The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America

Book Description

Between 1900 and the 1970s, twenty million southerners migrated north and west. Weaving together for the first time the histories of these black and white migrants, James Gregory traces their paths and experiences in a comprehensive new study that demonstrates how this regional diaspora reshaped America by "southernizing" communities and transforming important cultural and political institutions.

Challenging the image of the migrants as helpless and poor, Gregory shows how both black and white southerners used their new surroundings to become agents of change. Combining personal stories with cultural, political, and demographic analysis, he argues that the migrants helped create both the modern civil rights movement and modern conservatism. They spurred changes in American religion, notably modern evangelical Protestantism, and in popular culture, including the development of blues, jazz, and country music.

In a sweeping account that pioneers new understandings of the impact of mass migrations, Gregory recasts the history of twentieth-century America. He demonstrates that the southern diaspora was crucial to transformations in the relationship between American regions, in the politics of race and class, and in the roles of religion, the media, and culture.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent look in population shift.......2007-07-27

This was required reading for a graduate course in American history.

In his book The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America, author James N. Gregory proceeds thematically, rather than chronologically. His intent is to use a stereoscopic method (stereoscopes set two similar but different images next to each other, thus tricking the eyes and the brain into fusing the images in a way that makes them three dimensional) in order to achieve a third dimension (page 8): not only to examine the great internal movements of black and white peoples from the American South to the American North and West, but also to examine the social, cultural, economic, and political impact that this massive internal movement of peoples had on the history of America during the twentieth century.

Gregory's The Southern Diaspora is divided into nine chapters: Chapter 1, "A Century of Migration," is an overview of the of the migration cycles and the changing economics and demography of these migrations over the course of the twentieth century, concluding that the Southern Diaspora was numerically larger than previous scholars have understood; Chapter 2, "Migration Stories," surveys the public meanings of the two sets of exoduses and highlights the unique role that media institutions and social scientists played in shaping the expectations and interactions of southerners on the move; Chapter 3, "Success and Failure," answers questions about the economic experience of black and white southerners, dismantling the maladjustment paradigm that had been so prominent in previous scholarship while also showing the critical differences in the opportunity structure facing black and white southern migrants; Chapter 4,
"The Black Metropolis," examines the communities that African Americans built in the major cities, resurrecting the label "Black Metropolis" and mapping the new and powerful cultural apparatus of those communities; Chapter 5, "Uptown and Beyond," examines the very different community formations of white southerners who spread out through suburbs and rural areas as well as big cities, struggled with confusing issues of social identity, and developed cultural institutions of historical import (e.g., diaspora country music and the white diaspora literary community would help to reshape understandings of both region and race); Chapter 6. "Gospel Highways," explores the diaspora's impact on American religion as both racial groups built Baptist and Pentecostal churches and helped to revitalize and spread evangelical Protestantism, with important political as well as religious implications for America; Chapter 7, "Leveraging Civil Rights," develops the issue of black political influence, demonstrating how important geography was to the initial phases of what ultimately became the civil rights movement;
Chapter 8, "Re-figuring Conservatism," brings the white migrants into the story of race, class, and regional transformations, exploring contributions to white working class conservatism on the one hand, and to new formulations of white liberalism on the other. Chapter 9, "Great
Migrations," brings te diaspora to a close in the 1970s and 1980s, and summarized some of Gregory's major findings (pages 8 and 9).

One important point made by Gregory is that for as long as there was something called the American South, southerners in significant numbers had been leaving; the South itself expanded through migration as white southerners in the early 1800s carved out new states for cotton and
slavery, while others moved to places north and west that today are understood to be regionally separate from the South. White out-migration was especially heavy in the two decades after the Civil War, with many leaving for farming opportunities and others settling in the North's big
cities-New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Chicago-where the nation's commerce was concentrated. By the end of the nineteenth century, there were more than 1 million southern-born whites living outside their birth region. Census takers also counted more than 335,000 southern born African Americans living in the North and West in 1900 (page 12).

African Americans had left the South in the nineteenth century for different reasons and in different directions. Before the Civil War, some had been taken west by slaveholders who dared to move their human property into places like California and Kansas; others had escaped
northward, typically to Ohio, upstate New York, Massachusetts, and Canada. There was also something of an exodus of free black people from the South after 1830, with many of them settling in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. Emancipation increased out-migration among black southerners, much of it directed toward northern cities (New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago were key destinations for freed people from Virginia and Maryland after the Civil War), but rural destinations were also and equally important: black southern migration, frequently organized by "colonization" or "emigration" societies, moved north into Indiana and west into Kansas from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee in the 1870s and 1880s (pages 12 and 13).

The central thesis of Gregory's Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America, is threefold. First, the size of the black and white southern diaspora was much more substantial than previously reported: over the course of the
twentieth century, close to 8 million black southerners, nearly 20 million white southerners, and more than 1 million southern-born Latinos participated in the diaspora (page 14). Second, the twentieth century southern diaspora can be divided into two periods: the first phase of migration . starts during the initial decade of the century, grows in the second decade when at least 1.3 million southerners leave home, reaches a peak in the 1920s with 2 million new black and white southern migrants, then tapers off in the 1930s; a much bigger second wave begins with World
War II when more than 4 million southerners move north or west, grows even larger in the 1950s when at least 4.3 million leave the South, remains near that level through the 1960s and 1970s, and then declines in the 1980s and 1990s (pages 14 and 15). Third, white southern out-migrants
outnumbered black southern out-migrants during every decade of the twentieth century, and usually by a large margin. But the southern black exodus had the more important impact: blacks were leaving the South at much higher rates than whites, and many were going to geographic
regions that had known little racial diversity (pages 15 and 17). The largest number of black migrants lived in the Great Lakes states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin); they were also the key destination for white southerners. The Middle Atlantic states (New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey) were second as a destination for African Americans, but-with the exception of New York City-much less popular with whites. The Pacific states was the third important area of settlement for both groups, especially California: by 1970, more than 1.6
million white and 571,000 black southerners lived in that state. California was also the chief destination for Tejanos and other southern-born Latinos, 213,000 of whom had settled there by 1970; Hispanic southerners had also migrated to Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana (pages 18 and 19).

Gregory challenges the image that southern migrants in the north and west were merely helpless and poor. While they faced many cultural, social, and economic challenges from within and without their culture, these migrants also had a substantial support system of family relations, organizations, and institutions that enabled them not just to survive, but even to thrive and succeed in differing environments despite tremendous odds. Financially, the majority of southern migrants did much better than their contemporaries who chose to remain in the South.

Whites and blacks left the South for related but somewhat different reasons, and found very different opportunities in the North and West. Those differences turned on the central issue of race, and from that flowed other significant differences derived from geography, class dynamics, and community formation patterns. Racial privilege granted southern white migrants significant economic and spatial advantages (i.e., the choice of where, how, and with whom they settled) over their black counterparts; that advantage was used to choose the best housing they could afford in the least dense neighborhoods, often in outlying, rather than central, urban areas. The fact that black and white southerners settled in different sorts of places, in different
concentrations would have implications not just on southern individual and group experiences, but on the North, the West, and the nation as a whole. Despite the fact that white migrants had greater numbers, black migrants gained capacities to influence cultural and political institutions that would ultimately dictate profound historical changes; The fact that whites chose dispersion over concentration, and opted for places that initially would not be centers of political and cultural power, worked against the construction of physically defined southern white communities. The loyalties and activities of elites and middle-class migrants became a key resource for African American communities, while white, middle class expatriates kept their distance from working class migrants, limiting the possibilities for group institution building and political influence. White southern migrants were influential in the promotion of evangelical churches, the development and spread of country music, and in the particular brand of racial conservatism and white working class politics that benefited from southern white symbolism.
African American influence was more comprehensive and consequential: the building of communities in the major cities in America during a period when those cities monopolized important forms of power, especially in media (publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, record companies, theatre, and film), inspired African American literature and artistic endeavors in a myriad of forms and in a slow, but steady and meaningful acknowledgement of its worth. Politically, the particular arrangement of parties, unions, and municipal and federal governments in northern metropolises, especially during the "long New Deal," gave black voters and activists opportunities to leverage governmental power. By working with allies that were available only in those places, by finding balance-of-power openings that appeared as urban regimes reorganized (and as the northern democratic Party tried to consolidate its hold on federal power)-while using tactics that were safe and effective only in those settings-the seams of power were loosened in a governmental system that previously had rarely responded to the demands of socially despised minorities (pages 325-327). Finally, regional reconstruction was the other
important legacy of the Southern Diaspora. Over time, black and white migrants southernized aspects of the regions they settled by introducing tastes, practices, and institutions-including food, music, religion, accents, and political styles-that moderated the differences between the
South and the rest of the United States (page 327).

In my opinion, Gregory has successfully presented a thematic history of the black and white disapora from the American South to points North and West. The only weakness, as I see it, is that this examination could not have been made in a more chronological, and less thematic fashion. Or given the daunting nature of his effort, if the had been more satisfied to provide a more intensive examination of only one or only several of his intended themes, the work would not give this reader a sense of being "all over the place." Nevertheless, Gregory has contributed a
necessary work of revisionist history of scholastic depth and eminent readability.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in American history.

harder experiences for blacks than for whites.......2007-06-24

By now, several historians have looked at the experiences in the massive migrations of Negroes from the American South to its northern cities from 1900 to the post World War 2 era. But of course, many poor southern whites also voted with their feet and moved north. The unifying theme Gregory has chosen is to look at both migrations. And to compare and contrast the experiences of both groups.

For studying whites, he goes beyond looking at the so-called hillbilly ghettos that sprang up in various northern cities. In the popular (white northern) imagination of the times, these were considered well nigh akin to the often neighbouring black ghettos. Gregory points out that most southern whites had quite different experiences, though they were still invariably stereotyped by white northerners.

We see examples of blacks and whites struggling to improve themselves. Often politically. While there were indeed many common facets, what persistently emerges is that blacks had to work harder to overcome obstacles.

Required for class.......2007-02-10

This book was required reading by a professor. His superior intellect decided this was a good book so I am compelled to agree... even if I didn't read it.

Blood In the Face the Ku Klux Klan Aryan

Average customer rating:

Scary things to learn
Jorge Boosh = Right Winger and Racist?
Attack the Right...and TOTALLY ignore Leftist murderers
Detailed, Well Written, Excellent
Interesting; go check out the videotape

Blood In the Face the Ku Klux Klan Aryan
James Ridgeway
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560250038

Customer Reviews:

Scary things to learn.......2007-01-15

I had to buy this book for a U.S. Minority Group Sociology class, and I loved it. It's amazing how in middle and high school I learned about a lot of the people that were mentioned in this book, but my past teachers neglected to tell us the truth behind the scenes and how so many of these historical figures were racists and bigots. It sickens me to know that the historical figures Americans today praise for their contributions to our society are the same ones that hated seeing races/ethnicities working together. I learned so much in this class, and so much from this book.

Jorge Boosh = Right Winger and Racist?.......2006-03-01

Maybe someone should inform Vicente Fox.
It's amazing what liberals write these days.

And by the way, the Republicans and the Democrats are two sides of the same coin, two halves of the same party. They aren't that different. Both want massive immigration, both want America involved in wars all over the world, both want to move our jobs to foreign countries, both support the new multicultural society, both of them are chock full of people who marry across the race lines, neither really cares for religion (regardless of what the politicians say...I don't see the Republicans putting prayer back into the schools), both woefully disregard the Constitution, ad infinitum.

Attack the Right...and TOTALLY ignore Leftist murderers.......2005-08-02

Pathetic...how can anyone discuss the "racist right" and ignore the overwhelming hate the left has for ordinary White Christian people?

Blacks rioting and murdering for "social justice" are treated with kid gloves because.."Oh they were just addressing White racism"...PUHLEEEZE...

Folks there is something going on with the White people of America. They are hammered constantly with "diversity" aka less whites equals better...but should White people DARE to suggest that maybe just maybe White people should be allowed to have a civilization of their own WITHOUT the horrendous black, Mexican violent crime rate...then they're "racists"...

Well... get used to it, the "movement" it is getting larger and larger by the day.

Soon White people will not give the smallest damn about your name calling, it will effectively mean NOTHING...it already does to MILLIONS of White people.

This book is yet another attack on White people who have simply become fed up, they've had enough, and they are now doing something about it.

So keep ignoring the overwhelming evidence of non-white on white violence...keep using the same rhetoric to attack anyone who speak up for White people...your point is moot...and White people WILL win back the America they so dearly love.

Detailed, Well Written, Excellent.......2002-08-09

An excellent, detailed textbook style examination of the radical right, in all its manifestations. Of all the books I've read on the right, and I've read a few, this one is the best. Carefully crafted and scholarly, Ridgeway pulls no punches. He gives detailed explanations of the history, origins and rhetoric of the KKK, The Posse Comitatus, The American Nazi Party and many related right wing haters. He makes copious use of the rights own pamphlets and speeches to reveal their twisted belief systems, and the book is full of pictures and even includes exerts of the infamous Turner Diaries. Well written and readable the book is also a gripping page-turner and will definitely keep you interested until the end. My only gripe is with the final chapter, which is unduly alarmist. It is true that the radical right is active and that they are a danger to society, but I am not convinced by the notion that there values are more acceptable in society than they have been in the past. Was Bull Conner an outcast in his time? Is David Duke more important politically than George Wallace was? Has the KKK been able to defeat a presidential candidate in modern times the way they defeated Al Smith? I also found the suggestion that Madonna and Tom Petty of all people are spreading racist propaganda to be laughable. Further the notion that opposition to affirmative action is evidence of a racist mindset is absurd, and revealing of the authors `liberal' bias. Affirmative action is not only a racist notion, based as it is on the idea that minorities need special help to succeed, but also has given aid and comfort to the racist cause. Racists can point to Affirmative Action as proof of their own beliefs. That being said, the ideological quirks of the author do not detract from the excellence of his scholarship. As a detailed explanation of the radical right across the broad spectrum, the book is peerless. Highly recommended.

Interesting; go check out the videotape.......2000-07-01

If skined88@hotmail.com had seen the video version of the book, he would see that Ridgeway did extensive interviews with neo-Nazis, and in fact let them speak for themselves.

Product Description

This monumental reference work is a comprehensive guide to the Ku Klux Klan. It begins with a brief history of the KKK, from antebellum predecessors to the present day. Subsequent chapters cover beliefs, including white supremacy, nativism, religion, moralism and education; terms and abbreviations, with a definitive glossary; biographies of prominent historical Klansmen and profiles of KKK groups and front groups; profiles of individuals and groups linked or friendly to the Klan; an historical overview of the Klan in politics, including friendly and adversarial politicians; a discussion of activities in the United States and abroad; the use of violence, with a roster of murder victims, a compilation of arson and bombing incidents, and sketches of riots and lynchings; state and federal efforts to police or infiltrate the Klan; watchdog groups; and current and historic journalists who covered Klan activities. Appendices provide a KKK timeline and reproductions of several key Klan documents.

Customer Reviews:

Overpriced!.......2007-05-01

McFarland & Company, the "leading U.S. publisher of scholarly, reference and academic books" (from their website), does it again. They publish a text, from a fine writer, and anoint the book with a prohibitive "college text book" price in order to reap big bucks from sales to public libraries and university humanities departments.

Although this book takes a comprehensive look at the Klan from their beginnings to the present, the information in it can be easily obtained in many other informative commercially available, mass-marketed-priced books.

The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement

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real history
"When you're dealing with the wolf,
Deacons for Defense
Best Book on the Civil Rights Movement in Years!
Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights M

The Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights Movement
Lance Hill
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0807857025

Book Description

In 1964 a small group of African American men in Jonesboro, Louisiana, defied the nonviolence policy of the mainstream civil rights movement and formed an armed self-defense organization--the Deacons for Defense and Justice--to protect movement workers from vigilante and police violence. With their largest and most famous chapter at the center of a bloody campaign in the Ku Klux Klan stronghold of Bogalusa, Louisiana, the Deacons became a popular symbol of the growing frustration with Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent strategy and a rallying point for a militant working-class movement in the South.

Lance Hill offers the first detailed history of the Deacons for Defense and Justice, who grew to several hundred members and twenty-one chapters in the Deep South and led some of the most successful local campaigns in the civil rights movement. In his analysis of this important yet long-overlooked organization, Hill challenges what he calls "the myth of nonviolence"--the idea that a united civil rights movement achieved its goals through nonviolent direct action led by middle-class and religious leaders. In contrast, Hill constructs a compelling historical narrative of a working-class armed self-defense movement that defied the entrenched nonviolent leadership and played a crucial role in compelling the federal government to neutralize the Klan and uphold civil rights and liberties.

Customer Reviews:

real history.......2007-02-11

excellent coverage of a little-known but very important part of the civil rights movement. if you're tired of the conventional view of the crm with everyone on their knees praying, this book is for you.

"When you're dealing with the wolf,.......2007-01-10

you have to speak the language of the wolf." - Henry Austin, Deacons for Defense

This is truly a lost history of the civil rights movement that author Lance Hill has found under the layers upon layers of mainstream narratives which conveniently dictate false truths that - when repeated enough - become larger than life.

Following the organized self-defense philosophy espoused by Robert F. Williams in Monroe, N.C., a small group of men in Jonesboro, Louisiana, founded an organization that had great influence in the civil rights movement of the mid-1960s. The success the Deacons had in defeating the KKK and other haters on the streets by standing up, moving forward and staring them down with guns loaded brought a new sense of empowerment in demanding that justice truly be served today.

Hill explains how he became aware of the Deacons and then began his quest to research the history. Initially founded to protect civil rights workers, the Deacons' influence in the Deep South grew with a regional organizing campaign in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, along with chapters being founded in several Northern cities.

The success and expansion of the program brought interest from the FBI, coverage by an oftentimes adverse media and linkage - oftenetimes quite temporary - with a number of revolutionary organizations.

But through the comparatively brief time the Deacons operated - about four years - Hill successfully argues that the organization forced the federal government to aggressively enforce the 1964 Civil Rights Act and was the bridge to the Black Power movement that emerged later in the decade.

The Deacons' legacy continues, as former members have strongly stated over the years that the group has never actually gone away. And, as Hill writes, "Finally, there is something inspiring in a story of people who stood up to injustice when everyone around them was afraid. That is a fable that will always serve us well."

The Deacons for Defense lives in the souls of those who do their part on a daily basis to bring real justice to this country.

Deacons for Defense .......2006-07-23

An important corrective to the nonviolence theme that domninates most histories of the Civil Rights Movement. The Deacons were mostly home grown Black Veterans from working class neighborhoods in small southern towns like Bogalusa and Jonesboro Louisianna. When the Klan and Police beat on civil rights workers and local protestors the Deacons fought back. In July 1965 when a mob of whites attacked a group of civil rights, mostly children, marchers in Bogalusa a Deacon shot a Klan member sending him to hospital. This incident had a profound impact on the response to Black demands for equal rights in Lousianna. Finally, the White Establishment began to make changes that led to a better life for Louisianna's Blacks. Professor Hill's(History, Tulane Univesity) book is full of such incidents and proves that the Deaon's impact on the souhtern Civil Rights struggle must not be overlooked.

Best Book on the Civil Rights Movement in Years!.......2004-07-29

This book kept me up reading all night. I had in the past heard that their had been a group that pre dated The Black Panther Party, and were operating in the deep south. However there was not much information on this clandestine group. Well there is now. This is the book. My chest burst with pride as the tears fell down my cheeks. If you read nothing else this year please read this book if you want to know what our people were really doing during the "movement". The media had been lying to us about our role in our own history! This book is about us!

Deacons for Defense: Armed Resistance and the Civil Rights M.......2004-07-24

This is an excellent book, a long awaited and much needed factual account of a group of courageous men whose activism had major impact on the movement. Hill has produced a wealth of documentation to prove the history he has brought to the fore.
This account does tribute to those brave and unsung (heretofore)
heroes who refused to further degrade themselves and thier communities by turning the other cheek! Must reading.

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WITNESS (MS)
WITNESS
Witness
WITNESS
A good read

Witness
Karen Hesse
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: B000FDFVQK

Amazon.com

It is 1924, and a small Vermont town finds itself under siege--by the Ku Klux Klan. Using free verse, Newbery Medal-winning author Karen Hesse (Out of the Dust) allows 11 unique and memorable voices to relate the story of the Klan's steady infiltration into the conscience of a small, Prohibition-era community. The Klan's "all-American" philosophy is at first embraced by several of the town's influential men, including Constable Parcelle Johnson and retailer Harvey Pettibone. But Harvey's sensible wife, Viola, and independent restaurant owner Iris Weaver suspect from the beginning that the Klan's arrival heralds trouble. As the only African Americans in town, 12-year old Leonora Sutter and her father try to escape Klan scrutiny, while 6-year-old, city-born Esther Hirsch remains blissfully unaware of the Klan's prejudice against Jews as she enjoys the Vermont countryside. And Sara Chickering, the lady farmer who has opened her home to Esther and her father, is torn between her own hidden biases and her growing love for Esther.

All, however, are galvanized towards action when a shadowy figure shoots at Esther and her father right through Sara's front door. Who would commit such an evil act? And is it too late to remove the poison that has insidiously leaked into their once tight-knit community? Part mystery, part social commentary, Hesse's historically accurate chronicle is a riveting catalyst for discussion that thoughtfully explores race and identity from every possible point of view. The free verse format and distinct characterizations also make Witness a perfect choice for library or classroom reader's theater productions. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

Book Description

The year is 1924, and a small town in Vermont is falling under the influence of the Ku Klux Klan. Two girls, Leanora Sutter and Esther Hirch, one black and the other Jewish, are among those who are no longer welcome. As the potential for violence increases, heroes and villains are revealed, and everyone in town is affected. With breathtaking verse, Karen Hesse tells her story in the voices of several characters. Through this chorus of voices, the true spirit of the town emerges. WITNESS is a story of poverty and prejudice but, ultimately, of hope and redemption.

Customer Reviews:

WITNESS (MS).......2007-04-26

The witness is irresistible it is packed with action. It is about a little black girl and a jewish girl that are in this little town in Vermont when the KKK come to town. As the bystanders of the town watch as their town crumbles. But in the end the bystanders become the heroes. The witness is a great book to do a book report on. Karen Hesse won the New berry Award for her book "Out of the dust." The witness was written for Jean Feiwel . I recommend this book to students in 6th, 7th, and [...] because it is perfect for a book report. This book is historical fiction. I strongly recommend this book!

WITNESS.......2007-04-26

The witness is irresistible it is packed with action. It is about a little black girl and a jewish girl that are in this little town in Vermont when the KKK come to town. As the bystanders of the town watch as their town crumbles. But in the end the bystanders become the heroes. The witness is a great book to do a book report on. Karen Hesse won the New berry Award for her book "Out of the dust." The witness was written for Jean Feiwel . I recommend this book to students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade because it is perfect for a book report. This book is historical fiction. I strongly recommend this book!

Witness.......2007-03-29

[...]
How would you like to live in where the KKK is like Leona and Ester had to when they were young? That was in 1924.In the book Witness by Karen Hesse, the blacks and Jews were aware of the KKK and watching there backs closely. Mr. Harish gets shot by KKKmember and dies. Ester, Mr. Harish' daughter could have got killed to if she was leaning back a little because she was sitting on her fathers lap. I can't tell you if any one else dies because of the KKK. If you're in to historical fiction you would like this book.
[...]

WITNESS.......2006-11-25

In discussing the subject of Hate with my eighth grade students, I use WITNESS as an introduction to this difficult topic because of its brilliant subtleties that infuse the subject with multiple perspectives that tells a complete story. Highly reminiscent of the adult play THE LARAMIE PROJECT (which tells the story of Matthew Shepherd -- the young gay man who died after being beaten to death tied to a fence post in Wyoming), the two stories work together to weave a portrait of America that is harsh, cruel, hateful, sad and ugly, but lead to a greater Hope, where justice, clear-headedness and a deep sense of humanity will prevail.

WITNESS wisely puts the voice of the story into different characters: the innocent, the wise, the evil, the confused, the bystander, the individual whose feelings and opinions are affected by the events and people around him/her -- an individual who is tested, and passes.

Do not hesitate in introducing this book to middle- and high-school students. Discuss it with them and let them see the pain and disgusting nature of humankind. Let them discover that humankind can come to its senses and redeem itself from the terrible injustices it serves up. High school students who can handle some pretty harsh language can then move onto THE LARAMIE PROJECT and experience a similar feeling dealing with an real-life incident of Hate and its repercussions, but in modern terms.

The book (perfect as reader's theatre in the classroom) is recommended at the highest level. Excellent storytelling in a pitch perfect form.

A good read.......2006-04-19

This is a really good book.As I was reading this book I felt as if I was in the Vermont town. It showed me that not everyone agreed with the ku klux klan and that they sometimes they had to had to join even though they really didn't agree.

Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s

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Great short history of both Klu Klux Klans!
Disturbing truth
Interesting, but...
Complicates our view of race, gender, and social movements
Deeply disturbing book

Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s
Kathleen M. Blee
Manufacturer: University of California Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0520078764

Book Description

Ignorant. Brutal. Male. One of these stereotypes of the Ku Klux Klan offer a misleading picture. In Women of the Klan, sociologist Kathleen Blee unveils an accurate portrait of a racist movement that appealed to ordinary people throughout the country. In so doing, she dismantles the popular notion that politically involved women are always inspired by pacifism, equality, and justice.
"All the better people," a former Klanswoman assures us, were in the Klan. During the 1920s, perhaps half a million white native-born Protestant women joined the Women's Ku Klux Klan (WKKK). Like their male counterparts, Klanswomen held reactionary views on race, nationality, and religion. But their perspectives on gender roles were often progressive. The Klan publicly asserted that a women's order could safeguard women's suffrage and expand their other legal rights. Privately the WKKK was working to preserve white Protestant supremacy.
Blee draws from extensive archival research and interviews with former Klan members and victims to underscore the complexity of extremist right-wing political movements. Issues of women's rights, she argues, do not fit comfortably into the standard dichotomies of "progressive" and "reactionary." These need to be replaced by a more complete understanding of how gender politics are related to the politics of race, religion, and class.

Customer Reviews:

Great short history of both Klu Klux Klans!.......2003-01-17

This is one of the few histories of the Klan that clearly documents the fact that there have been not one, but two Klu Klux Klans. It also examines just how deeply women were involved in the movement, a little-noticed phenomenon in the past.

Obviously the Klan we know today was always a hate group, but it's astounding just how large, wealthy, and powerful the group was, with millions of members (as opposed to today, where they have a few thousand at best), and members in every state of the union.

It's also astounding just how powerful they were, and how involved women were in the organization. One thing the book highlights, that reviewers generally don't mention, is how many people were in the Klan without recognizing the violent or terroristic nature of the organization. The most discomfiting parts she documents are how many people who were involved simply viewed the Klan as a very normal, responsible organization that was a boon to its communities. The Klan worked hard to develop an aura of respectability--quite successfully, at least for a while.

I am rather stunned by several of the other reviews here, which say dumb things about feminism, animal rights, etc. I suggest ignoring those reviews, as they're obviously written by silly people. This is a very good book--highly readable, informative, and insightful. I recommend it highly.

Disturbing truth.......2002-01-05

I'm hardly surprised that reviews have been negative as this book breaks into the holy ground of feminism, proving beyond doubt that feminism and racism shared early roots.

I have done a lot of studying on feminism and there is little here that isn't available elsewhere but this work puts much in one place, making it easy to show how the modern femininist organisation NOW and the earlier WKKK are so closely related. More to the point it shows how feminism is a form of hate or superiority cult and has little to do with real equality. For example an extreme radical animal rights type is undisputed as an animal lover - are extreme radical feminists known for a desire for extreme equality? Or simply bias towards women and contempt for men?

Interesting, but..........2000-09-18

As I read Ms. Blee's book, I am concerned that she is using information from people who are now about 70 years old, who would have been small children when the Klan was in power, to make such all encompasing statements about the Klan. A child sees the world around him much differently than an adult. A child would relish going to parades, parties, gatherings and enjoy them. If Ms. Blee asks the participants to describe their feelings as a child, then reports them as their current feelings, then the reader must be aware of the bias of the author. Did Ms. Blee ask the participants of her interviews what their feelings were 65 years ago, or what their feelings are now, on reflection? I know that she asked the former and used that information to substantiate her own biases about the Klan.

Complicates our view of race, gender, and social movements.......1999-11-09

Blee's work on women in hate movements sheds new light on why women join and support white supremacist movements. Her analysis of extensive archival data and interviews complicates how our assumptions about the role of gender in promoting bigotry and prejudice, while at the same time heralding eerily feminist principles. My students loved it because it was clear, engaging, and gave them several issues to grapple with around research and data interpretation. Though white supremacists were (and still are) on the whole, economically disenfranchised adn educationally bankrupt, Blee shows how a few "dangerous minds" are capable of mobilizing mass numbers of people in the name of "racial superiority."

Deeply disturbing book.......1998-01-29

Not only is the subject matter disturbing, but the way in which the author has manipulated her data to prove her bias is just as disturbing. One of her "anonymous informants" was a 70 year old woman who was relating her memories as a 5 to 7 year old child. Ms. Blee repeatedly refered to her as and active participant! Her depiction of "Lillian Rouse", my grandmother, is a concoction that is not recognizable at all. Her notes in relation to her interview with my mother are not correct. She has taken bits and pieces and manipulated them to prove her point, reguardless of the facts. If what she has done to my mother's information is indicative of how she (mis)used other information, I cannot put much credance in her work.

The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo

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Great example of historical nonfiction
"I felt I was in the car ..."
A Dark Chapter of the FBI's Past
Fascinating and frustrating

The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo
Gary May
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0300106351

Book Description

In The Informant, historian Gary May reveals the untold story of the murder of civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo, shot to death by members of the violent Birmingham Ku Klux Klan at the end of Martin Luther King’s historic Voting Rights March in 1965. The case drew national attention and was solved almost instantly, because one of the Klansman present during the shooting was Gary Thomas Rowe, an undercover FBI informant. At the time, Rowe’s information and subsequent testimony were heralded as a triumph of law enforcement. But as Gary May reveals in this provocative and powerful book, Rowe’s history of collaboration with both the Klan and the FBI was far more complex.
Based on previously unexamined FBI and Justice Department Records, The Informant demonstrates that in their ongoing efforts to protect Rowe’s cover, the FBI knowingly became an accessory to some of the most grotesque crimes of the Civil Rights era--including a vicious attack on the Freedom Riders and perhaps even the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
A tale of a renegade informant and an intelligence system ill-prepared to deal with threats from within, The Informant offers a dramatic and cautionary tale about what can happen when secret police power goes unchecked.

Customer Reviews:

Great example of historical nonfiction.......2006-11-23

Exhaustively researched and beautifully crafted, this book provides a much needed insight into the inherent flaws and complication posed by the FBI's informant system. It's historical -- in the sense of looking at historical events -- but it's also extremely relevant to the problems of today.

"I felt I was in the car ...".......2006-02-12

Gary May is a talented storyteller and his account of what happened to Viola Liuzzo is riveting. I spent Christmas week with his book in hand, taking every opportune moment to continue learning about this young mother's quest to do something right about the civil rights movement and how she was partly the victim of Hoover's FBI. Often, I felt that I was traveling along with Liuzzo as May's tale unfolded - I felt I was in the car when she was murdered. Great book. Couldn't put it down.

A Dark Chapter of the FBI's Past.......2005-10-23

Forty years ago, a civil rights movement grew in the south that was opposed by white supremacists who thought blacks should not have equal opportunities in shopping, dining, transportation, and education, and who were ready to use violence to maintain segregation. The murder in Alabama of white civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo on 25 March 1965 got the immediate attention of the nation, and of President Johnson, who was proud to be able to tell the nation twenty-four hours later that the murderers had been caught. It was a killing by Klansmen, but not one of those that went unsolved for decades. The only reason the murderers were caught so quickly is that with them was an informant, the FBI's man who had infiltrated the Birmingham Klan branch and who reported the crime and the criminals immediately. Johnson was proud, J. Edgar Hoover was proud, and the informant, Gary Thomas Rowe, was a hero. The problem is that the story is far more confused and Rowe's heroism and the FBI's tactics are far more questionable than they seemed at the time. In _The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo_ (Yale University Press), history professor Gary May has told an exciting story full of ambiguity and of criticism for the FBI, and has described a long-ago society which accepted that skin color was an individual's most important characteristic.

Rowe was recruited by the FBI in 1960; he was a bartender, bouncer and machinist who accurately proclaimed himself a hell-raiser, and so he fit into the Klan. An informant has to act the role of a group member, and this means enthusiastically participating in what the group does, which Rowe did. He worked up the Klan hierarchy and did provide valuable information, but also he participated in brawls along with his fellow Klansmen. He was in the car with three other Klansmen after a Selma-Montgomery march. The shooting wounded a young black civil rights worker and killed the driver, the mercurial 39-year-old mother of five from Detroit, Viola Liuzzo. He was the main prosecution witness in the trial of the other three, but even so, they were eventually found innocent of murder, only being found guilty in federal court of civil rights violations. Rowe's role in the murder is not clearly that of a mere observer and informer. He may have tried to influence the others to call off the chase, but he may also have shot at the car himself, and thus may have been an accessory to the crime. The Liuzzo family was devastated and torn asunder by the murder, and although they had originally joined in the general approbation of Rowe as hero, two decades later they sued the government in a wrongful death lawsuit; the judge threw out the suit because, among other reasons, Rowe was in his estimation not violent or dangerous, but a model public servant. Rowe died in 1998, a bankrupt ne'er-do-well who blamed the FBI for not supporting him in the way he had expected.

Liuzzo's story has been largely forgotten, although she was the only white female civil rights worker to be martyred during the days of demonstrations in the South. This is, however, Rowe's story, and it not only stands as a remarkable recreation of a tumultuous time, but is a cautionary tale for our own time. As May points out, Hoover to his shame used informants as pawns against Martin Luther King and against the movements opposing the Vietnam war, and the FBI has subsequently had its own thugs in the Mafia who were personally guilty of murder and robbery while getting FBI salaries. There are calls for more "human intelligence" in the actions against terrorists, but we should remember that it is not simply a matter of paying snitches. The costs of supporting informants who are supposed to be acting like miscreants, and may do a convincing job in their roles, may be incalculable, and the information gained by such ambiguous means may not be worth the resultant mistrust of government agencies.

Fascinating and frustrating.......2005-06-29

Gary May brilliantly tells the story of the murder of civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo on March 25, 1965, and exposes the violent misdeeds of KKK members, who mostly considered themselves to be doing "God's work" when they harrassed, beat, and murdered blacks as well as white citizens who were unfortunate enough to get in the way. The career of the self-centered, attention hungry, redneck informant Gary Thomas Rowe is skillfully retraced, and the ineptitude and negligence of FBI agents and the organization as a whole are exposed. The copy I have is an "advance uncorrected page proof" (review copy) and has frequent spelling and punctuation errors; thus the four star rating. Otherwise, I would have given this book a full five stars, because it is excellent.

Average customer rating:

Witness in Philadelphia
Florence Mars , and Lynn Eden
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0807115665

Book Description

On June 21, 1964, three young civil rights workers--James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner--were murdered near Philadelphia, Mississippi. Florence Mars, a native of Philadelphia, recounts the grim circumstances of the killings and describes what happened to a community confronted by a challenge to long-held beliefs.

White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction

Average customer rating:

AmeriKKKan Terror
An Important, Invaluable Failure

White Terror: The Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy and Southern Reconstruction
Allen W. Trelease
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

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Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0807119539

Customer Reviews:

AmeriKKKan Terror.......2002-08-21

Trelease goes into great detail about the history of the KKK in the immediate post-Civil War period. The organization of the book is difficult (my reason for the 4 stars, it is mindnumbing in many parts, even for a research piece), since he goes state by state, year by year, and his facts are voluminous. But this is a well-researched book.

Trelease shows how returning Confederates, having lost the battlefield war, almost immediately began a war of terror. The KKK became the terror arm of the Democratic Party, and was the primary force in restoring 'white supremacy' throughout the south. He details the origins of the Klan (and its local variants) and its rapid descent into a force for hate and terror, and its widespread acceptance throughout the south.

The Klan's war against the Republican occupation was inextricably tied to the race question, and 'white supremacy' (and the concommitant fear of black equality) was the 'bloody shirt' the Klan waved to become the major force in southern politics in the post-war period.

The Klan was so successful that it can be argued the south 'won' the war - ending Reconstruction and federal occupation - restoring and insuring white domination for another 100 years - reducing the black freedmen to second-class citizenship politically, economically, and socially - reinventing slavery as apartheid and "Jim Crow".

One of the principal activities of the early Klan was forcibly disarming Negros, always by using overwhelming mob force, many times in the middle of the night. Intimidating black voters into voting Democrat or not voting was another main activity - this was done by whippings, beatings, and lynchings.

One hears much about the valor of the rebel soldier and the nobility of the "Lost Cause". Trelease's book - with its unrelenting accounts of "White Terror" committed by mobs almost always unwilling to attack their victims unless they could use overwhelming force - casts a huge shadow over these myths.

Trelease's book is a 'must-read' for anyone interested in Civil War history and/or the failures of Reconstruction. Reconstruction is a troublesome portion of American history that many have swept under the rug or modified to suit their politics, and Trelease is there with fact after fact after fact, tale after tale after tale of lynching and intimidation. The heart of "White Terror" is the black heart of racism.

An Important, Invaluable Failure.......2000-11-05

Trelease makes a monumental effort to describe the Reconstruction-era Klan from his temporal location in 1970. This academic work is invaluable in that it is the best and only source of all major Klan activity from the end of the War for Southern Independence to the end of Radical Reconstruction--Trelease follows the Klan chronologically, focusing on hotbeds of activity in all regions of the South. This is important because different motivations and activities defined each local incidence of Klan activity. Sadly, Trelease fails to take advantage of his unique position, in which he could have written a scholarly, enlightening portrait of the many facets of Klan activities and Klan members. Instead, predictably, Trelease resorts to seeking out examples that support his own cries of conspiracy and terrorism. He gives no credence to stories of the defensive nature of the Reconstruction Klan, choosing to argue that the Klan was a terrorist organization seeking white supremacy, a conspiracy penetrating all aspects of white society to the point of subverting local justice. White violence, he asserts, was racially motivated, usually carried out by mobs, and almost always directed against blacks. He dismisses out of hand such motivating factors as illegal moonshining and Democratic-Republican political differences among whites and gives short shrift to cases of white-on-white violence. He relies heavily on the KKK Congressional Report and testimony of 1871 and on legislative acts dealing with the Klan, often failing to place these "facts" within the true social context of their origins. While admitting that the existence of the Union League served as a stimulus to the birth and growth of the Klan, he maintains that the Union League had no connections to violence, a tenuous (indeed laughable) position to take. While stressing white supremacy as the one major motivation of the Klan, he subverts this message by continually denigrating the Klan for its overriding political aspects. When he acknowledges the fact that some Klan leaders sought law and order, he continues to accuse even these men of politically-motivated violence. Trelease, while giving lip service to the existence of many independent "clans" and undisciplined individual acts, seeks to implicate the Klan in all cases of violence in the Reconstruction South. While this work is probably the most valuable resource available on Reconstruction-era Klan activity (due to the wealth of information it contains), it is also a major failure. Trelease had a golden opportunity to examine the real depths of the different motivations that went into Klan activity and violence (which, despite what Trelease implies, was not engaged in by every white man in the South), but he resorted to a myopic view of events and a decidedly shallow condemnation of a decidedly fluid, far from cohesive society, which he never really tried hard enough to understand.

Klan-Destine Relationships: A Black Man's Odyssey in the Ku Klux Klan

Average customer rating:

Deserves a wider audience
exploring the klan cult
A personal journey with deep personal meaning for the author
An Inside Look At the Klu-Klux-Klan...by a Black Man!!!
Editorial Review Misleading

Klan-Destine Relationships: A Black Man's Odyssey in the Ku Klux Klan
Daryl Davis
Manufacturer: New Horizon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Discrimination & Racism | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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Freemasonry | Other Practices | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0882821598

Book Description

A candid, electric, and provocative book.

Customer Reviews:

Deserves a wider audience.......2007-03-11

Daryl Davis's book deserves a much wider circulation that it has received. Radio interviews, Oprah!

Courageous approach to understanding people different than ourselves.

exploring the klan cult.......2005-09-28

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN BLACK/WHITE ISSUES AND THIS BOOK WAS AN EYEOPENER AND A MASTERPIECE IN THE MAKING
ITS AUTHOR TAKES YOU TO THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE KLANS ROOTS
THIER BELIEFS AND WHAT MAKES THEM TICK
I TRULY BELIEVE DARLY DAVIS RISKED HIS LIFE WHEN UNDERTAKING THIS JOURNEY
IM THANKFUL HE DID, THIS BOOK EXPLORES THE KLANS PERSPECTIVE ON MODERN DAY AMERICA (THEY HAVE AN ANSWER OR EXCUSE FOR EVERY OBJECTIVE THE AUTHOR COMES UP WITH)
UNLIKE A PREVIOUS REVIEW I TRULY BELIEVE IF ONE KLAN MEMBER CAN CHANGE THIER VIEWS AS A RESULT OF MEETING THIS MAN THEN SURELY THAT SIGNALS HOPE?
READ THIS BOOK ITS HOPE FOR A BETTER WORLD

A personal journey with deep personal meaning for the author.......2005-05-23

In this volume, Daryl Davis goes on a personal mission to better understand the men behind the KKK robes. Davis had a deep personal impetus to understand not only the inner workings of the KKK, but more importantly the motivations and constitutions of the men who join this organization.

It is clear that Davis's journey, which includes conversations with several individuals associated with this organization at many different levels and others who have been impacted by their interactions with the organization, had a deep personal impact on him and PERHAPS some of the men who he encountered whom later ended their affiliation with the KKK.

Though I personally have no deep-seated interest in understanding what makes one associate with such a divisive, contemptible organization and thus am clearly not the target audience for this volume, I give Davis credit for seeking answers to his own personal quandaries in such a thorough and potentially risky journey.

An Inside Look At the Klu-Klux-Klan...by a Black Man!!!.......2005-02-17

Truly a unique piece of literature. Davis amazingly provides the reader with a viable evaluation into the mindset of members of the K.K.K. He personally (and bravely) interviews Klansmen in an effort to bring some degree of clarity regarding their bigoted philosophy. Unlike other books on the Klan, Davis successfully depicts its members as simple people who have formulated their ideology out of common ignorance. He does not hedge on the fact that many Americans, both Black and white, are disenchanted by U.S. domestic policies, and illustrates how such frustrations have fueled hatred and mistrust between various races within the nation. Virtually absent are the antagonizing rantings and ravings so often identified with the K.K.K., as Davis shares his experiences in a well balanced, easy to read manner. Contrary to the opinion of the above "Editorial Review", Davis's succeeds at bringing to light certain misconceptions of the Klan, and manages to actually humanize those members he encounters during his research. Although this is not great literature, it is definitely worth reading. NOTE: The photo on the cover is clearly the work of a skilled artist...as the "handshake" is obviously manufactured.

Editorial Review Misleading.......2004-02-20

In reality, through his book and the work he put into it as well as his continued efforts after the completion of this book, Daryl Davis has in fact helped many KKK members to see the light and to quit the Klan. Imperial Wizard Kelly whom the editorial review speaks of has in fact quit the klan and has givin his Imperial Wizard robe to Mr. Davis to use in his lectures. Kelly is one of many former klan members who have been touched by Daryl Davis and his work.

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