Product Description
Using interviews with leaders and participants, as well as historical archives, the author documents three interracial sites where white Americans put themselves into unprecedented relationships with African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Asian Americans.In teen summer camps in the New York City and Los Angeles areas, students from largely segregated schools worked and played together; in Washington, DC, families fought blockbusting and white flight to build an integrated neighborhood; and in San Antonio, white community activists joined in coalition with Mexican American groups to advocate for power in a city government monopolized by Anglos.Women often took the lead in organizations that were upsetting patterns of men's protective authority at the same time as white people's racial dominance. ... Read more

Product Description
"Make room on your library shelf . . . for John Egerton's magnificent Speak Now Against the Day. His book is a stunning achievement: a sprawling, engrossing, deeply moving account of those Southerners, black and white, who raised their voices to challenge the South's racial mores. . . . (This) is an eloquent and passionate book, and . . . one we cannot afford to forget."--Charles B. Dew, New York Times Book Review. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Indispensible but Frustrating
In order to understand a thing, you must understand what came before it.The 22 years before the *Brown v. Board of Education* were a period of rapid transition in the American Southeast that made the regime of segregation unsustainable, and much of that transition was as drastic as the Civil Rights Movement itself. This book does furnish an invaluable introduction to the historical figures of the pre-MLK South.It also supplies a brisk summary of many of the most sensational or consequential events; and it also describes many of the critical social indicators of the region, in comparison with the rest of the USA.

Unfortunately, the effect is like a catalogue rather than an historical narrative.There are interludes where he does do a wonderful job of storytelling, as with the climax of the Brown versus Board of Education deliberations, or various hideous incidents of white supremacist violence against African Americans.He cites these often, as indeed is fitting since there was a constant drumbeat of these violent acts in the public consciousness of everyone.He alludes to the "sulfurous" rhetoric of figures like Sen. Theodore G. Bilbo (D-MS), a supporter of the New Deal in FDR's first term; but he seldom furnishes examples. Since there are supposedly many degrees of "badness," this omission is unfortunate.

To his credit, Egerton also reminds us that all of the Southern legislators acted in unison to squelch civil rights measures, such as anti-lynching laws.

Because of the great number of personalities that Egerton introduces again and again, there is seldom a vivid mental hook.The effect is rather like reading a very long collection of 3-sentence obituaries, sorted by ideological affinities or jobs.Again and again we are assured that everything in the South was very complex and very nuanced, and that it is important to draw deep distinctions among the various flavors of the elites, whether in politics, journalism, civil society, or education.But either Egerton is not interested in an analytical exposition of how these differences work, or he lacked the space to supply them. Surprising as it might perhaps seem, 627 pages is not a lot of distance to cover the separate threads of New Deal disintegration, regional polarization, education, scores of prominent Southern politicians, dozens of writers or editors, a smattering of obscure radicals, and an endless array of anguished white liberals.In his effort to find some redemption in the courage of white liberals, Egerton devotes an ocean of ink to the utterly inconsequential bickering and resolutions of the Southern Conference on Human Welfare (SCHW) and its rival, the Southern Regional Council (SRC).

It's possible to recognize that the men and women of these two middle class white liberal organizations faced a fearsome uphill battle against the racism and smugness of their reactionary neighbors, and at the same time, see that their excruciating struggle to chip atoms away from the mountain of Southern racism was not even a sideshow.Even the feeblest efforts to criticize segregation provoked shrieks of quarrelling among the genteel "liberals," who were strangely indifferent to the complete indifference their region held them in.Their divisions led each hairline fracture to accuse the membership to its immediate left of being "red."This monopolizes Egerton's, so that anything that might lend memorability or analysis to the narrative is tightly squeezed into the remainder; the major developments that actually did lead to the demise of segregation remain, for the most part, a mystery.

Impossible to Put Down
The precedent for any book about the history of the modern Civil Rights movement

A great book
I found this a stupendous book, and while at times I felt I was treading well-known ground, and at times the account of the efforts of groups battling to end segregation was overly extensive in discussing individuals of little present fame, the book reads pleasantly and effortlessly, with the decision in Brown v. Board of Education as the good finale.I would recommend that after reading this book one should read Simple Justice, by Richard Kluger, which tells the story of Brown v. Board of Education itself superlatively.The title of this book is from a statement by William Faulkner heavy with prophetic insight:"We speak now against the day when our Southern people who will resist to the last these inevitable changes in social relations, will, when they have been forced to accept what they at one time might have accepted with dignity and goodwill, will say: 'Why didn't someone tell us this before? Tell us this in time?'"

A Turning Point in the Civil Rights Struggle
A recent work by MacPherson on the battle of Antietam attempts to locate the turning point in the Civil War. Reading this work one wonders if the whole history of abolition is not a series of endless turning points against eternal delays. This very cogent work by someone acquainted with the facts is an invaluable expose of how politics actually works in that scarface Uncle Sam's 'democracy' of equals. Giving the history and gritty details of post-Reconstruction politics dominated by the Bourbon elites, it is essential reading for anyone attempting to decipher the legacy of the Civil Rights movement this period prefigures, and starts to anticipate. Histories of Roosevelt's presidency don't always make clear what was going on, and the obstacles he faced. Nor do we quite assess the effect of the Second World War on the economic context behind Jim Crow in its ad infinitum history of domination, political manipulation, and class and racial struggle. We can see the great tide turning in the thirties and forties, as the struggle begins just to recoup the ground lost in the 1870's and after, Lyndon Johnson's voting rights bill a resurrection of the same failed bill of the Redemption era. Out of many issues in this very useful book is a reminder of how Lyndon Johnson, extremely adept in this Lost Cause dominion, was deftly able at the right moment to get the job done, if it has been done. With this history, keep your eyes peeled. We could be far short of 'done'.

Dull and Boring
For those of us who are familiar with Civil Rights, Egerton's book (along with his pathetic, overblown prose) is a letdown and a bore. ... Read more

Product Description
In words, photos and on two audio CDs, witness the courageous and controversial stories that defined America’s civil rights movement

An entire generation of Americans faced the lynching of teenager Emmett Till, the murder of four girls at church, and the denial of basic liberties like voting rights, equal education and political representation. This is their story.

We Shall Overcome is a gripping chronicle of the words and voices of the civil rights movement. From stirring speeches to the voices of hate, this collection brings to life the battle for justice and equality that shook America to its core. We Shall Overcome brings you there--from the schools to the sit-ins, from Little Rock to Selma, from the pulpit to the marches.

American Book Award winning author Herb Boyd tells the dramatic stories of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Stokely Carmichael, Ella Baker and activist groups like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Black Panthers.

In words, photos and on two accompanying audio CDs, you’ll witness the courageous and controversial stories that defined America’s civil rights movement. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

We Shall Overcome
I was given the privilege of see a copy of the above mentioned book by a friend and found it very interesting and very useful for Black History Month.

Excellent Book
I would like to say that this is a great book if you are interested in knowing what happen just 50 years ago.

Wonderfully Put Together
I bought this book for a political science class, sadly we never used it though, however, I think this is one of the best investments I could have made in a text book. It chronicles the civil rights movement and contains some pictures that are otherwise hard to find anywhere else. I attend Florida A&M and there is actually a piture of Stokley Carmichael standing in front of one of our buildings delivering one of his earth shaking speeches, I'm sure... Unfortunately, I was disheartened by the way the author skipped over Malcolm X's role in the civil rights era and how he inspired later organizations such as the Black panther Party. But that, a big issue for me, aside, this is a great textbook. When I start teaching, I will probably refer back to it for my history classes.

"Living the Movement"
As a child growing up through the movement, this text has allowed me to embrace the struggle as an adult.The actual audio accounts are at times distrubing, but the realization of what people of color went through during that era is something I must endure as an African American.I highly recommend this text. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first reference book presenting an overview of the century-long fight for true racial equality in America. This remarkable encyclopedia covers a wide array of events, legislation, court decisions, cultural achievements, speeches, organizations, and personalities that have contributed to the cause of African-American civil rights--from the Albany, Georgia "sit-in" of 1961 to the racially motivated killing of Samuel Younge in 1966; from the unjustifiable "Jim Crow" laws of the 1870s to President Bush's veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1990; from the first black illustrated newspaper, the Indianapolis Freeman, to the literary figures of the Harlem Renaissance. Outlined are the non-violent protests led by Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as the radical confrontationalism of Malcolm X. The peaceful 1964 March on Washington contrasts sharply with the Detroit race riots of 1967--but all the events covered in this volume are objectively and comprehensively summarized. The constant struggles against racism, segregation, and lack of opportunity are chronicled in more than 800 useful and readable entries. Written by over 100 authors, the entries also provide ready access to relevant literature in the field. The encyclopedia also contains a chronology, a general bibliography, and a subject index. It includes almost 100 illustrations. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

excellent source of obscure information on civil rights
This book is particularly helpful when researching obscure topics related to African-American civil rights, such as court cases and individuals and organizations which do not get as much "air time" as their more famous counterparts.In that sense, the book is a must for all African-American history collections. ... Read more

Product Description
An anthology of speeches providing eloquent evidence of the powerful contribution women made to the struggle ... Read more

Product Description
In this remarkable and elegant work, acclaimed Yale Law School professor Kenji Yoshino fuses legal manifesto and poetic memoir to call for a redefinition of civil rights in our law and culture.

Everyone covers. To cover is to downplay a disfavored trait so as to blend into the mainstream. Because all of us possess stigmatized attributes, we all encounter pressure to cover in our daily lives. Given its pervasiveness, we may experience this pressure to be a simple fact of social life.
Against conventional understanding, Kenji Yoshino argues that the demand to cover can pose a hidden threat to our civil rights. Though we have come to some consensus against penalizing people for differences based on race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, and disability, we still routinely deny equal treatment to people who refuse to downplay differences along these lines. Racial minorities are pressed to “act white” by changing their names, languages, or cultural practices. Women are told to “play like men” at work. Gays are asked not to engage in public displays of same-sex affection. The devout are instructed to minimize expressions of faith, and individuals with disabilities are urged to conceal the paraphernalia that permit them to function. In a wide-ranging analysis, Yoshino demonstrates that American civil rights law has generally ignored the threat posed by these covering demands. With passion and rigor, he shows that the work of civil rights will not be complete until it attends to the harms of coerced conformity.
At the same time, Yoshino is responsive to the American exasperation with identity politics, which often seems like an endless parade of groups asking for state and social solicitude. He observes that the ubiquity of the covering demand provides an opportunity to lift civil rights into a higher, more universal register. Since we all experience the covering demand, we can all make common cause around a new civil rights paradigm based on our desire for authenticity–a desire that brings us together rather than driving us apart.
Yoshino’s argument draws deeply on his personal experiences as a gay Asian American. He follows the Romantics in his belief that if a human life is described with enough particularity, the universal will speak through it. The result is a work that combines one of the most moving memoirs written in years with a landmark manifesto on the civil rights of the future.

“This brilliantly argued and engaging book does two things at once, and it does them both astonishingly well. First, it's a finely grained memoir of young man’s struggles to come to terms with his sexuality, and second, it's a powerful argument for a whole new way of thinking about civil rights and how our society deals with difference. This book challenges us all to confront our own unacknowledged biases, and it demands that we take seriously the idea that there are many different ways to be human. Kenji Yoshino is the face and the voice of the new civil rights.”-Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed

“Kenji Yoshino has not only given us an important, compelling new way to understand civil rights law, a major accomplishment in itself, but with great bravery and honesty, he has forged his argument from the cauldron of his own experience. In clear, lyrical prose, Covering quite literally brings the law to life. The result is a book about our
public and private selves as convincing to the spirit as it is to the
mind.” -Adam Haslett, author of You Are Not A Stranger Here

“Kenji Yoshino's work is often moving and always clarifying. Covering elaborates an original, arresting account of identity and authenticity in American culture.”
-Anthony Appiah, author of The Ethics of Identity and Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor Of Philosophy at Princeton University

“This stunning book introduces three faces of the remarkable Kenji Yoshino: a writer of poetic beauty; a soul of rare reflectivity and decency; and a brilliant lawyer and scholar, passionately committed to uncovering human rights. Like W.E.B. DuBois's The Souls of Black Folk and Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, this book fearlessly blends gripping narrative with insightful analysis to further the cause of human emancipation. And like those classics, it should explode into America's consciousness.”
-Harold Hongju Koh Dean, Yale Law School and former Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights

“Covering is a magnificent work - so eloquently and powerfully written I literally could not put it down. Sweeping in breadth, brilliantly argued, and filled with insight, humor, and erudition, it offers a fundamentally new perspective on civil rights and discrimination law. This extraordinary book is many things at once: an intensely moving personal memoir; a breathtaking historical and cultural synthesis of assimilation and American equality law; an explosive new paradigm for transcending the morass of identity politics; and in parts, pure poetry. No one interested in civil rights, sexuality, discrimination - or simply human flourishing - can afford to miss it.”
-Amy Chua, author of World on Fire

“In this stunning, original book, Kenji Yoshino demonstrates that the struggle for gay rights is not only a struggle to liberate gays---it is a struggle to free all of us, straight and gay, male and female, white and black, from the pressures and temptations to cover vital aspects of ourselves and deprive ourselves and others of our full humanity. Yoshino is both poet and lawyer, and by joining an exquisitely observed personal memoir with a historical analysis of civil rights, he shows why gay rights is so controversial at present,
why “covering” is the issue of contention, and why the “covering demand,” universal in application, is the civil rights issue of our time. This is a beautifully written, brilliant and hopeful book, offering a new understanding of what is at stake in our fight for
human rights.”
-Carol Gilligan, author of In a Different Voice


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

KP's Review
This book should be an absolute must-read book for anyone in the areas of law, ethnic studies, women's studies, LGBTQ studies, sociology, and human rights. I found this book to be enlightening and among one of the best books I have ever read in my entire life. As a minority myself, Yoshino's articulation of his story resonated greatly with my own life. He is so clear and concise in his description of American laws and recommendations to improve equality for all. I can honestly say, I am seriously going to contemplate pursuing a law degree because of this book's profound influence.

better understanding of our behaviors
A well done explanation of why people behave the way we do.The overall presentation is a bit academic but he is a lawyer and academic.The Asian covering seems to get a bit lost.After going through it, I was wanting a bit more - particularly since the gay section was so thorough.But now having had time to reflect some, perhaps he had said all there was to be said - in a very personal and direct way.He covers not only the individual motivations to cover - but also the demands placed on the individual to cover - as well as subsequent results.Enjoyable in the occasional asides - both personal and anecdotal - and very informative.Thank you Mr. Yoshino for putting these thoughts together and out there for the rest of us to ponder and discuss outloud!

excellent reading
This is an articulate, thoughtful look at civil rights and what it means to "cover" aspects of one's identity. Yoshino artfully blends memoir, legal argument and cultural critique. The book is both intelligent and accessible. Whether you identify with his experiences covering in the realms of ethnicity and sexual orientation or approach the concept from another angle, something in this book will make you think.

Great book, easy to read, but problematic central premise
While I like the book and find it to be VERY well written, I find it thought provoking in that I seriously disagree with its central premise.

We had this as assigned reading in a class on Asian American issues. The author is law professor who started out as grad student in creative writing. Having previously attended law school myself, I have got rank this as one of the best written books on a legal topic I've ever read. The book charts the authors personal path, both as an Asian American negotiating his other status in American society, struggling between his parents wish for him to be more Japanese and the pressures of American society, his struggles to be a writer of poetry and find his voice, and in the process his coming out (recognition of his own gayness).

His essential argument is that folks like him, who are insecure about owning a self identity that conflict with the norms around them, need legal protections to make it safer for them to 'own' (slang term: to unflinchingly accept as one's own responsibility) their own identities, above and beyond any civil rights law that already exists. That there should be laws to protect them from having to conform to local standards, even if their overall civil rights are already protected.

I disagree. I found myself going through the book yelling at the author and demanding that he "grow a pair" be it with his parents or with regards to his gayness. I was relieved to see him admitting that he envied the people around him who could courageously own their inner selves, and wished he could be more like them. His ultimate judgment however is that it is the role of government to protect the weak so that they don't have to fight for themselves. This is a stand I can't support, as ultimately it will result in a bunch of Lilly livered whimpering weakling. Its like the worst form supporting people who refuse to work.

Civil rights, in the grand American tradition and in my own opinion, should be given to anyone (assuming they above the age of 16) with enough backbone to stand up and fight for them. This is true at both the group and personal level. If you can't do that than clearly thats your own problem. It is not the role of law to made up for cowardice or laziness. Parents who overprotect their children end up with bunch of spoiled brats who can't hold down a job, as a society this does not benefit us.

Being American is about being willing to 'own' (stand up for) your independence. It is, as some have put it, a form of government designed for adults, not for coddling children.

Oh, and I'm a democrat.

"Covering," a term used for the coerced hiding of crucial aspects of one's self--in his case his homosexuality
There have been several struggles in civil rights in the USA.Women suffrage, African American civil rights, and finally the Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Bisexual cause.

Yoshino, a law professor at Yale and a gay, Asian-American man, masterfully melds autobiography and legal scholarship in this book, marking a move from more traditional pleas for civil equality to a case for individual autonomy in identity politics.Seldom has a work of such careful intellectual rigor and fairness been so deeply touching.

In questioning the phenomenon of "covering," a term used for the coerced hiding of crucial aspects of one's self--in his case his homosexuality--Yoshino thrusts the reader into a battlefield of shifting gray areas. Yet, at every step, he anticipates the reader's questions and rebuttals, answering them not only with acute reasoning, but also with disarming humility.

What emerges is an eloquent, poetic protest against the hidden prejudices embedded in American civil rights legislation--legislation that tacitly apologizes for "immutable" human difference from the white, male, straight norm, rather than defending one's "right to say what one is."Though Yoshino recognizes the law's potential to further (and hinder) liberty's cause, he admits that his "education in law has been an education in its limitations."Hence, by way of his unsparing accounts of self-realization, he reveals that the struggle against oppression lies not solely in fighting an imagined, monolithic state but as much in intimate discourse with the mother, the father, and the colleague who constitute that state.It deals with the ability to "blend" with the society who is yet to give the GLBT community the rights and respect it deserves.

As healing as it is polemical, this book has tremendous potential as a touchstone in the struggle for universal human dignity.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Gary Huey: A Portrait of Courage
Over the years Gary L. Huey has proved himself to be one of the most influential philosophers, teachers, and writers in America history. In this writer's honest opinion, Huey's 200 page masterpiece, "A Rebel with a Cause," could be the most significant piece of literature of the past century. "Rebel" has directly influenced many of today's greatest authors including James Frey, who has said that Huey's impactful depiction of the Civil Rights Movement inspired him to to write his best-selling memoir "A Million Little Pieces." Although Huey may never again match the success of "Rebel", I'm sure that Huey will continue to inspire greatness for generations to come.

God's gift to mankind
This book is the finest piece of literature ever produced in the long history of man. The author's hip writing style and keen sense of soccer strategy help him to portray the hardships of the American south during this time period. Plus, if you don't read this book you'll probably go to hell. ... Read more

Product Description
Arguably the most tumultuous time in recent American history, the Civil Rights years inspired the most rational and irrational of human behaviors and set the stage for sweeping reform in the nation's race relations. Juan Williams's moving chronicle of the movement stands as the definitive history of the era. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

The Civil Rights Primer
This companion book deserves space on your library if you are serious about history or what solid documentation for future reference.The Eyes on the Prize series was revolutionary as it wove a critical piece of modern history which was easy for anyone to absorb.The book comes with solid pictures and other tidbits which put you right in the drama which unfolded on the national scene.I have my differences with Juan Williams, however he did a good job in writing the book.

Bad
This book was in very poor condition. Not what I expect. I will never purchase another book from this vendor.

fast shipping..
this book came at a reasonable time.i can't comment on the contents of the book seeing as it was for me. But the person I bought for was very happy with the book condition and its new looking cover..even if the book itself was used.

A WORTHY COMPANION
This is a very good book on its own. But, as a companion to the series Eyes On The Prize, it's priceless. A book that should be in every american home. A part of United States history that should be required reading in our schools. Wake Up, America.

A great insight into the civil rights movement
The book really showed all of the little steps, and big sacrifices, that individuals made which cumulatively created the momentum that allowed for the success of The Civil Rights Movement. I thought is was a thorough book which was very well written and was very moving. Also it serves as a reminder to the reader what types of individual actions are needed in order to affect a change at the government level. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1964, nearly a thousand volunteers went to Mississippi to work with veteran civil rights organizers and local people on various projects. The summer began with three Ku Klux Klan murders and ended with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic party's challenge to the state's segregationist delegation. This definitive analytical history--well-written and well-researched--tells the dramatic story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

The Key to Understanding the Mississippi Movement--Local People
John Dittmer's study of the Mississippi truly reaches the level of factual study that presents the reader with all the information needed to see the Mississippi civil rights movement on the ground.It provides the facts of the 1940's and 1950's, pointing out the 83,000 Mississippi African Americans who served in the armed forces in World War II and in those who returned to Mississippi as those who were important in no small part to the student civil rights movement that blossomed there in the 1960's.

To study the Mississippi movement without reading Dittmer's work is to fail to get a true picture as to what happened there.Taken together with Charles Payne's I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Stuggle, one is able to understand the Mississippi student civil movement of the 1960's to a large degree.

Civil rights fight in Mississippi
This was required reading for a graduate course in American history.

John Dittmer's Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi paints a portrait of one of the most horrendous acts committed in our nation's history. The torture and abuse the black population endured just to be able to vote was unimaginable. Black men from Mississippi fought for our country in World War II but they could not have a voice in who helped run our country. They remained disenfranchised in this state. White supremacy ran rampant in Mississippi for decades.

Trying to keep blacks from voting in the 1940's made headlines in the Jackson Daily News which read: "DON'T TRY IT!": "Don't attempt to participate in the Democratic primaries anywhere in Mississippi on July 2nd* Staying away from the polls on that date will be the best way to prevent unhealthy and unhappy results." (2) Senator Theodore "The Man" Bilbo played a major role in what became known as the "reign of terror" in trying to keep blacks from voting. Although a complaint was filed with the US Senate committee to Investigate Campaign Expenditures claiming Bilbo had something to do with ostracizing blacks he denied all charges of wrongdoing and was exonerated.

The state constitution had been set up in such a manner that made it almost impossible . for any black man or woman to be able to register to vote. The four main criteria were:

1. Prevent them from registering in the first place
2. Two year residency requirement
3. Two dollar poll tax
4. "Understanding clause" which stated that any prospective voter must be able to read any section of the constitution or as an alternative, be able to understand it when read to him, or to give" a reasonable interpretation of it". (6)

The vast majority of white Mississippians believed blacks should not vote. For four decades blacks struggled against forces of white supremacy with limited success. Most of the' power coming from the "Delta Aristocracy" dominated the state politically and economically for almost half the century (10).

Racial violence was a daily reality for blacks in Mississippi. The caste system that existed before World War II still lingered and remained well into the future, After the war black activism began. Efforts began to be made for voter registration. Organizations began to form in order to advance the black population into what should already be theirs, human rights. Many still held jobs associated with slavery. Jim Crow commanded the pace of life in Mississippi. "Keeping the Negro in his place" was the duty of every white citizen (20). The black vote was not progressing the way organizations like the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) wished it would. Three of the factors that accounted for the failure to register large numbers of black votes are as follows:

1. Tactics of intimidation
2. No on to vote for
3. Registration campaigns centered on the small black middle class

Organizations such as the NAACP and the RCNl (Regional Council of Negro leadership) were both working toward the same goal; however, their differences were more territorial than ideological. They had to remember that their common enemy was the same. Mississippi came to be in a class by itself. The philosophy of the white population came to be that it was "open season" on blacks. If any black man ever achieved anything or got
ahead in any way white supremacy out ranked him every time. Voting remained the main objective for blacks for many years. They continued to have many obstacles in which to overcome in order to just get registered. The state kept the difficult tests in place and violence was EVERYWHERE.

By the early 1960's outsiders began to infiltrate the state. Freedom rides began, college students began protesting in different ways, sit-ins and demonstrations started; and during this time President Kennedy's only goal was to avoid violence. Voter registration came to a standstill after the murder of Herbert Lee, a member of the Mississippi state legislature. His murder was sending a message to the black population which was standing up for your rights in southwest Mississippi could get you killed (109). Organizers came to the realization that no progress could be made unless someone was willing to die.

The activist decide to go to the Delta which was the most oppressed and poor area of Mississippi. There they find that the poorest people are the most willing to act because they have nothing to lose. Violence follows them everywhere but patience begins to subside with the black population and they start to fight back.

James Meredith applied to Ole Miss after serving in the military and enrolling in Jackson State in 1960. His main goal was to desegregate Ole Miss. After many appeals, Meredith was admitted and the governor, Ross Barnett, had been in secret negotiations with the Kennedy' son how to keep Ole Miss from becoming integrated. The Kennedy's had trusted Barnett to keep the peace with this matter; however, on September 30, 1962 the Ole Miss riot took place when Meredith entered Oxford with federal Marshalls. When it was over two men were dead and 160 marshals were injured (140).

Hunger, illiteracy and voting were concerns that needed to be addressed immediately. The SNCC(Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) forced the Kennedys to do what they did not want to do, to "be on somebody's side" (153). The black community became excited. They got involved. The Greenwood movement, as it was known, survived the repression it experienced and the SNCC workers returned to their projects once again. However, the federal indifference and the white narrow-mindedness did not put an end to the fight for civil rights. At the same time in Jackson they were getting ready for a campaign against segregated facilities and discriminatory employment practices. They were insisting on the use of courtesy titles, equality in hiring and promotion, and an end to Jim Crow practices (157). After gaining some momentum in their quest the NAACP decided to reverse their direction which is still unclear. In Jackson, the Kennedys' primary objective was to bring an end to violence, which meant getting black people off the streets. They preferred order to justice (169).

Violence, hunger, and hatred continued to ensue throughout the state. Pastors of black churches finally opened their doors to organizations so they would have somewhere to meet. Voting rights were still a primary goal. With more organizations in the middle of things conflicting strategies became a problem. They all wanted the same end result but the ideologies were not the same. Therefore, they each had a different opinion on how things should be done.

Willie Dillon a COFO (Council of Federated Organizations) participant and parent of children, who went to Freedom Schools, had his house bombed in McComb. The police blamed him and arrested him for operating a garage without a license. He pleaded guilty after intimidation and without the guidance of an attorney and was fired from his job. McComb's blacks were consistently bombed by the KKK, if the blacks were active. McComb's white leadership was silent. Black principals and ministers who had not been active in the COFO movement were bombed. Black residents went to the justice department, but to no avail. Eventually the government heard rumors of marshal law and white bombers were eventually arrested and the KKK terror stopped. The bombers were let off with a stern warning. With nationwide media watching, McComb desegregated for the cameras; but returned to the old way of life once the media was gone. Black activists decimated the Klan's authority and won some small battles; and some white moderate voices were beginning to be heard.

In 1964 COFO emerged as a powerful force in the election by trying to get blacks registered and voting. COFO was expanding. Some people returned to school. CORE(Congress of Racial Equality) and SNCC had low morale and few activists signed up in 1964. Women were discriminated against in SNCC as secretaries when they were qualified for much more. The Freedom Democratic Party would be an independent force, the successor to both COFO and SNCC.

Freedom Democrats contested the Mississippi elections of five House representatives. More than a third of the House membership voted to bar the Mississippi members. National publicity and lawyers came to Mississippi because of the contention. COFO and the NAACP could not agree on anything and were increasingly hostile towards each other. COFO was abolished and SNCC went under the FOP. SNCC activists were alienated from mainstream politics. White terror made it so blacks did not want to vote. Natchez was a town of the "Old South". Charles Evers emerged as that section of Mississippi's main leader and played the organizations against each other. The Natchez blacks demanded equality in the police force, government and business or the blacks would boycott white stores. FOP did not agree with Evers, but Evers won with popularity. He was cautious and did not march when the other organizations thought they should. Evers went against FOP thought and ended the boycott to white stores that had compromised. FOP was on the major decline, defeated in Natchez. FOP
money was running tight. New strategies would have to be employed.

In early April 1965 the Mississippi Freedom Labor Union (MFLU) and the Child Development Group of Mississippi (CDGM) were created to organize black farm and domestic workers in the Delta region. The MFLU efforts failed not only because the traditional hostility of white Mississippians toward all labor unions, but also because farm workers had no leverage to use against the planters. Efforts to form farmers cooperatives in the region barely made a dent in the problems of black unemployment and poverty. CDGM was one of the nation's pioneer Head Start programs, providing poor children with preschool training, medical care, and two hot meals a day. It also provided employment at decent wages for hundreds of local teachers and paraprofessionals at Head Start centers.

On June 4, 1966, James Meredith began his 220 mile walk from Memphis to Mississippi's state capital of Jackson to challenge the fear that was still dominant among black Mississippians and to convince them it was now safe to register and vote in the Magnolia State. On the second day, Meredith was shot, but while he was recuperating leaders of the national civil rights organizations continued the march. During the first week of the Meredith march there were few white hecklers. Local officials were eager to avoid incidents of violence and the march itself had an informal and relaxed quality. That all changed during the final ten days with familiar tactics of repression and mob violence; but it also became more militant as the ideological and philosophical divisions among its leaders became more apparent (395 & 396). When the march ended anticlimactically on June 26th, and the national civil rights leadership left the state - fighting over who would pay the march's bills - Mississippi was still segregated, black poverty was still getting worse, and local black Mississippians were still left to pick up the pieces.

SNCC as an organization had little impact on the Mississippi movement after 1966; it had become preoccupied with internal problems centering on the definition and implications of black power and it had voted to expel all whites from the organization in December 1966. The local people, who had been the backbone of the old COFO coalition and the Freedom Democratic Party (FOP), faced challenges from black and white political moderates. FOP leaders agreed that the 1967 state and local elections would make or break their party (410). In the face of urban race riots in the North, and calls for revolution among black nationalists, FOP continued to work within the political system and welcomed support from all people who identified with its theme of blackempowerment. State legislative strategies conspired to dilute black voting strength(gerrymandering congressional districts, creating multimember legislative districts requiring at-large voting, and increased filing requirements for independent candidates); this, combined with black political infighting and white intimidation limited FOP's achievements (411-415).

Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history, civil rights history.

The Best on the Subject
Marvelous.Should be required reading for all college and university students.

An essential book on civil rights movement history
Much of our common knowledge of U.S. civil rights movement's history comes from books and films portraying the nationally known struggles of the 1950s and 1960s. This book tells a different story - the struggles of the largely African American activists who, working without the benefit of the national spotlight, sought to open up the closed society of Mississippi to equal treatment for its African American citizens. It was a tremendous and extremely dangerous task. Mississippi was the toughest nut to crack among the Southern states. It was the most impoverished state in the union, where subjugation of African Americans was strictly enforced through intimidation, violence, disenfranchisement, job firings and economic ruin. Any sympathetic whites who dared to even question Mississippi justice were financially ruined and all but run out of the state. In this seemingly impossible to change social, political, and economic climate, a movement of local Mississippi African Americans emerged, with the help of activists from other states, who challenged the situation head-on by attempting to empower African Americans through voter registration drives, by attempting to set up cooperatives in order to gain economic power, and through education. The emphasis was not so much on organizing for desegregation of public facilities as it was on changing the power structure of Mississippi, to enfranchise its African American citizens and gain for them political and economic justice. Working from the bottom up, these activists had few allies, were largely ignored by the national media, and faced life threatening dangers on a daily and nightly basis. Many were savagely beaten, shot at, and repeatedly jailed. Several were murdered. They persisted, working diligently and out of the spotlight. Local People details the successes and failures of these every day struggles, and by doing so, lifts this aspect of the movement from obscurity to its rightful place in history. Prof. Dittmer is a first-rate writer - this book is very hard to put down once you start reading it. What emerges is a portrait of some of the most courageous people in our nation's history, such as Fannie Lou Hamer, Amzie Moore, and Bob Moses, and the local people who responded to the activists efforts. Local People is essential reading for any true understanding of the civil rights movement.

This Book is the way History should be Written
In my opinion this work looks at the civil rights movement in a way that all historians shoud take note of.Dittmer's in-depth bottom up look at the way movements happen allows a deeper understanding of the incredible struggles that local Mississippians went through for a few small stepstoward racial equality.It also knocks the national leaders (JFK, LBJ,MLK) off the pedestals that mainstream history has placed under them andshows the truly peripheral role that they played in the struggle. ... Read more

Product Description
"One of the most original books that I've read in a long time.... Marsh has reminded us of what is required to keep America moving toward social justice." (Bill Moyers)

Speaking to his supporters at the end of the Montgomery bus boycott in 1956, Martin Luther King, Jr., declared that their common goal was not simply the end of segregation as an institution. Rather, "the end is reconciliation, the end is redemption, the end is the creation of the beloved community." King's words reflect the strong religious convictions that motivated the civil rights movement in the South in its early days. Standing courageously on the Judeo-Christian foundations of their moral commitments, civil rights leaders sought to transform the social and political realities of twentieth-century America.

In The Beloved Community, Charles Marsh shows that the same spiritual vision that animated the civil rights movement remains a vital source of moral energy today. The Beloved Community lays out an exuberant new vision for progressive Christianity and reclaims the centrality of faith in the quest for social justice and authentic community.

"[The Beloved Community] ranks among the finest studies of the civil rights movement." (Books and Culture)

"A stirring account of Christian faith in action, and...a fervent plea for spiritual renewal and recommitment." (Christian Science Monitor) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Loving Jesus = Pursuing Justice
There is a recent conversation within Evangelical circles that goes something like this: *While it's good for Christians to pursue justice we must be careful not to neglect evangelism.The cultures at large may applaud our involvement with justice but evangelism is the true Christian distinction.* After reading The Beloved Community: How Faith Shapes Social Justice from the Civil Rights Movement to Today I've come to think this conversation represents an entirely lopsided understanding of justice, one that mostly neglects the history of social justice in America.According to Charles Marsh, it is the distinction of Christian faith that has defined movements of justice.The Beloved Community offers a compelling corrective to those who make too-clean divisions and hierarchies between the work of justice and evangelism.

If you've read Marsh, a professor at the University of Virginia, you've likely been amazed at the author's ability to write history (footnotes and quotations abound) as an utterly captivating narrative.Chapters are arranged around a handful of women and men whose experiences during the Civil Rights Movement advance Marsh's thesis, that it has been a robust Christian faith that inspires and sustains advocates for a more just American society.According to the author, when these movements wandered from their Christian roots they became unfocused, selfish and generally ineffective at bringing about systemic change.This is a strong stance, but Marsh argues it persuasively by piling up story upon story of farmers, preachers and students who were compelled to great sacrifice by their Christian hope, what Dr. King called "the great event of Calvary."

The story Marsh tells is relatively unknown by many within majority culture churches, a major reason for the persistent conversations about the merits of evangelism over justice.As I read The Beloved Community- my favorite book of the past year- I found myself wishing more self-identified Evangelical pastors and churches were familiar with this history.The theology and practice of those Christ-centered men and women of past decades have so much to teach us today, including the fact that persistent work for justice is no more welcomed by society than is evangelism.

The Beloved Community tells both hopeful and discouraging stories within the larger history of social justice, but the book ends with recent examples of those compelled to join their justice-minded parents and grandparents in the Christian faith.Marsh makes clear that this history is still being written by those who take seriously their discipleship to Jesus.Hope, then, is the resounding note through the book and, despite the many set-backs and challenges, it is Christian hope that pushes the movement for justice forward even today.

excellent survey of the Christian history of civil rights - good and bad
Great survey of the Christian basis of Dr. King and Civil Rights, Clarence Jordan and Koinonia Farms, and SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee).Showed the influence of Christianity in its beginning and currently.Then second half of the book surveyed some current Christian ministries that maintain a strong Christian foundation and continue to pursue the beloved community based on the person of Jesus Christ.Especially powerful details around the Christian Community Development Association and Dr. John Perkins.Beautiful story.Very encouraging in pursuing the Beloved Community.

Beyond tolerance to compassion: that is the Church's greatest strength
We talk tolerance, as well we should, but in the church we believe in compassion - in suffering alongside the hurting - something much bigger than tolerance. We talk acceptance of those who are different, but in the Bible's record of the early church, we see not acceptance, but people becoming family with one another. Becoming a beloved community is far more difficult - and therefore more miraculous - than mere equality under law.

On a more hopeful note, beloved community never died, even as the Civil Rights movement lost steam, fragmented and lost many its leaders to murder. The story of Christians pressing onward and upward toward justice in the here and now, starting with Martin Luther King, and continuing today is the subject of Beloved Community, Charles Marsh's new book. It ought to be required reading for all Christian activists: there is a distinct pattern to success and failure in the Christian pursuit of beloved community, and Marsh dissects it all.

All this is far more important than coalition politics, because beloved community is a subset of the church - a community created by God and sent into the world. Christian activism is thus a different critter altogether than many other social reform movements, liberal or conservative, with whom the Christians in question may agree or disagree. Ultimately, this is God's story. God's overarching mission in the world is to create a kingdom for himself, and populated with people who have been rescued from their own sin, and reshaped into a distinct community. The Greek word for church - ekklesia - literally means "called out" from the rest of society. Beloved community is just a fancy way of saying "Church as it out to be."

From the collapse of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Community, through Francis Schaeffer's L'Abri fellowships, to several of today's spiritual and community leaders, Marsh's book is a message of hope for Christians: Beloved Community is alive! ... Read more

Book Description

When it comes to race in America, we must face one uncomfortable but undeniable fact. Almost 50 years after the birth of the civil rights movement, inequality still reigns supreme in our classrooms. At a time when African-American students trail their white peers on academic tests and experience high dropout rates, low college completion rates, and a tendency to shy away from majors in hard sciences and mathematics, the Black-White achievement gap in our schools has become the major barrier to racial equality and social justice in America. In fact, it is arguably the greatest civil rights issue of our time.

Customer Reviews (4)

Good intentions, but ...
One can certainly agree with Dr. Paige and Dr. Witty that the academic achievement deficit suffered by average African American students relative to their white peers needs to be shrunk and that dealing with this stigmatizing statistic should be a top priority for black political, civil rights andactivist organizations. After decades of civil rights progress and in an era when we can have a black president and first family occupying the White House it's fair to say it's time for black people to look beyond racism as a primary factor inhibiting African American progress.

In chapter 2 Paige and Witty do an effective job defining the black-white achievement gapin terms of lower black student reading and math scores at critical school grades and higher school dropout rates. In the chapters that follow the authors urge the reader to embrace a no excuses view that the achievement gap can be overcome if activists and organizations focus on the goal with an all hands on deck coordinated effort. Other than a laundry list of one liners at the end of the book the authors do little to fill in what all hands on deck would mean and where there has been success. The book appears filled with missed opportunities.

As part of their no excuses philosophy Paige and Witty adopt the contemporary view of education reformers that inept parenting cannot be used as an excuse for a child's lagging academic performance. They then seem to contradict themselves when they cite hard working education valuing Vietnamese families as an example one might follow. There's an irony here. A 1992 Scientific American article thatdiscussed what family dynamics explain high achieving southeast Asian students. In the article, which could have used a chapter in the book, several simple culturally independent practices were identified that could be applied by a parent of any means or education level. Of more interest these children of refugees were successful despite attending regular urban public schools.Instead of identifying what could be learned from the experience of these families a single sentence was tossed out as a 'They can do it. Why can't we.' moment.

The Author's allude to the success of KIPP charter schools which have a record of working with and raising the academic performance of economically disadvantaged poor performing students. What is left out is whether the KIPP model is scalable to a city or countywide level. For that matter why haven't all charter schools with their relaxed bureaucracy and flexibility copied and matched the success of the best KIPP schools. At the end of the book the authors mention Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone a program that the Obama administration is hoping to replicate nationally for the very purpose of closing the achievement gap for disadvantaged minority groups. For this reason the Harlem Children's Zone could have used a whole chapter for no reason so that the reader could be made aware of just how much difficult work goes into making this kind of program work. In a recent (6/24/2010) NPR interview Mr. Canada worried that groups scrambling for these federal dollars might be getting over their head.

The authors' swipe at the dysfunctional Washington, D.C. school system (DCPS) was justified but again misleading and incomplete. DCPS has been rife with ineptitude and corruption with poor achievement. The authorscite a statistic that black students suffer a 63% academic achievement deficit relative to their white DCPS peers. Unfortunately, absent context one is left wondering what it means to compare the 4% of DCPS white students to the overwhelming 85% of black DCPS students. How are those white students distributed? Are they concentrated in the good DCPS schools? Or are they randomly distributed throughout the system yet managing to still out perform their black school mates? For that matter while the authors praise former mayor Williams for his "courageous" stance in favor of school vouchers over the objections of democrats they are noticeably silent about what success if any current Mayor Fenty and school chancellor Michelle Rhee are having with the DCPS. Rhee is a Teach For America veteran who shares many of the no excuses, confront the teachers union and the bureaucracy of Rod Paige. After years of school closings, confronting the union and firing staff has she succeeded in closing the black white achievement gap? Nope.

Finally it's disappointingthe authors did little to lay out their own track records in closing the black-white achievement gap. Both have decades of experience in education. Rod Paige himself rose to superintendent of the Houston school system. Rod Paige is a harsh critic of teachers unions and school bureaucracies. He's a fan of charter schools, privatization and vouchers. Was Mr. Paige able to close the achievement gap in the Houston Independent Schools while he ran them? Did he leave in place processes that ensured his legacy of success persisted? Accounts of their own success closing the achievement gap could have used their own chaptersso that those who wanted to heed their clarion call could learn from the masters.

Academically and Sociologically Transformational
Academically, this book is one of the best researched and well written that I have ever read.Many academians want to speak to an issue, but not offer solutions.Rod Paige, former US Secretary of Education, and his sister, Dr. Elaine Witty offer historical options for the problems, refutations and arguments for the psychological basis, and solutions, including examples.

Not only do I think this is an excellent book and an important offering, but it is also incredibly educational for those of us who don't have a black history awareness.History, is written from a perspective.Our education system is attempting to make right this issue, but when I went through the system, we weren't taught (for instance) how slavery started, or that when people first started coming to the U.S., both black and white came as indentured servants and worked their way out of servitude.In the chapter The Origins of the Problem, I found a brief history of African Americans, some of which was new information.Thankfully, my children are receiving a much more rounded view of history.

Not only should you read this book, but I encourage you to hand it off to someone else and join the conversation.Kids in our cities are dropping out of school at an alarming rate.The impact of a low education will not only impact their financial outcomes, but it will set their own children at a disadvantage.According to this book, a three year old child of a family on welfare's vocabulary consists of about 500 words as opposed to the same child in a professional family having about 1,100 words.Although there are a lot of reasons why someone would end up on welfare, a low education and inability to support oneself is certainly a top contender.

This is an important book that needs to be read and used.

Powerful Book
This is a very interesting book written by a brother-sister team who are experts in the education field.In this book they share their experiences and offer advice on how to close the educational achievement gap between black and white children. With this book they not only raise public awareness of this issue but offer action steps to make a difference in our own schools.

Armed with statistical data to prove their point, the authors set out to persuade us that much more needs to be done to bring families out of poverty and make changes in our educational system that will close the gap and give black children a chance for success.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who cares about the education and future of American children.

The Black-White Achievement Gap
Rod Paige, Ph.D., and Elaine Witty, Ph.D., Authors
The Black-White Achievement Gap
Amacon Press, ISBN 978-0-8144-1519-1
Non-Fiction-education, black issues, education reform, standardized testing, leadership
210 pages
January 2010 Review for Bookpleasures.com
Reviewer-Michelle Kaye Malsbury, BSBM, MM
Review
Drs. Paige and Witty [Ph.D]are a brother and sister team who joined hands in writing The Black-White Achievement Gap. Both people are well credentialed and extremely experienced in the fields of education and administration. Dr. Paige was previously the Secretary of Education [2001-2005] under President G.W. Bush. He has been dean of a major Texas university and superintendent of the Houston school system. (2010, inside back cover) Dr. Witty worked as an educator in middle and high school, has been dean at a major university, and head of the educational department at the state university level.

The breadth and depth of their collective experiences, knowledge, and educational endeavors makes the information contained therein even more relevant and urgent to today's society and education as a whole. Both authors offer thoughtful measures and steps in this book that are targeted at closing the educational achievement gap between black and white children. Their [Paige and Witty] sage instructions should be the carried out by every family, religious head, teacher, and counselor across our country, especially in the black communities. Their hopes in writing this book is not merely to raise public awareness to this dire situation, but also a call for immediate action to turn the tables that have previously been responsible for this achievement gap such that we can tighten or diminish the gap, thereby providing a quality education to all of America's children.

The authors state that (2010, p.2) "The average African American public school twelfth grader's performance on academic measures approximates that of the average white eighth grader." That is an alarming statement. In order to begin to change the tide on this procession the authors suggest that [paraphrase] leaders in the African American community need to help ferret out the barriers to this dilemma and begin working on a path forward. (p.8) Paige and Witty believe that No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was a wonderful piece of legislation, instituted under President G.W. Bush, that can and will help to close this gap. I remain dubious of the good it [NCLB] has effectuated based on conversations with educators and principals across American who wonder about teaching only for a test v. teaching the basics and building on those requirements for each consecutive grade level (i.e. reading, arithmetic, science, and social studies) on a national scale where each state is teaching from the same set of critical building blocks that can ensure that all of our students are challenged to meet and exceeding their [all parties involved] expectations.

There are many headings in chapters walking back through black history and the history of the United States as it has helped to shape where we are now as a people. These inclusions are meant to help strengthen our understanding that white history differs from black history and perhaps even colors the perception of our black or white members of society today. If we can alleviate some of those biases and remove the barriers from those stigmas we can forge a future, educational speaking, that works for all of our youth and not just some.

"The Black-White Achievement Gap" is jam packed with statistical data on a variety of subjects ranging from mathematical skills at various grade levels to reading and more. (2010, ch.2) There is ancillary data that correlates to wages for achievement of various levels of education or lack thereof, which is the case in dropouts. Statistics are added to depict how education interacts and interrelates with crime and incarceration, especially for blacks. Largely this information is used to bolster their hypothesis that the achievement gap is real, growing, and requires mitigation immediately. It is compelling.

Some of the key things that must be done to reverse this achievement gap deal with communities offering parenting classes and language development training that can teach valuable skills to parents who are disadvantaged socio-economically as oftentimes those households are equally lacking in level of parental education and require training to be up to snuf. (2010, p.61) Paige and Witty say that "Growing up in an environment surrounded by adverse conditions obviously challenges a child's expectations for success." (p.64) So more must be done by our leaders to bring families out of poverty and into productive members of society as that greatly enhances those children's chances for success.

Improving the overall status of families is not the only place where we need to improve according to Paige and Witty. They also believe that the quality of teachers must improve such that they are teaching at higher levels so we can raise the bar where expectations, on both ends, are concerned. (2010, pgs.73-4) If students are challenged to achieve higher standards and the teachers keep raising the bar for what they expect we can make headway toward closing this achievement gap and improving the educational quality for all students. The authors are realistic in their assessment that reversing this problem may take a generation or two, but it is possible if we make a concerted effort to understand the situation in its entirety and allocate the right amount of resources, energy, and time to see it to fruition.

I would highly recommend this book for educators, administrative educational staff, community leaders, boards of education and their members, and anyone else who cares about the education of our future generations.
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Product Description
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Describes the struggle for civil rights for African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s and profiles important civil rights leaders. Includes suggested activities. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Resource for Teachers
I really like this book, and am planning to use it for lessons in my classroom.

Great History/Inane Activities
Buy this book if you want a good basic history of the Civil Rights Movement.
The chapters are well written andbroken down by topic and time period.
The book begins with a Chapter, "Let The Children Lead Them". This would be an excellent hook to introduce todays kids to actual kids and teens like Ruby Bridges,Barbara Johns and Linda Brown (Brown Vs. Board of Ed)that led the struggle against inequality in education.Other chapters include such topics as The Montgomery Bus Boycott, Student Sit-Ins, The Freedom Riders, March On Washington and the March from Montgomery to Selma. The book introduces us to both the leaders and ordinary people who took part in the movement. It contains excellent photographs of the era that are a teaching tool in themselves. The book brings the reader up to the present time and shows how the struggle for civil rights continues through the work of people like Marian Wright Edelman and The Children's Defense Fund.

However, many of the activities are inane. Making hippie love beads, having a "freedom feast" by cooking gumbo trivializes the people who risked theirlives to change America.
On the other hand, one of the activities is a play about the Lunch Counter Sit Ins where part of the dialogue uses the N WORD. In my opinion using that word is just too explosive an issue to use with school age kids.
Great book for history, it is too bad that more time and thought was not taken with how to engage kids with meaningful activities that would celebrate and continue that history. ... Read more

Product Description
The civil rights movement was first and foremost a struggle for racial equality, but questions of gender lay deeply embedded within this struggle. Steve Estes explores key groups, leaders, and events in the movement to understand how activists used race and manhood to articulate their visions of what American society should be.

Estes demonstrates that, at crucial turning points in the movement, both segregationists and civil rights activists harnessed masculinist rhetoric, tapping into implicit assumptions about race, gender, and sexuality. Estes begins with an analysis of the role of black men in World War II and then examines the segregationists, who demonized black male sexuality and galvanized white men behind the ideal of southern honor. Later, he explores the militant new models of manhood espoused by civil rights activists and groups such as Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Black Panther Party.

Reliance on masculinist organizing strategies had both positive and negative consequences, Estes concludes. Tracing these strategies from the integration of the U.S. military in the 1940s through the Million Man March in the 1990s, he shows that masculinism rallied men to action but left unchallenged many of the patriarchal assumptions that underlay American society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Black masculinity is a political force
Borrowing from a research model pioneered by feminist scholars,
Steve Estes examines the history of African American men in a racialized-gendered context to argue that black men's masculinity was at stake throughout these struggles.

The assistant professor of history at Sonoma State College produces an interesting and readable account of state politics. Examining the politics of representing black men's bodies, he argues that appearance can and does effectively influence civil rights.

From the days of slavery to the civil rights movement, black men being too assertive in the public sphere was a breach of the 'social order' established by racist white society.

Even people who were allegedly on their side (white abolitionists) depicted black men as 'begging' for their freedom, inferring dependence and weakness--decidedly 'unmasculine' traits.

Alternately, black men's sexuality was portrayed as a threat to the established order. A black man who had any degree of contact with a white woman in any context risked being perceived as the 'rapist' an ultra-masculine stereotype. Ironically, the white individuals and their organized hate groups claimed to only be protecting white women with the subsequent lynching being through `white masculinity's' obligation to `protect' the women of `our community'.

Because it was safer for black men during those times, they consequently adopted a position of subservience to the 'larger world'. Black women took an active lead in the earliest civil rights movements out of practicality.

Whether they had all of the theories our society now has access to, the Black Panthers also articulated a critique of black masculinity and political legitimacy. Sharply contrasting against the buffoonish 'Jim Crow' their ideal black man was an articulate, proactive, solider fighting on behalf of himself, his community, and his people.

Estes is passionate about his work and makes a generally convincing case for his thesis. I am curious that his manuscript did not include a more extensive examination of the Black Pather's articulated desire to build (then-unprecedented) alliances with homosexuals and women. There's some information about each group in this book, but nothing about this earliest coalition building attempt and nothing how that action had challenged heterosexism within the Black Panthers, or the after effects for black masculinity as a political force.
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Customer Reviews (1)

A fine reference for those who want to understand the importance of those who came before
The African American race has come a long way, from being treated like cattle off boats to leading the free world. "Freedom Facts and Firsts: 400 Years of the African American Civil Rights Experience" is an amazing compilation of facts and stories about the lives and times of African Americans in the past four centuries. With everything from entries on major court cases, remarkable events, to the icons of black history, "Freedom Facts and Firsts" is a fine reference for those who want to understand the importance of those who came before. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Facinating look at the civil rights movement
What an amazing account of the civil rights movement from the point of view of a white civil rights worker. The buddy-view narration of one who was right there and knew all of the amazing leaders of the movement is easy to read and incredibly entertaining and informative. I am a very of Charlie Saulsburry, who is mentioned in this book, and the author, all these years later, absolutely pegged him. Great job!

A Moment in Time
This book was recommended by a friend who is mentioned in the book.Otherwise I probably would not have bought it.However I found it easy to read and very enlightening.I graduated from high school in 1962 from a small town in the South.Although my path took me a different direction; I was fascinated by Dick Reavis' accounts of his experiences at voter registration in a small Southern town. He is certainly very honest in his portrayal of his contributions to the movement.Learning more about the struggles of the college students and the people in the city where they worked helped me have a better understanding of the issues they were trying to help change.I was very naive back then and quite frankly unaware of some of the restrictions that were imposed on African Americans at that time.Thanks for enlightening me.I intend to do more reading on this important chapter in American history. ... Read more

Product Description
Asian American Women: Issues, Concerns, and Responsive Human and Civil Rights Advocacy reveals the struggles of Asian American women at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder where hunger, illness, sweatshop labor, exposure to hazardous chemicals and even involuntary servitude are everyday realities. Asian American women of all socio-economic classes suffer from domestic violence whose root causes stem from the particular forms of patriarchy that exist in Asian cultures. Their health and lives are endangered due to stereotypes about Asian women. The lack of research or the lumping together of the over 24 subgroups of Asian Americans into a homogeneous whole misleads the public as to the extent of injustices inflicted on Asian American women. The book captures their suffering and also the fighting spirit of Asian American women who have waged social and economic justice campaigns to right the wrongs against them. The book is a call to action to Asian Americans, policy makers, civil rights organizations and the philanthropic community to support Asian American women in their struggles to advance their social justice agenda.

The second edition was updated by Asian American women activists, advocates and organizers who have dedicated their lives to the elimination of the human and civil rights violations described in this book.

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Customer Reviews (3)

Eye opening
Great short stories of people fighting for injustice of all colors and nationalites.Worth the time!

Great for classroom use!
I used this book with my students, who were fascinated and inspired by the variety of stories. They were especially interested in reading the introductory poem/spiritual and comparing the struggles of the slaves with the struggles of the segregation era with the continuing struggles post-segregation. A good choice for high school and advanced middle-grade readers.

INCREDIBLE
I saw this book on display at a large bookstore and i was instantly attracted to it by merely reading the first page. It tells of the personal first hand experiences of couragous men and women who throughout history have stood up against injustice. Though many accounts are from the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s many others are on the womens movement, native american, latin american and disability rights. This is the first book i have read by Juan Williams and after finishing it i have decided it will not be my last. Also after reading this book i feel empowered and confident just by reading the incredible experiences of others included in the book. I would DEFFINETLY reccomend this book. It is incredibly interesting from a historical standpoint, a civil rights standpoint and so many others. Go check out this book! ... Read more

Product Description
Public policy on immigration will be central to determining the form and character of U.S. society in the twenty-first century. The political Right has so far seized the initiative in defining the parameters of the discussion, in effect limiting national debate to choosing between degrees of restrictionism.

Immigration: A Civil Rights Issue for the Americas fills a gap in existing literature on immigration by providing a variety of perspectives among those who agree that immigrants have rights, but may differ about how to assert those rights. First published in the quarterly journal Social Justice in 1996, these essays are written by some of the most notable scholars in the area of immigration. This volume will be valuable for classroom use and beyond because of the readable and accessible style of the articles.

The 13 contributions to this new book are refreshingly progressive interventions into the national debate on immigration. They agree that divergent approaches exist among progressives and that such differences must be examined.

Calling upon that which is best in the democratic heritage of the U.S., this collection challenges the historic and ongoing civil rights struggle to adopt a global perspective that includes the civil rights of all immigrants, whether documented or undocumented. In addition, the book takes on issues that are relevant to everyday realities in most communi-ties throughout the U.S.

Immigration: A Civil Rights Issue for the Americas is ideal for courses on 20th-century American history, immigration, sociology, political science, and other social sciences. ... Read more