The House I Live In: Race in the American Century PDF
Preview The House I Live In: Race in the American Century
Praise for Robert J. Norrell’s The House I Live In: Race in the American Century “Scholarly yet vital. A wide but trenchant—and certainly fresh—accounting of whites’ interac- tion with blacks, and vice versa. . . . The greatest strength of this very solid book is the author’s new appraisals of such important figures in race relations as Booker T. Washington and Martin Luther King.” —Booklist “Robert J. Norrell is one of the smartest interpreters of our national dilemma of race, and The House I Live In offers rich and provocative new paradigms for understanding the struggle for equality that is the signal gift and curse of America’s destiny. The book asks big questions about what has changed since Lincoln rededicated the country to its founding proclamation of freedom—and what has not. The answers are original and sometimes controversial, certain to bring needed rigor to our continuing conversation about race.” —Diane McWhorter, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution “An outstanding overview of the complex role that race has played in twentieth-century American life. Norrell’s sympathies for the civil rights movement are evident throughout this thoughtful and well-written book, but he is willing to challenge the assumptions of liberals as well as conserva- tives in a way that should provoke a healthy debate about the challenges that still lie ahead.” —Dan T. Carter, author of From George Wallace to Newt Gingrich: Race in the Conservative Counterrevolution, 1963–1994 “To read this book is to be reminded how prescient W. E. B. Du Bois was when he predicted that ‘the color line’ would be the problem of the twentieth century. With enviable clarity and literary polish, The House I Live In makes sense of the dauntingly complex history of black- white relations in twentieth-century America. Norrell weaves ideology, popular culture, and economic competition into his sobering account, at once affirming the great strides that the nation made during the past century, but also posing troubling questions about our capacity and resolve to fully address the problem of race.” —W. Fitzhugh Brundage, author of Where These Memories Grow: History, Memory, and Southern Identity “An analytical overview of race relations in the last century, chronicling a long history of protest by African Americans as well as exploring the role race played in everything from poli- tics to popular culture. Not everyone will agree with all of its provocative conclusions, but they will be better prepared for the debate after wrestling with them.” —Gaines M. Foster, author of Ghosts of the Confederacy: Defeat, the Lost Cause and the Emergence of the New South, 1865–1913 “Here is a book that delivers everything it promises and more. Norrell’s evenhanded and thoughtful appraisal of America’s response to ‘the problem of the color line’ gives us a realis- tic but hopeful perspective for contemplating a twenty-first century where our democratic principles may be challenged less by the absolutes of black and white than the subtleties of ethnic and cultural diversity on a grand scale.” —James C. Cobb, author of Redefining Southern Culture: Mind and Identity in the Modern South “A thorough . . . overview of the complexities of America’s racial, social and political topography.” —Publishers Weekly . Reaping the Whirlwind: The Civil Rights Movement in Tuskegee A Promising Field: Engineering at Alabama, ‒ James Bowron: Autobiography of a New South Industrialist Opening Doors: Perspectives on Race Relations in Contemporary America (co-editor) The Alabama Story The Making of Modern Alabama The Alabama Journey THE HOUSE I LIVE IN Race in the American Century robert j. norrell 1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © by Robert J. Norrell First published by Oxford University Press, Inc., Madison Avenue, New York, NY www.oup.com First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, ISBN-: ---- ISBN-: --- Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition as follows: Norrell, Robert J. (Robert Jefferson) The house I live in : race in the American century / Robert J. Norrell. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. : ---- : --- . United States—Race relations—History. . Civil rights movements—United States—History. . African Americans—Civil rights—History. . African Americans—History—–. . African Americans—History—- I. Title. .. .''—dc Lyric excerpt by Earl Robinson and Lewis Allan Copyright © (Renewed) by Music Sales Corp. (ASCAP) International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. Book design and composition by Mark McGarry, Texas Type & Book Works Set in Dante Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper For Kelly This page intentionally left blank contents Acknowledgments Preface Part One: The Hidden Honor of a Pariah People, ‒ . The Moving White Line . The New and Improved Negro . The Syncopated Rhythm Part Two: The Arc of the Moral Universe, ‒ . The Four Freedoms and the Four Equalities . The Borrowing Time . The Highway Up from Darkness Part Three: The Meaning of Equality, ‒ . The Fear of the Negro . The Zero-Sum Society . The Content of Their Character Epilogue: The Beginning of the Blend Notes A Note on Theory and Bibliography Index This page intentionally left blank acknowledgments My greatest encouragement for this work came from the late Robert H. Wiebe, who befriended me in – when we were both visitors at the University of Cambridge. I was awed by Bob’s bibliography and inspired by his commitment to address big questions about American history. He never failed to encourage me to think deeply and alternatively about the nature of the American experience and to bring forward the large inter- pretive questions. He cautioned me about the practical reality that syn- thetic treatments had gone out of favor after the s, but he so provoked me that I have been trying ever since to create one. I hope that this book in a small way can be a tribute to Bob’s memory. A number of friends have encouraged me in this project, especially Thomas Childers, David Colburn, James C. Cobb, Charles Eagles, Lorri Glover, John Griffiths, Gerry McCauley, the late August Meier, and Clarence Walker. For years Cleophus Thomas, Jr., has provoked me in conversation to think about the issues addressed herein. Anthony Badger invited me to give the Special Lectures in History at the University of Newcastle in , an opportunity that forced me to make a first attempt at what would eventually become this book. I am indebted to W. Fitzhugh Brundage, Gaines Foster, Paul Gorman, David B. Parker, and
The list of books you might like
