Lerone Bennett (1928–2018)

This well-written book tells the story of black Americans from before the settlement of the Plymouth Colony to the late 20th century. It is a story of suffering and despair, struggle and hope, achievements and setbacks, lynching and community self-defense and Christian fortitude and stoicism. It is a broad history that includes necessarily the relationship with white America, both North and South, but also African beginnings and the impact of the international context, which begins to bear on domestic race relations with the end of colonialism and the competition of the United States with the Soviet Union for the moral high ground in the 20th century. Along the way we learn of the roles of famous black Americans and the white Americans who were their allies as well as the part played by the black “masses”, especially during the Civil War in ending slavery and in the Great Migration and protests of the 20th century. The central theme is the continuing struggle of African-Americans towards freedom and equality and the numerous setbacks along the way. It often seems that when the prospects are darkest, and African-Americans are becoming most despairing, progress suddenly occurs from an unexpected source, such as the end of slavery when the South brought the Civil War upon itself in its ambitions to protect and grow the institution of slavery. And direct action in the 1960s dealt a body blow to segregation at a time when in many ways it was reaching its pinnacle of development (despite the growing number of court decisions striking down such laws). It tells of how entrenched minority interests would encourage racism as a technique to divide and conquer the majority of the population who in actuality shared the same goals, such as in undermining the achievements of Black Reconstruction. The book also relates how at despairing times when the prospects for African Americans seemed most grim, the appeal of black nationalism would wax, with the goals of separateness or even departure from the United States as the preferred solutions. This book is an excellent narrative of the history of slavery and its progeny over almost 400 years of American history. It should go without saying that every American should be aware of this history and its continued presence with us today. This history is a testimony to the human spirit and its refusal to accept injustice. When in the thick of civil rights battles, African-American leaders were asked by their opponents what they wanted, they would reply they wanted the implementation of the US Constitution.… (meer)