"A leading civil rights historian places Robert Kennedy for the first time at the center of the movement for racial justice of the 1960s--and shows how many of today's issues can be traced back to that pivotal time"-- Provided by publisher.

Preface: "The best a white America has to offer" -- Misfit -- Along the color line: the 1950s -- Faith, hope, and politics -- Black votes -- Simple justice -- The challenge of a decade -- Freedom now -- "A great change is at hand" -- On his own -- Transitions -- Beyond civil rights -- Suppose God is Black -- Reckoning -- The gravest crisis since the Civil War -- Our country's future -- A time of danger and questioning -- The last of the believables -- Epilogue.