The American Civil Rights Movement Readings And Interpretations

This new reader comprises an extensive collection of primary and secondary documents of the American Civil Rights movement. These documents are complemented by analytical and interpretive essays by the editor, setting these documents in their historical, social, and political context. The seeds for the modern Civil Rights Movement were planted nearly a century ago within the black Baptist Church, labor unions, the black press, and organizations like the NAACP and the SNYC. Each of the seven sections of this book present a carefully chosen selection of newspaper, magazine, and journal articles, letters, speeches, reports, and legal documents, all chronicling the one aspect of the movement for black rights from the earliest days of post-Civil War segregation to the present. The works of eminent scholars, historians, legislators, and jurists alternate with the voices of movement leaders and followers, black politicians, black entertainers, and average citizens, all blending together to tell the story of struggle, failures, and successes on the road to equality for Black Americans.

As its name suggests, the civil rights movement is an ongoing process, and the scholars contributing to this volume offer new geographical and temporal perspectives on this crucial American experience. As Clayborne Carson notes in the introduction, the movement involved much more than civil rights reform--it transformed African-American political and social consciousness. In this timely volume John Dittmer provides a new assessment of the effects of grass-roots activists of the movement in Mississippi from 1965 to 1968, to show what happened after the famous Freedom Summer of 1964. George C. Wright shows how African Americans in Kentucky from 1900 to 1970 faced the same racial restrictions and violence as blacks in Mississippi, Georgia, and Alabama. W. Marvin Dulaney traces the rise and fall of the movement in Dallas from the 1930s through the 1970s while the nation's attention was focused elsewhere.

The past fifteen years have seen renewed interest in the civil rights movement. Television documentaries, films and books have brought the struggles into our homes and classrooms once again. New evidence in older criminal cases demands that the judicial system reconsider the accuracy of investigations and legal decisions. Racial profiling, affirmative action, voting districting, and school voucher programs keep civil rights on the front burner in the political arena. In light of this, there are very few resources for teaching the civil rights at the university level. This timely and invaluable book fills this gap. This book offers perspectives on presenting the movement in different classroom contexts; strategies to make the movement come alive for students; and issues highlighting topics that students will find appealing. Including sample syllabi and detailed descriptions from courses that prove effective, this work will be useful for all instructors, both college and upper level high school, for courses in history, education, race, sociology, literature and political science.

As the underlying source for so many important social, political, cultural, economic and personal events, its no wonder that the study of civil rights is among the leading topics used to advance cross-curriculum understanding of American history and current events. In just four comprehensive and consistent volumes, your students gain access to a rich set of data chosen by independent experts. This set focuses on the civil rights of Americas largest ethnic groups, but also covers selected immigrant groups, women and others. American Civil Rights: Almanac offers essays, definitions, further readings and interpretation in two volumes. Information is arranged in six chapters by group: African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, nonethnic groups, and selected immigrant groups. It also features approximately 120 photographs. Useful for report writing, the Almanac presents objective interpretation of the era. American Civil Rights: Biographies introduces students to 23 people who symbolize American civil rights. Illustrated essays cover well-known and lesser-known individuals. Each entry includes a biographical overview, sidebars on related people and topics and a list of further reading. Each volume includes a timeline/chronology, photographs, glossrary, further reading section and a cumulative index. American Civil Rights: Primary Sources allows students an

Unsung Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement and Thereafter offers students the opportunity to learn more about important and often overlooked figures of the Civil Rights Movement. Featured figures include the Saint Augustine Four, Iren Morgan Kirkaldy, Stokely Carmichael, Jackie and Rachel Robinson, and Emmett Till.

A new civil rights reader that integrates the primary source approach with the latest historiographical trends Designed for use in a wide range of curricula, The Civil Rights Movement: A Documentary Reader presents an in-depth exploration of the multiple facets and layers of the movement, providing a wide range of primary sources, commentary, and perspectives. Focusing on documents, this volume offers students concise yet comprehensive analysis of the civil rights movement by covering both well-known and relatively unfamiliar texts. Through these, students will develop a sophisticated, nuanced understanding of the origins of the movement, its pivotal years during the 1950s and 1960s, and its legacy that extends to the present day. Part of the Uncovering the Past series on American history, this documentary reader enables students to critically engage with primary sources that highlight the important themes, issues, and figures of the movement. The text offers a unique dual approach to the subject, addressing the opinions and actions of the federal government and national civil rights organizations, as well as the views and struggles of civil rights activists at the local level. An engaging and thought-provoking introduction to the subject, this volume: Explores the civil rights movement and the African American experience within their wider political, economic, legal, social, and cultural contexts Renews and expands the primary source approach to the civil rights movement Incorporates the latest historiographical trends including the "long" civil rights movement and intersectional issues Offers authoritative commentary which places the material in appropriate context Presents clear, accessible writing and a coherent chronological framework Written by one of the leading experts in the field, The Civil Rights Movement: A Documentary Reader is an ideal resource for courses on the subject, as well as classes on race and ethnicity, the 1960s, African American history, the Black Power and economic justice movements, and many other related areas of study.

One of the most important African American leaders of the twentieth century and perhaps the most influential woman in the civil rights movement, Ella Baker (1903-1986) was an activist whose remarkable career spanned fifty years and touched thousands of lives. A gifted grassroots organizer, Baker shunned the spotlight in favor of vital behind-the-scenes work that helped power the black freedom struggle. She was a national officer and key figure in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and a prime mover in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Baker made a place for herself in predominantly male political circles that included W. E. B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King Jr., all the while maintaining relationships with a vibrant group of women, students, and activists both black and white. In this deeply researched biography, Barbara Ransby chronicles Baker's long and rich political career as an organizer, an intellectual, and a teacher, from her early experiences in depression-era Harlem to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Ransby shows Baker to be a complex figure whose radical, democratic worldview, commitment to empowering the black poor, and emphasis on group-centered, grassroots leadership set her apart from most of her political contemporaries. Beyond documenting an extraordinary life, the book paints a vivid picture of the African American fight for justice and its intersections with other progressive struggles worldwide across the twentieth century.

An established introductory textbook that provides students with a compelling overview of the growth of the mass movement from its origins after the Second World War to the destruction of segregated society, before charting the movement's path through the twentieth century up to the present day. This is an ideal core text for modules on Civil Rights history or American history since 1945 - or a supplementary text for broader modules on American history, African-American history or Modern US politics - which may be offered at the upper levels of an undergraduate history, politics or American studies degree. In addition it is a crucial resource for students who may be studying the Civil Rights Movement for the first time as part of a taught postgraduate degree in American history, US politics or American studies. New to this Edition: - Revised and updated throughout in light of the latest research - Includes in-depth analysis of Barack Obama's presidency - Provides further exploration of cultural and gender history - Examines contemporary issues, such as the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2016 US election