Jim Crow: Voices from a Century of Struggle 1876-1976 (Library of America)

ISBN: 1598538144

Author: Steptoe, Tyina L.

Condition: New

A vivid firsthand record of the stain of white supremacy and the outspoken resistance of Black and white Americans who envisioned a better, more just nationW.E.B. Du Bois famously identified "the problem of the color-line" as the defining issue in American life in the twentieth century. The powerful writings gathered here reveal the many ways Americans, Black and white, fought against white supremacist efforts to police the color line, envisioning a better America in the face of disenfranchisement, segregation, and widespread lynching, mob violence, and police brutality.Jim Crow: Voices from a Century of Struggle brings together speeches, pamphlets, newspaper and magazine articles, public testimony and appeals, judicial opinions, and poems and song lyrics from the end of Reconstruction in 1876 to the Boston busing crisis of 1974-76.This volume includes writing by both famous and lesser known individuals, includingFrederick Douglass on the importance of voting rights Ida B. Wells on the scourge of lynching Richard T. Greeners scathing critique of Americas White Problem" Booker T. Washingtons historic Atlanta address John Marshall Harlans eloquent and prophetic dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson William Monroe Trotters dramatic White House confrontation with Woodrow Wilson Alain Lockes tribute to the New Negro Thurgood Marshall on police brutality in wartime Detroit Rosa Parkss appeal for justice for Recy Taylor Earl Warrens landmark opinion in Brown Fannie Lou Hamers eloquent challenge to disenfranchisement in Mississippi and James Baldwin on the myths and meaning of the American DreamAs the teaching of our nations history, especially the history of race in America, becomes increasingly contested, this book will serve as a vital resource, a crucial reminder of where weve been, how far weve come, and how long the road ahead remains.