In searing personal essays, thirty-six writers of diverse cultural and racial backgrounds explore how the promise of American democracy has been tested over more than a century. In the original edition the emphasis was on issues of racial and cultural diversity. This new edition broadens the range and brings recent political and cultural events into focus. New essays include perspectives on the threat of terrorism, the rise of the religious Right, and the tension between privacy and national security since September 11, 2001. Others trace the roots of present controversies through the twentieth century, from the battle at Wounded Knee to the struggle for equality by women, gays, and racial and ethnic minorities.