ably lead either to overt racist action or silent acquiescence to racist action on the part of others. How, then, can we have any real hope that such deeply embedded attitudes can be eliminated or even substantially altered? Again, Hacker's work does not offer any substantial hope in this regard---short of some sort of moral or spiritual awakening on the part of white America.
The deeply divided attitudes of Americans---along strict racial lines---with respect to the O.J. Simpson murder case reflect the statement from Benjamin Disraeli (in reference to class divisions in Victorian England) quoted by the author and from which Hacker draws the title of his book: "Two nations, between whom there is no intercourse and no sympathy; who are as ignorant of each other's habits, thoughts, and feelings, as if they were dwellers in different zones, or inhabitants of different planets" (ix).
Again, it is difficult to look at the depth and longevity of such division and emerge with any hope that racism will any time in the near or distant future be even significantly reduced in the
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