Us and Them A History of Intolerance in America by Jim Carnes

Us and Them illustrates the dark corners of our nation's past and traces our ongoing efforts to live up to the American ideals of equality and justice.  Fourteen case studies - enhanced by the use of original documents, historical photos, newly commissioned paintings, and dramatic narrative - bring readers a firsthand, personal account of the history and psychology of intolerance.  We read about Mary Dyer, executed for her Quaker faith in Boston in 1660, and we learn how the Mormons were expelled from Missouri in 1838.  The attack on Chinese miners in Rock Spring, Wyoming, in 1885, the battle of Wounded Knee in 1890, and the Crown Heights riot in New York in 1991 - all are presented in clear, evocative language that rings to life history that is often forgotten or slighted.