This work documents the importance of the civil rights movement and its lasting impression on American society and culture.
Freedom. Equality. Democracy. They are the quintessential American values defined at the nation’s birth in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. And yet it took the broad-based movement of individuals from all facets of American society in the mid-20th century to establish firmly that those values apply to all U.S. citizens, regardless of race.
This revealing volume looks at the struggle for individual rights from the social historian’s perspective, providing a fresh context for gauging the impact of the civil rights movement on everyday life across the full spectrum of American society.
From the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case to protests against the Vietnam War to the fight for black power, Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives looks at events that set the stage for guaranteeing America’s promise to all Americans. In eight chapters, some of the country’s leading social historians analyze the most recent investigations into the civil rights era’s historical context and pivotal moments. Readers will gain a richer understanding of a movement that expanded well beyond its initial focus (the treatment of African Americans in the South) to include other Americans in regions across the nation.
Features
• A collection of primary source materials that give readers a look at the civil rights movement through the eyes of those who lived it
• 16 short "sidebar" essays that highlight important personalities and events in the history of the civil rights movement
Highlights
• Provides an up-to-date overview of the civil rights movement and the latest perspectives that scholars have used to explore it
• Includes a comprehensive reference section that gives readers an encyclopedic and easy-to-access review of the civil rights movement
• Draws on the work of a diverse and acclaimed panel of contributors to guarantee a wide range of perspectives on civil rights history
Michael Ezra is associate professor of American multicultural studies and chair of the American Multicultural Studies Department at Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA. His published works include Muhammad Ali: The Making of an Icon.
Reviews
"Highly recommended for high school, community and undergraduate colleges, and public libraries."—Catholic Library World
"...provides an excellent resource for students studying this period. . . . The essays are of substantial length, provide a depth not found in other works, and make for fascinating, inspiring, and heart-rending reading. . . . The Civil Rights Movement: People and Perspectives would be a meaningful addition to high school, undergraduate, and public library collections and is highly recommended."—Reference & User Services Quarterly
"The value of [this title] is the accessibility for student researchers to pull out chapters pertaining to their area of study. Recommended."—Library Media Connection
"This book is a useful addition to any library that has a collection on African American history and the civil rights movement."—ARBAonline
"...a useful reference work that deserves to be read by undergraduate and graduate students, as well as general readership...public and academic libraries would enhance their reference collections by acquiring this book."—H-Net Book Review
"Ezra's (Muhummad Ali: The Making of an Icon) contribution to ABC-CLIO's "Perspectives in American Social History" series is a lucid, balanced examination of the lasting effects of the civil rights movement. ...Bottom line: Any single-volume examination of the civil rights movement can at best be a primer on this era of reform or serve as a gateway to further research. Ezra's work shines in both these areas. All libraries should own this title."—Library Journal, Starred Review
"For high school and undergraduate college courses, this social history documents the work of people involved in the civil rights movement, expanding the definition of the movement to include events before and after the era of Martin Luther King, Jr., the work of everyday people, black nationalism, and struggles outside the South. The eight essays take into account the three methods of defining the civil rights movement (in terms of the King years, as a longer civil rights movement, and through the civil rights/black power dichotomy), and cover the contributions of early pioneers, student activists, clergy, southern civil rights organizations, the NAACP and CORE (the Congress of Racial Equality), black nationalists, the Black Panther Party, and women. Primary source documents, such as Supreme Court documents and a speech by Malcolm X,
and short biographical sketches, are included. Essays are by US scholars of black studies, history, American multicultural studies, and English." —Reference & Research Book News
