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BestsellerE-book
Author Tuck, Stephen G. N.

Title We ain't what we ought to be : the black freedom struggle from emancipation to Obama / Stephen Tuck.

Publication Info. Cambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, 2011.

Item Status

Description 1 online resource (viii, 494 pages, 20 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations
Physical Medium polychrome
Description text file
Note Originally published: 2010.
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 421-477) and index.
Summary In this exciting revisionist history, Stephen Tuck traces the black freedom struggle in all its diversity, from the first years of freedom during the Civil War to President Obama's inauguration. As it moves from popular culture to high politics, from the Deep South to New England, the West Coast, and abroad, Tuck weaves gripping stories of ordinary black people -- as well as celebrated figures -- into the sweep of racial protest and social change. The drama unfolds from an armed march of longshoremen in post-Civil War Baltimore to Booker T. Washington's founding of Tuskegee Institute; from the race riots following Jack Johnson's "fight of the century" to Rosa Parks' refusal to move to the back of a Montgomery bus; and from the rise of hip hop to the journey of a black Louisiana grandmother to plead with the Tokyo directors of a multinational company to stop the dumping of toxic waste near her home. We Ain't What We Ought To Be rejects the traditional narrative that identifies the Southern non-violent civil rights movement as the focal point of the black freedom struggle. Instead, it explores the dynamic relationships between those seeking new freedoms and those looking to preserve racial hierarchies, and between grassroots activists and national leaders. As Tuck shows, strategies were ultimately contingent on the power of activists to protest amidst shifting economic and political circumstances in the U.S. and abroad. This book captures an extraordinary journey that speaks to all Americans, both past and future. - Publisher.
Awards A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 2010 ; 2010 BAAS (British Association for American Studies) Book Prize ; 2011 Richard E. Neustadt Book Prize, American Politics Group of the Political Studies Association.
Contents The freedom war, 1861-1865 -- Freedom is not enough, 1865-1877 -- Resisting the juggernaut of White supremacy, 1878-1906 -- Black leaders reckon with Jim Crow, 1893-1916 -- Great War and Great Migration, 1917-1924 -- Renaissance in Harlem, dark ages elsewhere, 1924-1941 -- World War II and its aftermath, 1941-1948 -- Three steps forward, two steps back, 1949-1959 -- The civil rights movement, 1960-1965 -- Black power and grassroots protest, 1966-1978 -- Reagan, rap, and resistance, 1979-2000.
Local Note eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America
Subject African Americans -- History.
African Americans.
History.
African Americans -- Civil rights -- History.
African Americans -- Civil rights.
African Americans in popular culture -- History.
African Americans in popular culture.
United States -- Race relations.
United States.
Race relations.
United States -- Politics and government.
Politics and government.
Genre/Form History.
Electronic books.
Other Form: Print version: Tuck, Stephen G. N. We ain't what we ought to be. Cambridge, Mass. ; London : Harvard University Press, 2011 9780674062290 (OCoLC)751735461
ISBN 9780674257900 (electronic book)
0674257901 (electronic book)
9780674062290
0674062299