Review of Anti-Black Prejudice In America
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Devapriya Bhattacharya
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Review of Anti-Black Prejudice In America
[Following is a volunteer review of "Anti-Black Prejudice In America" by Anders Eklof.]
Review of Anti-Black Prejudice in America
Anders Eklof, in his book 'Anti-Black Prejudice In America' provides us with a detailed overview of the disturbing history of racial discrimination in America that has remained a steady companion of the domestic culture and politics of America as early as 1600s. Starting with a brief recap of the harsh mistreatment, mass eradication of the original inhabitants of the American territory at the hands of its new inhabitants, in its first part, Eklof mildly touches on the issue of slavery and then steadily advances to analyse the roots of anti-black prejudice and racial discrimination, the hatred and violence against African Americans within the purviews of tribe, religion and sexuality. The book draws upon the primitive concepts of human beings being organised into tribes to explain the differences between 'us' and 'others'. Here, the others become Americans with non-european ethnicity. The role of religion and the subjective definition of morality in racial discrimination, its creation and often justification of racial impurities based on skin colour is studied. The author also draws upon sexuality as a powerful tool in defining the relationship between people of different skin colours.
Slave trade, which was a lucrative business, especially in the Southern States of the United States of America until its formal abolition in 1865, finds its exhaustive brutal history recapitulated in part two of the book (Deep Historical Background). The book, together with its pictures and references, is successful in narrating the severe peril that African Americans had to go through from their years of enslavement to the failure of Reconstruction after the Civil War and the subsequent violence and discrimination faced, especially within Southern states with Jim Crow laws in place. It explores not only the prejudice, discrimination, and violence faced but also its religious aspects Religion, which was an intrinsic part of the Southern states, was often used to justify discrimination and violence against African Americans.
In its effort to outline the origins of prejudice and subsequent discrimination against African Americans within the context of tribe, religion, and sexuality, the author provides a thorough picture of how white Americans, mainly in the South, created a picture of African Americans as inferior barbaric beings devoid of civilisational manners or behaviour with indomitable lust, thus deserving of discriminatory and even violent treatment. The creation of the threat of a Black African Rapist man with his insatiable lust and eyes on the virginal pure white woman was used as a powerful tool to justify the discrimination and violence against African Americans after the abolishment of slavery, as evidenced in several cases of lynching and other forms of violence. On the other hand, the depiction of African American women as women with loose moral character was used as a tool for exploitation. Sexual assault and violence against African American women by white American males was a common incident in those times. The author depicts how these negative depictions had their roots in the early literature, detailing visits to the African continent by scholars and the institution of slavery, where exploitation of slaves in any form was permissible by their masters. There was also a factor of fear that was working among the white Americans. The white Americans, especially the ex-slave-owning states of America, feared that after the Civil War, the newly freed slaves would try to capture political power and avenge the atrocities meted out to them during their long years of generational slavery. Along with this was the psyche that believed racial intermixing was a sin in the eyes of the Lord, and most Americans wanted to avoid that at any cost. The evolution of mindset regarding sex as a topic and unfortunate evolutionary progress towards a prudish mindset where sex was a taboo and unnatural, those included between individuals of same genders and different skin colours a grave sin deserving of severe punishment and suffering . A consequence of this was the drawing of strict segregatory measures that were taken to not only limit the growth of African Americans but also stop racial intermixing.
Next, Eklof delves into the development of eugenics, first in Europe and then in America, and how it was used to justify the prejudiced mindset and resultant discrimination against African Americans in a scientific manner. With America entering the twentieth century, Eklof comments on the regrets of the Reconstruction era, the several external and internal as well as technological changes faced by America. Simultaneously, the increase in demand for equality for African Americans and the reluctant steps towards racial integration in spite of steep protests from the Southern states. A specific chapter 'Riots and massacres of blacks 1880 - 1930' details the violence suffered by African Americans at the hands of white Americans, and in most cases, the perpetrators remained scot free.
Eklof in the next section provides a compendium of the 1960s era. The book encapsulates several events that made the 1960s, the years of revolution for America. With the introduction of different cultures and music such as rock and roll, hippie culture, and hard rock, the mindset of Americans was evolving. On one hand, there was the Vietnam War on the external front, and internally, there was clamouring for equality and rights. There was the long-drawn Civil Rights movement of the African Americans, on the other hand, there was simultaneous growth of many other movements of that time, including anti-war movements, movements of feminism even movements of LGBTQ community. The road to equality for African Americans was a long and arduous journey with innumerable failures but important victories. The movement saw the rise of various important leaders, among them the most famous one Martin Luther King Jr., who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his efforts in reduction and non-violent protests against the anti-black prejudice and racial discrimination within United States of America.
In terms of methodology, the author divided and subdivided the book into several essays constituting chapters dealing with several topics. It follows a chronological timeline with sudden bouts of backtracking, a method used to connect present writing to a past event. This instrumentality allows the author to not only explore the origins of anti-black prejudice in tribe, religion, or sexuality but also use events as examples justifying the continual presence of this prejudice. The chapterisation is detailed along with internal sub-sections that provide the reader with ideas about what to expect. The author ’s effort to provide a meticulous history of racial discrimination viewed through the lenses of tribe, religion, and sexuality is successful. The book, with its numerous pictures and references, serves as a well-researched historical, socio-political academic writing on anti-black prejudice and racial discrimination in the United States of America. With its comprehensive detailed overview of politics on the domestic front, there are also brief mentions of external politics, creating a nearly complete picture of the political situation. In terms of consequences and investigation of the roots of anti-black prejudice, the author is thorough, and the role of tribe, sexuality, and of religion is clear. The last part serves as a mirror of truth, showcasing how the degree of discrimination has decreased, but the presence of anti-black prejudice is working behind the scenes even today, as evidenced by the recent slogan of 'Black Lives Matter'.
However, with its narrative essay style, in certain sections of Part Three 'Deep Roots, Bitter Fruit' and Part Four 'Sex and Sin in America', themes and reactions of people become repetitive. In addition, it seems there is a disproportionate focus on the prejudice and violence faced by African Americans in the Southern states, which was dramatic no doubt, but the picture remains incomplete with only fleeting mentions of the ghettoisation of African Americans in the Northern states. Even though the author had provided a thorough description of the 1960s, the content, while serving as a great reading for a detailed overview of the Civil Rights movement, its growth, participation, and even evolution. It lacks a detailed analysis and merely comes up as a commentary of the consequences of racial discrimination and subsequent demands of rights. Other movements such as counter religion like the growth of the Hippie movement, or other movements regarding sexuality, such as feminismand their links with the Civil Rights movement have not been adequately discussed. The book would have served the reader better if the author had focussed on the question of women in a more detailed manner. One must recognise that a disproportionate share of discrimination and violence as a consequence of anti-black prejudice and racial discrimination is faced by African American women. Therefore,, the question of intersectionality is deeply connected with not only civil rights but also other movements such as feminism and anti-war. Perhaps if the author had analysed the conundrum of an African American woman who is a part of the Civil Rights, Feminist and anti-war movements, then the commentary of the book would have become more well-rounded in depicting the consequences of anti-black prejudice and its deep rooted connections with concepts of tribe, religion and sexuality.
In an all-embracing manner, this book serves as a great combination of American domestic history and the history of racial discrimination, the roots of anti-black prejudice observed through the lenses of tribe, religion and sexuality. An interesting read for students, scholars, and other readers alike who would like to delve deeper into the history of anti-black prejudice within the United States of America or would like to read something other than a plain narrative of racial discrimination in the United States of America.
******
Anti-Black Prejudice In America
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Review of Anti-Black Prejudice in America
Anders Eklof, in his book 'Anti-Black Prejudice In America' provides us with a detailed overview of the disturbing history of racial discrimination in America that has remained a steady companion of the domestic culture and politics of America as early as 1600s. Starting with a brief recap of the harsh mistreatment, mass eradication of the original inhabitants of the American territory at the hands of its new inhabitants, in its first part, Eklof mildly touches on the issue of slavery and then steadily advances to analyse the roots of anti-black prejudice and racial discrimination, the hatred and violence against African Americans within the purviews of tribe, religion and sexuality. The book draws upon the primitive concepts of human beings being organised into tribes to explain the differences between 'us' and 'others'. Here, the others become Americans with non-european ethnicity. The role of religion and the subjective definition of morality in racial discrimination, its creation and often justification of racial impurities based on skin colour is studied. The author also draws upon sexuality as a powerful tool in defining the relationship between people of different skin colours.
Slave trade, which was a lucrative business, especially in the Southern States of the United States of America until its formal abolition in 1865, finds its exhaustive brutal history recapitulated in part two of the book (Deep Historical Background). The book, together with its pictures and references, is successful in narrating the severe peril that African Americans had to go through from their years of enslavement to the failure of Reconstruction after the Civil War and the subsequent violence and discrimination faced, especially within Southern states with Jim Crow laws in place. It explores not only the prejudice, discrimination, and violence faced but also its religious aspects Religion, which was an intrinsic part of the Southern states, was often used to justify discrimination and violence against African Americans.
In its effort to outline the origins of prejudice and subsequent discrimination against African Americans within the context of tribe, religion, and sexuality, the author provides a thorough picture of how white Americans, mainly in the South, created a picture of African Americans as inferior barbaric beings devoid of civilisational manners or behaviour with indomitable lust, thus deserving of discriminatory and even violent treatment. The creation of the threat of a Black African Rapist man with his insatiable lust and eyes on the virginal pure white woman was used as a powerful tool to justify the discrimination and violence against African Americans after the abolishment of slavery, as evidenced in several cases of lynching and other forms of violence. On the other hand, the depiction of African American women as women with loose moral character was used as a tool for exploitation. Sexual assault and violence against African American women by white American males was a common incident in those times. The author depicts how these negative depictions had their roots in the early literature, detailing visits to the African continent by scholars and the institution of slavery, where exploitation of slaves in any form was permissible by their masters. There was also a factor of fear that was working among the white Americans. The white Americans, especially the ex-slave-owning states of America, feared that after the Civil War, the newly freed slaves would try to capture political power and avenge the atrocities meted out to them during their long years of generational slavery. Along with this was the psyche that believed racial intermixing was a sin in the eyes of the Lord, and most Americans wanted to avoid that at any cost. The evolution of mindset regarding sex as a topic and unfortunate evolutionary progress towards a prudish mindset where sex was a taboo and unnatural, those included between individuals of same genders and different skin colours a grave sin deserving of severe punishment and suffering . A consequence of this was the drawing of strict segregatory measures that were taken to not only limit the growth of African Americans but also stop racial intermixing.
Next, Eklof delves into the development of eugenics, first in Europe and then in America, and how it was used to justify the prejudiced mindset and resultant discrimination against African Americans in a scientific manner. With America entering the twentieth century, Eklof comments on the regrets of the Reconstruction era, the several external and internal as well as technological changes faced by America. Simultaneously, the increase in demand for equality for African Americans and the reluctant steps towards racial integration in spite of steep protests from the Southern states. A specific chapter 'Riots and massacres of blacks 1880 - 1930' details the violence suffered by African Americans at the hands of white Americans, and in most cases, the perpetrators remained scot free.
Eklof in the next section provides a compendium of the 1960s era. The book encapsulates several events that made the 1960s, the years of revolution for America. With the introduction of different cultures and music such as rock and roll, hippie culture, and hard rock, the mindset of Americans was evolving. On one hand, there was the Vietnam War on the external front, and internally, there was clamouring for equality and rights. There was the long-drawn Civil Rights movement of the African Americans, on the other hand, there was simultaneous growth of many other movements of that time, including anti-war movements, movements of feminism even movements of LGBTQ community. The road to equality for African Americans was a long and arduous journey with innumerable failures but important victories. The movement saw the rise of various important leaders, among them the most famous one Martin Luther King Jr., who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his efforts in reduction and non-violent protests against the anti-black prejudice and racial discrimination within United States of America.
In terms of methodology, the author divided and subdivided the book into several essays constituting chapters dealing with several topics. It follows a chronological timeline with sudden bouts of backtracking, a method used to connect present writing to a past event. This instrumentality allows the author to not only explore the origins of anti-black prejudice in tribe, religion, or sexuality but also use events as examples justifying the continual presence of this prejudice. The chapterisation is detailed along with internal sub-sections that provide the reader with ideas about what to expect. The author ’s effort to provide a meticulous history of racial discrimination viewed through the lenses of tribe, religion, and sexuality is successful. The book, with its numerous pictures and references, serves as a well-researched historical, socio-political academic writing on anti-black prejudice and racial discrimination in the United States of America. With its comprehensive detailed overview of politics on the domestic front, there are also brief mentions of external politics, creating a nearly complete picture of the political situation. In terms of consequences and investigation of the roots of anti-black prejudice, the author is thorough, and the role of tribe, sexuality, and of religion is clear. The last part serves as a mirror of truth, showcasing how the degree of discrimination has decreased, but the presence of anti-black prejudice is working behind the scenes even today, as evidenced by the recent slogan of 'Black Lives Matter'.
However, with its narrative essay style, in certain sections of Part Three 'Deep Roots, Bitter Fruit' and Part Four 'Sex and Sin in America', themes and reactions of people become repetitive. In addition, it seems there is a disproportionate focus on the prejudice and violence faced by African Americans in the Southern states, which was dramatic no doubt, but the picture remains incomplete with only fleeting mentions of the ghettoisation of African Americans in the Northern states. Even though the author had provided a thorough description of the 1960s, the content, while serving as a great reading for a detailed overview of the Civil Rights movement, its growth, participation, and even evolution. It lacks a detailed analysis and merely comes up as a commentary of the consequences of racial discrimination and subsequent demands of rights. Other movements such as counter religion like the growth of the Hippie movement, or other movements regarding sexuality, such as feminismand their links with the Civil Rights movement have not been adequately discussed. The book would have served the reader better if the author had focussed on the question of women in a more detailed manner. One must recognise that a disproportionate share of discrimination and violence as a consequence of anti-black prejudice and racial discrimination is faced by African American women. Therefore,, the question of intersectionality is deeply connected with not only civil rights but also other movements such as feminism and anti-war. Perhaps if the author had analysed the conundrum of an African American woman who is a part of the Civil Rights, Feminist and anti-war movements, then the commentary of the book would have become more well-rounded in depicting the consequences of anti-black prejudice and its deep rooted connections with concepts of tribe, religion and sexuality.
In an all-embracing manner, this book serves as a great combination of American domestic history and the history of racial discrimination, the roots of anti-black prejudice observed through the lenses of tribe, religion and sexuality. An interesting read for students, scholars, and other readers alike who would like to delve deeper into the history of anti-black prejudice within the United States of America or would like to read something other than a plain narrative of racial discrimination in the United States of America.
******
Anti-Black Prejudice In America
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Old Corsair by Michael DeStefano
