Affirmative Action was initially an emergency stop-gap measure to resolve a serious and immediate problem. As such, like most temporary corrective measures, it was imperfect: the guidelines vague and definition unclear, with a misguided understanding of merit. Stereotypes have not disappeared from American society. Prejudice has been transformed from overt actions in the 1950s to more subtle and indirect forms that are still prevalent. Salinas shows us that a long-term program is needed to solve the problem of inequality, not just compensate for it. Affirmative Action was originally needed to deal with disparities - social, economic, political and educational - in America. What is needed is a new, long-term program to attack the root causes of inequality and prejudice. Salinas believes the quest to end disparity in this country must begin with educational reform, abandoning an antiquated educational model designed to serve an emerging industrial society and based on the values of the dominant white class of the time. He applies empirical evidence to reach policy conclusions moving beyond our current Affirmative Action.

As renewed hatred pumped the people of Israel and Palestine in summer 2006 fueling a flurry of bombings, kidnappings, and murders, author Moises Salinas continued research and interviews for this book in those nations. In Planting Hatred, Sowing Pain, the psychology professor explains why it often seems this conflict that has been raging more than 70 years is illogical. While in recent years both groups have basically agreed on the broad parameters of a peace agreement, the fight still continues. Salinas argues that the obstacles to achieving a solution are not just political, but also psychological. He shows that just as disagreements over borders, refugees, and settlements keep the parties from the negotiating table, so do psychological factors including mistrust, hatred, stereotypes, and prejudice. The world has known many periods when two factions manifested such strong hatred of each other that bloody conflicts were regular, ongoing, unsurprising events. But there is perhaps no modern conflict as sustained as that of the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. Through interviewees ranging from an Israeli right-wing settler and a Palestinian militant to commoners on both sides who were simply victims of violence, Salinas shows how the hatred and mistrust were created and why they persist. The book includes compelling reviews of the psychological research regarding Israeli-Palestinian relationships and of stereotype and prejudice formation, violence and dehumanization, post-traumatic stress, as well as reconciliation, mediation, and peacemaking. An appendix provides the Geneva Accord model of an Israeli-Palestinian Peace agreement.