In this ambitious work; first published in 1983; Cedric Robinson demonstrates that efforts to understand black people's history of resistance solely through the prism of Marxist theory are incomplete and inaccurate. Marxist analyses tend to presuppose European models of history and experience that downplay the significance of black people and black communities as agents of change and resistance. Black radicalism must be linked to the traditions of Africa and the unique experiences of blacks on western continents; Robinson argues; and any analyses of African American history need to acknowledge this.To illustrate his argument; Robinson traces the emergence of Marxist ideology in Europe; the resistance by blacks in historically oppressive environments; and the influence of both of these traditions on such important twentieth-century black radical thinkers as W. E. B. Du Bois; C. L. R. James; and Richard Wright.
#1671264 in Books The University of North Carolina Press 1968-09-25Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.64 x 6.06 x 9.00l; 2.13 #File Name: 0807845507651 pages
Review
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. Superiority Trumps MoralityBy Herbert L CalhounThis work is a well-crafted; non-polemical theoretical chronology of the history of race and racism in Western and American culture. Winthdrop Jordan; now a professor at the University of Mississippi; is a careful writer and respected historian. His treatment; although non-polemical; still is very much a white-centered rendition of the formation of racism; with an historical bent and a heavy flavor of the "blacks are still a White Man's Burden" genre.He sets forth the thesis that racism was not caused by slavery but in fact preceded it by at least a century. Attitudes and myths about dark skinned people formed by European sailors during the era of sea exploration to Africa; gelled and cross-fertilized upon reaching the "New World;" where an abundance of land and a scarcity of labor conspired to reduce the Negro to the bottom of the American social and economic heap.Negroes as slaves were always morally problematic; and American whites were forced to continue fashioning; revising and updating the rationalizations needed to justify their mistreatment and continued enslavement of them. The most stable result was an ideology of racial superiority that melded together the sailors' myths and attitudes about blacks; and a self-serving rendition of white; mostly Protestant; religion. This ideological concoction was so successful that over time maltreatment of blacks was pretty much taken as normal.Primarily to avoid endangering their souls; only a handful of well-off religious zealots; the abolitionists; failed to accept these rationalizations. They chose adherence to higher moral and religious principles over racist ideology. But interestingly; they did not give up notions of superiority and continued to despise and would not consort with Negroes.The strength of the book; in addition to being well-written; is that Jordan uses his keen psychological insights to touch on all of the very sensitive issues such as interracial sex; America being a white man's country; founding fathers attitudes towards Negroes; racism in the Caribbean; etc.; and does so with a great deal of academic facility.This is a very worthy effort and its very scholarly nature sets it apart from other books on this topic. Four stars0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Great bookBy KathyI bought the first edition; hard cover; once again. I feel there is no better history covering this subject.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I feel there is no better history covering this subjectBy jerseyguyI read this book over twenty years ago. So now I bought the first edition; hard cover; once again. I feel there is no better history covering this subject.
