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“In America today, the problem of achieving racial justice–whether through “color-blind” policies or through affirmative action–provokes more noisy name-calling than fruitful deliberation. In Color Conscious, K. Anthony Appiah and Amy Gutmann, two eminent moral and political philosophers, seek to clear the ground for a discussion of the place of race in politics and in our moral lives. Color Conscious is an extremely welcome addition to the discourse on race. In different but complementary ways, Appiah and Gutmann articulate with precision and subtlety those intricate issues of race that confound us all.” –Toni Morrison

“Without dogma or cant, two of our most challenging and clear-eyed public philosophers explore the real meanings of culture and identity. An invaluable resource for all who want to think responsibly about the racial dilemmas facing our nation.” –Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

“These formidable scholars each remind us that principles of justice and ideas about race are interdependent and must speak to the actual conditions in which we live.” –Lani Guinier “[Appiah and Gutmann] have provided rigorous arguments about the vexing concept of race, its origins and its social and political implications for the American experience…. It is the authors’ intellectual honesty and rigor that makes this book well worth reading by individuals of any ideological disposition who care about America’s struggle with race.” –Brian W. Jones, The Washington Times