For a variety of reasons; Jewish Memphians suffered little overt prejudice and managed to take care of their own needs while attending to those of the community as a whole. As a result; from the outset of their residence in Memphis; Jews held positions of municipal leadership; were active supporters of Memphis's cultural and philanthropic activities; and aided in the course of racial integration. Narrating the life of Jews in Memphis from the antebellum period through the 1960s; Lewis artfully blends discussions of the Jewish community's proactive impact on the city's development with its reactions to events local; national; and international. She vividly highlights their roles in and responses to the Civil War; late nineteenth-century immigration; Zionism; the world wars; the Holocaust; and the civil rights movement. The result is an important work of Jewish; American; and Southern religious history.
#1198724 in Books Writers Readers 1992-10Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.50 x 5.50 x .50l; #File Name: 0863161480192 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy darion youngi love it6 of 15 people found the following review helpful. biased and simplisticBy A CustomerI picked up this book because I wanted a simple little introduction to pan-Africanism and what I got was a diatribe. As with all too many of these 'for beginners' books; the author is an avid proponent of his/her subject and is unwilling to examine it with a critical mind. While doing a good job at laying out the history of pan-Africanism (the only reason I don't give this book one star); Sid Lemelle; Professor of History at Pomona College in California; does not bring up the big criticisms of pan-Africanism. First; like post-colonial theory; it has been and continues to be a movement all too biased towards the experiences of the African diaspora and not Africans themselves; as evidenced by whom Lemelle puts in the middle of the books's cover; namely Malcolm X. Second; many people argue that pan-Africanism ignores local African ethnic; religious and national identities in favor of an over-arching pan-African identity. Furthermore; Lemelle ignores the big debate around the concepts of 'Africa' and 'Africans'; namely whether North Africa really has much in common at all with black/sub-saharan/tropical Africa and whether whites in South Africa or Asians in Uganda are Africans or not. If they are; then how can pan-Africanism have a racial component?These are all big problems that Lemelle ignores in favor of espousing pan-Africanism. I actually believe he could have done a much better job of promoting the merits of pan-Africanism if he had tried a more even-handed approach. In the end; unfortunately; this book is too biased to be of much use to anyone.
