Eugene Robinson: 'Disintegration'

Jenny Asarnow
02/10/2011 at 8:00 p.m.

Where Eugene Robinson grew up, in segregated Orangeburg, South Carolina, African–Americans from all walks of life lived together in one community. His parents were professionals and they shared a neighborhood block with a teacher, a construction worker, a shoemaker and a cafeteria lady. Today Robinson says Black America has splintered. Most African–Americans are middle class and some have gained wealth and power. But Robinson says a large minority are abandoned to multi–generational poverty with fewer choices than he faced in the segregated South.

Eugene Robinson is a commentator on MSNBC and a columnist at the Washington Post where he has worked as a reporter, editor and manager for 25 years. He won the Pulitzer Prize for his columns on the 2008 presidential election. Robinson's new book is "Disintegration: The Splintering of Black America." He spoke at the Northwest African American Museum on October 14, 2010.