of the Republic, by their failure to address and resolve the issue of enforced servitude, bequeath to the new country an Original Sin - The Legacy of Slavery. From this beginning there developed what I contend are the Seven Deadly Sins: The Sin of Restricted Educational Opportunity; The Sin of Disenfranchisement; The Sin of Enforced Poverty; The Sin of Justice Denied; The Sin of Homelessness; The Sin of Deprived Health Care; and, The Sin Against the Pursuit of Happiness.
It is contended that The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, and The Gettysburg Address are without a doubt the greatest documents ever produced as ideals for a Government of the people, by the people and for the people. It will be shown that the application of those ideals fall short of the promise; that the country continues to live in self-imposed hypocrisy in how it deals with minority groups as opposed to what it proclaims.
The book demonstrates that the three branches of the government, the executive, legislative and judicial have consistently failed in their obligation to protect the rights of all the people. As a result, they have been culpable in having The Sins continue to the present - that is, through the year 2003.
Being Sins, there is the need to remove these stains from the collective psyche of the American public. Thus, there is a call for acknowledgement, apology and restitution for the years of acceptance of this condition.
