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The book traces the deep historical roots of colonial/racial attitudes of Europeans as they discovered, conquered, and settled the Americas, exploiting African slaves as the labor force. Those attitudes were to a great extent shaped by a very prudish morality founded on Christianity. It covers the

history of slavery in North America in some detail and gives a chilling account of the oppression, antiblack riots, and lynchings of the Jim Crow era. The largest part of the book deals with the tumultuous period from 1954 to 1975, dealing broadly with the civil rights movement (blacks, women, LGBT,

native Americans) and the effects of the Vietnam war. The "sexual revolution" of the 1960s is seen in contrast to the extreme prudishness and homophobia of the first half of the century. It is described as having, in conjunction with rock'n'roll and the civil rights movement, a decisive effect on the reduction of prejudice and fear of whites with respect to the reputed strong sexuality of the blacks.