Black Liberation: A Comparative History of Black Ideologies in the United States and South Africa Book

In Black Liberation, George Fredrickson offers a fascinating account of how blacks in the United States and South Africa came to grips with the challenge of white supremacy. He reveals a rich history--not merely of parallel developments, but of an intricate, transatlantic web of influences and cross-fertilization. Beginning with early moments of hope in both countries, when the promise of suffrage led educated black elites to fight for color-blind equality, he moves through the rising tide of racism and discrimination at the turn of the century that blunted their hopes and encouraged nationalist movements in both countries. Fredrickson brings to vivid life the decades of struggle, organizing, and debate, as blacks in the United States looked to Africa for identity and South Africans looked to America for new ideas and hope. He goes on to trace the rise of Communist influence in black movements in the two nations in the 1920s and '30s, and brings the story up through the present, exploring the divergence between African-American identity politics and the nonracialism that has triumphed in South Africa. In a career spanning thirty years, George Fredrickson has won recognition as the leading scholar of the struggle over racial domination in the United States and South Africa. In Black Liberation, he provides the essential companion volume to his award-winning White Supremacy, telling the story of how blacks fought back on both sides of the Atlantic.Read More