Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy takes on a highly complex issue in a way that no one has before. Not only does Kennedy uncover the long-standing failure of the justice system to protect blacks from criminals, but he also engages the debate over the wisdom and legality of using racial criteria in jury selection; analyzes the responses of the legal system to accusations that appeals to racial prejudice have rendered trials unfair; examines the idea that, under certain circumstances, members of one race are statistically more likely to be involved in crime than members of another; and probes allegations that blacks are victimized on a widespread basis by racially discriminatory prosecutions and punishments.