[Review of] George M. Fredrickson. Black Liberation: A Comparative History of Black Ideologies in the United States and South Africa

Authors

Vernon J. Williams Jr

Orginal Publication Date

1995

Journal Title

Explorations in Sights and Sounds

Volume

15

Issue

ess/vol15/iss1

First Page

44

Last Page

45

Abstract

George M. Fredrickson, Edgar E. Robinson Professor of United States History at Stanford University, has written a magisterial volume that complements his earlier explorations in his highly acclaimed White Supremacy and in some of his major essays in a collection, entitled The Arrogance of Race. Yet, unlike the earlier works, which compare the predominant white racism and ethnocentrism in race relations in the United States and the Union of South Africa, Black Liberation focuses on the political ideologies of “organic” African American and Black South African intellectuals. Fredrickson, to my mind, demonstrates convincingly that historically the ideology of “color-blind universalism” has been both more potent and effective -- in more cases than not-- in countering the overt claims and actions of white supremacists in both countries than “racially exclusive nationalism.”

Rights

Copyright, ​©EES, The National Association for Ethnic Studies, 1995