Introduction: Civil Rights, Civic Myths 1. Rethinking Race and Nation 2. Reconstructing Democracy 3. Internationalizing Freedom 4. Americanizing the Negro 5. Decolonizing America Conclusion: Racial Justice beyond Civil Rights Notes Acknowledgments Index
Black is a Country is a work of great urgency; it is one of those books you carry with you, read over and over again, and quote often. Nikhil Singh puts to rest our national founding myth that America was always a source of "justice for all." Instead, he finds within the black radical critique of U.S. racial capitalism a more inclusive, global, and universalist vision which has the potential of renewing democracy and dismantling racism once and for all. -- Robin D. G. Kelley, Columbia University and author of Freedom Dreams Black is a Country is a beautifully, written, elegantly argued, and exhaustively researched study of the links between African American social movements and new ways of knowing. From his skilled exegesis of 1930s writings by W.E.B. Du Bois through provocative arguments about the prominence of the Black Panther Party during the 1960s to his sophisticated understanding of the limits of both multiculturalism and 'color blind' interchangeability, Singh presents challenging, original, and persuasive interpretations of topics that are much discussed but little understood. This is a splendid book, one that will be widely read, frequently taught, and often cited. -- George Lipsitz, University of California, Santa Cruz Black Is a Country is a rare work that succeeds both as theory and as history. Reading and researching widely in movement history, political economy and above all in the writings, speeches and styles of Black intellectuals and activists in the 20th century, Singh shows how African American thinkers and organizers literally made history from the edges. His book should be read by all those who care about how U.S. freedom movements fit into worlds of race. -- David R. Roediger, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Black is a Country is an elegant account of the paradoxical relationship between race as a resource of hope and racism as an enduring curse at the core of this country's cultural and political imagination. In lucid and often lyrical prose, Nikhil Singh argues that race functions as a highly durable and oppressive technology yet race simultaneously provided a political space for 20th century intellectuals and activists to enlarge upon the public meaning of words like freedom and democracy. Black is a Country deserves to be widely read; it is the work of a gifted young scholar that promises to provoke a rethinking of classic liberal accounts of race, class and democracy. -- Lani Guinier, Harvard Law School and coauthor of The Miner's Canary
Nikhil Pal Singh is Visiting Associate Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and History Director of the Program in American Studies at New York University.
Historically situated in the South during the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States is narrowly associated with the now iconic figure of Martin Luther King Jr. and organizations such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Singh (history, Univ. of Washington) asserts that black challenges to inequality during the movement were the continuation of a pattern of black antiracist organizing that went beyond the South and issues of desegregation and voting rights. Thus he presents the antiracist theories and organizing of black radicals W.E.B. DuBois, Ralph Bunche, Ralph Ellison, C.L.R. James, the Black Panthers, and others critical of U.S. public and foreign policies that tout freedom and democracy while at the same time promoting racial exclusion. Singh argues persuasively that the black struggle for social justice has been for universal rights that benefit the nation as a whole and can represent a model of democracy. His historiography and analysis are important and represent a new generation of historians examining the Civil Rights Movement and race in America from fresh perspectives. Suitable for U.S. history collections.-Sherri L. Barnes, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara Libs. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Reflecting several new trends in current scholarship, Singh
provides a provocative contribution to civil rights literature. He
focuses on a 'Long Civil Rights Movement,' which for him covers the
New Deal through the Great Society and into the 1970s. The roles of
Communism, anti-Communism, and the Cold War loom large as
impediments to a radical social change that might have led to an
alternate form of black empowerment... As an intellectual history
of the long Civil Rights era and exploration of paths not taken as
much as those that were, this book stands out. This important
contribution places the idea of race as a political idea at the
forefront, and will challenge and provoke scholars and students
alike. -- D. C. Catsam * Choice *
Singh argues persuasively that the black struggle for social
justice has been for universal rights that benefit the nation as a
whole and can represent a model of democracy. His historiography
and analysis are important and represent a new generation of
historians examining the Civil Rights Movement and race in America
from fresh perspectives. -- Sherri L. Barnes * Library Journal
*
In this passionate, conscientiously documented and scholarly work,
University of Washington historian Singh reaches beyond the 'short
civil rights era' (roughly 1954 to the mid-'60s) to recover 'the
more complex and contentious racial history of the long civil
rights era,' reaching from the New Deal to the Great Society... As
a historical manifesto, this significant contribution to black
intellectual history leads directly to the conclusion that current
demand for color-blind policy 'is a product of the steady erasure
of the legacy of the unfinished struggles against white
supremacy.'... The analysis of political philosophy for the period
makes a first-rate contribution to African-American intellectual
history. * Publishers Weekly *
Black Is a Country is an elegant account of the paradoxical
relationship between race as a resource of hope and racism as an
enduring curse at the core of this country's cultural and political
imagination. In lucid and often lyrical prose, Nikhil Singh argues
that race functions as a highly durable and oppressive technology
yet race simultaneously provided a political space for 20th century
intellectuals and activists to enlarge upon the public meaning of
words like freedom and democracy. Black Is a Country
deserves to be widely read; it is the work of a gifted young
scholar that promises to provoke a rethinking of classic liberal
accounts of race, class and democracy. -- Lani Guinier, Harvard Law
School, coauthor of The Miner's Canary
Black Is a Country is a work of great urgency; it is one of
those books you carry with you, read over and over again, and quote
often. Nikhil Singh puts to rest our national founding myth that
America was always a source of 'justice for all.' Instead, he finds
within the black radical critique of U.S. racial capitalism a more
inclusive, global, and universalist vision which has the potential
of renewing democracy and dismantling racism once and for all. --
Robin D. G. Kelley, Columbia University, author of Freedom
Dreams
Black Is a Country is a beautifully, written, elegantly
argued, and exhaustively researched study of the links between
African American social movements and new ways of knowing. From his
skilled exegesis of 1930s writings by W. E. B. Du Bois through
provocative arguments about the prominence of the Black Panther
Party during the 1960s to his sophisticated understanding of the
limits of both multiculturalism and 'color blind'
interchangeability, Singh presents challenging, original, and
persuasive interpretations of topics that are much discussed but
little understood. This is a splendid book, one that will be widely
read, frequently taught, and often cited. -- George Lipsitz,
University of California, Santa Cruz
Black Is a Country is a rare work that succeeds both as
theory and as history. Reading and researching widely in movement
history, political economy and above all in the writings, speeches
and styles of Black intellectuals and activists in the 20th
century, Singh shows how African American thinkers and organizers
literally made history from the edges. His book should be read by
all those who care about how U.S. freedom movements fit into worlds
of race. -- David R. Roediger, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
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