Black Experience | Page 3

Liberals
Growth of Extremism
6. From Slavery to Segregation Blue, Gray, and Black Reconstruction
and Its Failure The New Racism
7. Racism and Democracy Fighting Jim Crow Making the World Safe
for Democracy Urban Riots The Klan Revival
Part Three. The Search For Equality
8. The Crisis of Leadership The Debate Over Means and Ends Booker
T. Washington: The Trumpet of Conciliation W. E. B. DuBois: The
Trumpet of Confrontation Marcus Garvey: The Trumpet of Pride A.
Philip Randolph: The Trumpet of Mobilization
9. The New Negro Immigration and Migration Harlem: "The Promised
Land" The Negro Renaissance Black Nationalism
10. Fighting Racism at Home and Abroad Hard Times Again The
Second World War The U.S. and the U.N.
11. Civil Rights and Civil Disobedience Schools and Courts The Civil
Rights Movement
12. The Black Revolt Civil Disorders Black Power
Epilogue
Notes and References (ommitted from electronic version) Bibliography
(ommitted from electronic version) Index (ommitted from electronic
version)

Preface
During the last several years, the study of American history has turned
a new direction. Previously, it emphasized how the various immigrant
groups inAmerica shed their divergent heritages and amalgamated into
a new nationality. More recently, scholars and laymen alike have
become more sensitive to the ways in which these newcomers have
kept aspects from their past alive, and there is a new awareness of the
degree to which ethnicity continues as a force within America.
Most of the original settlers were British, Protestant, and white. Many
of the later arrivals differed from them, in one or more ways. History
books usually depicted these new waves of immigrants as assimilating
almost fully into American society. However, recent writings have put
more stress on the ethnic diversities which remain and on the rich
variety of contributions which were made to the American scene by
each new nationality.
This volume depicts the immigrants from Africa as one among the
many elements which created present-day America. On the one hand,
they differ from the other minorities because they came involuntarily,
suffered the cruelties of slavery, and were of another color. All of this
made their experience unique. On the other hand, they shared much in
common with the other minorities, many of whom also felt like aliens
in their new land.
Throughout most of American history, political power has been held
tightly by the white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant majority. Historical
presentations which stressed the political component, thereby tended to
leave the later immigrants in the background. However, because these
newcomers did not assimilate fully into the mainstream of America,
they maintained some of their ethnic identity and made fresh and
unique contributions to American life. A socio-cultural approach to
history, through highlighting society and culture rather than politics,
brings these minorities into proper focus.
This study of Afro-Americans seeks to describe the character and
culture which they produced for themselves in America. It also points
to the many important contributions which they have made to
American cultural life. The spotlight is on what they felt and thought,
on the attitudes they developed, and on their increasingly vocal protests

against the unfair treatment which they believed was directed at them.
Besides taking a socio-cultural approach to the subject, this book is
deliberately interpretive rather than being merely a narrative of events.
It is reasonably brief in the hope that it will appeal to interested laymen.
At the same time, it contains a number of footnotes so that either
scholars or laymen, wanting to check their thoughts against the
interpretation presented here, can readily use this book as a guide to
further reading. (Note the footnotes are not in this electronic version.)
If at times the treatment of the white majority seems harsh, it is because,
in my opinion, it is still necessary for Americans to take a long, cold
look at the chilling facts which have too often been ignored. Yet, times
and people do change. Race relations in America are not today what
they were a century ago. The progress of history may not be the wide
highway moving steadily and smoothly upward as many have believed,
but the racial picture in America has altered and will continue to do so-
-sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. Nevertheless, it is
only by knowing ourselves that we can intelligently face our crises. I
hope that this volume will assist the reader as he struggles with this
difficult task.
Norman Coombs September, 1971

Acknowledgements
I would like to express my deep appreciation to the National
Endowment for the Arts and Humanities and to the Rochester Institute
of Technology for providing me with much of the time which made this
research possible. I am also indebted to Professors Benjamin Quarles
and Merle Curti for kindly reading and commenting on the manuscript.
My thanks are also extended to my