Author and poet Bruce A. Jacobs blogs on the racial/moral/political implications of presumptive Republican Vice-Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s revelation that her 17-year-old teenaged daughter is five months pregnant—and unleashes an avalanche of responses.

“My blog site went completely crazy,” says Jacobs, author of Race Manners for the 21st Century: Navigating the Minefield Between Black and White Americans in an Age of Fear. ”Comments from readers went through the roof. Scores and scores and scores of them, most of them very emotional, and they’re still streaming in. People are incensed about this, from all points of view. I think it’s a real flash point for race and class when it comes to the moral stance of the religious right. Something’s going on here.”

Jacobs is no race-baiting sniper, but a sensitive and insightful observer of America’s race relations and its race relationships—that is, equally adept at analyzing the impact of the big issues among constituencies and sorting through the important nuances of our everyday interpersonal interractions. His book is a crucial read for anyone interested in negotiating our trickiest social minefield.

Meanwhile, check out his blog at http://aliasbruce.typepad.com/alias_bruce/2008/09/palin-the-pregnancy.html

Tags: Bristol Palin, Bruce A. Jacobs, pregnant, Race Manners for the 21st Century, religious right, Republican, Sarah Palin