"Sokol agrees: 'Rampant segregation in cities across the country rendered racial inequality a national trait more than a Southern aberration.' He argues for a somewhat novel understanding of the North's 'conflicted soul,' which combined two parallel narratives—knee-jerk opposition to change and tokenistic inclusiveness. On the one hand, the region's violent opposition and calculated amnesia in relation to the civil rights of African-Americans; on the other, its high-minded conceit as custodian of the nation’s conscience and embodiment of John Winthrop's words: 'We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us.'"
David Levering Lewis in The New York Times reviews Jason Sokol's All Eyes Are Upon Us: Race and Politics from Boston to Brooklyn.
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