Synopses & Reviews
This introduction to the Civil Rights Movement synthesises its history, explaining its origins, development and results as well as historiographical debates. A survey based on a wealth of recent scholarship, it provides a critical perspective on the movement, eschewing the celebratory tone that pervades much of the current literature, and taking into account the African-American community's diversity.
Mark Newman outlines the range of white responses to the movement and analyses both northern and southern opinion. He examines the role of the federal government, the church and organised labour, as well as assessing the impact of the Cold War. The book discusses local, regional, and national civil rights campaigns; the utility of non-violent direct action; and the resurgence of black nationalism. And it explains the development, achievements and disintegration of the national civil rights coalition, the role of Martin Luther King Jr and the contribution of many otherwise ordinary men and women to the movement.
The insufficiently appreciated National Association for the Advancement of Colored People receives particular attention, with contrasts drawn between the national office and state conferences and local branches. In detailing and assessing the African-American struggle between the 1930s and 1980s, Newman widens the movement's traditional chronology, offering readers a broad-ranging history.
Synopsis
Explains the origins, development, results and the debates surrounding the movement for racial equality in the USA GBS_insertPreviewButtonPopup('ISBN:9780748615933');
This introduction to the Civil Rights Movement synthesises its history, explaining its origins, development and results as well as historiographical debates. A survey based on a wealth of recent scholarship, it provides a critical perspective on the movement, eschewing the celebratory tone that pervades much of the current literature, and taking into account the African-American community's diversity.
Mark Newman outlines the range of white responses to the movement and analyses both northern and southern opinion. He examines the role of the federal government, the church and organised labour, as well as assessing the impact of the Cold War. The book discusses local, regional, and national civil rights campaigns; the utility of non-violent direct action; and the resurgence of black nationalism. And it explains the development, achievements and disintegration of the national civil rights coalition, the role of Martin Luther King Jr and the contribution of many otherwise ordinary men and women to the movement.
The insufficiently appreciated National Association for the Advancement of Colored People receives particular attention, with contrasts drawn between the national office and state conferences and local branches. In detailing and assessing the African-American struggle between the 1930s and 1980s, Newman widens the movement's traditional chronology, offering readers a broad-ranging history.
Key Features
- Covers both the north and south of America
- Broad chronological coverage - begins in 1941 and ends in 1989, covering the origins and long-term effects of the movement
- Discusses the historiography of the CRM, at an appropriate level for undergraduates
About the Author
Mark Newman is a Reader in History at the University of Edinburgh and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He is the author of the award-winning
Getting Right with God: Southern Baptists and Desegregation, 1945-1995 (2001) and
Divine Agitators: The Delta Ministry and Civil Rights in Mississippi (2004).
Table of Contents
Chronology
Abbreviations
1. Prerequisites for Change
i) The Nature of Racial Discrimination
ii) The Great Migration
iii) The New Deal
iv) Challenges to Injustice in the South
2. The Emergence of the Movement, 1941-1959
i) The Impact of the Second World War
ii) Jim Crow Under Attack
iii) Massive Resistance
iv) The Movement Stalled
3. The End of Jim Crow in the South, 1960-1965
i) The Sit-Ins
ii) The Kennedy Administration and Civil Rights
iii) The Civil Rights Act of 1964
iv) Selam and the Voting Rights Act of 1965
4. The Disintegration of the National Civil Rights Movement Coalition, 1964-1968
i) The Mississippi Summer Project
ii) Northern Protests
iii) Black Power
iv) The Poor People's Campaign
5. Civil Rights in a Conservative Era
i) Nixon's 'Southern Strategy'
ii) A New South?: Protest and Politics
iii) The Struggle in the North
iv) The Federal Government and Civil Rights: From Ford to Reagan
6. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index