United States History - African American History, African American History, United States History - Southern Region, Ethnic & Race Relations, Civil & Human Rights, United States Studies, United States History - 20th Century - 1945 to 2000, United States H

Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890-2000

Name: Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890-2000
Author: Adam Fairclough
ISBN: 9780142001295

by Adam Fairclough

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Overview

From the end of postwar Reconstruction in the South to an analysis of the rise and fall of Black Power, acclaimed historian Adam Fairclough presents a straightforward synthesis of the century-long struggle of black Americans to achieve civil rights and equality in the United States. Beginning with Ida B. Wells and the campaign against lynching in the 1890s, Fairclough chronicles the tradition of protest that led to the formation of the NAACP, Booker T. Washington and the strategy of accommodation, Marcus Garvey and the push for black nationalism, through to Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and beyond. Throughout, Fairclough presents a judicious interpretation of historical events that balances the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement against the persistence of racial and economic inequalities.

Synopsis

San Francisco Chronicle

Adam Fairclough's Better Day Coming succeeds in telling an integrated story of a full century of race relations in America...

About the Author, Adam Fairclough

Adam Fairclough teaches American history at the University of East Anglia in England. His books include To Redeem the Soul of America, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Race and Democracy, which won the Lillian Smith Award.

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Editorials

New York Times Book Review

Better Day Coming is a smart, tidy survey of a lot of ground.

San Francisco Chronicle

Adam Fairclough's Better Day Coming succeeds in telling an integrated story of a full century of race relations in America...

Library Journal

Fairclough (To Redeem the Soul of America), who teaches American history at the University of East Anglia (U.K.), has written an overview of the American civil rights movement from the turn of the 19th century to the present. Intended specifically for the general reader, the book covers the major aspects of the black struggle for equality, although it slights the Harlem Renaissance and devotes only one brief chapter to the period since 1968. The author argues that this struggle featured conflict and interplay among three models of action-accommodation, confrontation, and separatism. Although it adds little to what experts in the field already know, this well-written work is a fine general introduction to the topic. Recommended especially for public libraries. A.O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, IN Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

An overview of black Americans' ongoing struggle for racial equality, from Reconstruction to the present. Although it soon became apparent after the end of the Civil War that white supremacy was the rule of law, Fairclough (Race and Democracy, 1995, etc.) asserts that black Americans never accepted this inferior status and have consistently applied many methods and strategies—most of which fall into three categories: accommodation, militant confrontation, and separatism—to strive for equality with whites. Arranged chronologically and focused predominately on the South, each chapter describes one person or movement in depth. The rise of Martin Luther King and the civil-rights movement of the 1960s (referred to here as the "Second Reconstruction") is already well-documented, of course, but the many events and personalities that preceded that groundbreaking era are also included, providing appropriate historical perspective. The campaign against the widespread lynching of black men by white mobs, particularly the outspoken defiance of black journalist Ida B. Wells in the 1890s, is credited as the "beginning of the fight-back against white supremacy." The "accommodationist" tactics of Booker T. Washington are here described as having laid the groundwork for later civil-rights battles. And the waxing and waning of the NAACP's influence on the lives of black Americans as well as the unexpected assistance of the Communist Party in waging warfare on the judicial front are also explored. In the end (although he cites many examples of improvements in the lives of black Americans by the end of the century), Fairclough looks to the future with considerable pessimism, noting the "deepunease about continuing inequality and confusion over what should be done about it." An incisive rendering of over a century of personal and political struggles for equality by black Americans, and a valuable addition to the studies of black American history and of civil rights.