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concerns. Judging from the last Presidential election, the majority of white groups has retreated from them. So we have the-- the Democratic Party is clearly in a quandary, in terms of what, if anything, can it do to regain the allegiance and loyalties of white ethnic groups. Middle-class whites, Southern whites, who have perceived themselves as more identified with economically successful groups, even in spite of what seems to me to be the fragility of our present economy. A significant percentage of whites are thinking and operating or voting in terms of conservative appeals, and this seems to be particularly true in the area of race. There's to me a very pervasive, even though maybe quiet, white backlash in the area of race, based on the assumption that blacks have succeeded too much, too well. You know, they've gotten more than-- the civil rights movement has been too successful, so therefore we have to back down, which is an illusion, I think.

Would you think that the severe recessions that we've had, especially the last two, would have contributed also to this relatively quiet white backlash?

The recession?

Yes.

Well, interestingly enough, I've been reading-- the