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Available
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Collection
Publication
Random House (2008), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 720 pages
Description
Sweet Land of Liberty is an epic, revelatory account of the abiding quest for justice in states from Illinois to New York, and of how the intense northern struggle differed from and was inspired by the fight down South.
Subjects
Awards
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — History — 2008)
Language
User reviews
LibraryThing member bruchu
Comprehensive Survey of Civil Rights in the North
This is a comprehensive survey text of the long and often much more complicated struggle for racial justice in the northern states from the great migration until just about the Clinton years. Sugrue explores the topic of civil rights through its
The book explores the many social movements that emerged in response to the overt and institutionalized racism that African Americans experienced. Because racial segregation in the North was often de facto as institutionalized through racialized residential covenants, local school board decisions, and unwritten hiring practices, the sociological effects were much more difficult and complex to analyze. But certainly, they helped to explain why the marginalization of African Americans occurred in urban cities right across America both before, during, and after the civil rights era. Right or wrong, the complex nature of race relations prevents whites from fully appreciating just how unjust the current system continues to be. If anything, hopefully Sugrue's book will help to educate and bridge the knowledge gap.
Although, Sugrue perhaps sacrifices a little depth in his attempt to cover the breadth, it still does not take away from the text as an excellent primer on race relations in the northern states. I highly recommend this book as an complimentary text for any undergraduate course on race in America.
This is a comprehensive survey text of the long and often much more complicated struggle for racial justice in the northern states from the great migration until just about the Clinton years. Sugrue explores the topic of civil rights through its
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intersection with cold war politics, New Deal political alliances, labor activism, and second-wave feminism.The book explores the many social movements that emerged in response to the overt and institutionalized racism that African Americans experienced. Because racial segregation in the North was often de facto as institutionalized through racialized residential covenants, local school board decisions, and unwritten hiring practices, the sociological effects were much more difficult and complex to analyze. But certainly, they helped to explain why the marginalization of African Americans occurred in urban cities right across America both before, during, and after the civil rights era. Right or wrong, the complex nature of race relations prevents whites from fully appreciating just how unjust the current system continues to be. If anything, hopefully Sugrue's book will help to educate and bridge the knowledge gap.
Although, Sugrue perhaps sacrifices a little depth in his attempt to cover the breadth, it still does not take away from the text as an excellent primer on race relations in the northern states. I highly recommend this book as an complimentary text for any undergraduate course on race in America.
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LibraryThing member DarthDeverell
In Sweet Land of Liberty: The Forgotten Struggle for Civil Rights in the North, Thomas J. Sugrue addresses a gap in the historiography, writing, “Nearly a half century later, our histories – and our collective memories – of the civil rights era do not reflect the national scope of racial
Sugrue describes the push for civil rights activism, writing, “The civil rights impulse had been deeply rooted in the American past, yet it came to the surface in America at one particular moment, the 1940s. And it did so because of a shift in national politics and a simultaneous grassroots struggle from below” (pg. 31). He writes of the role of activism, “Whites would not yield the advantage of their race without a fight. Only the threat – or the actuality – of political disruption would” (pg. 32). Protests in the North paralleled and eclipsed those in the South. Sugrue writes, “Just as King and his allies were opening their nonviolent siege of Birmingham, an extraordinary wave of protests shook Philadelphia” (pg. 292). Elsewhere, “in Rochester, New York, a broad spectrum of civil rightd activists and nationalists, including Malcolm X, joined forces in protesting the city’s police, who had arrested twelve members of the Nation of Islam in January” (pg. 303-304). Sugrue devotes a great deal of attention to segregation in the North, which occurred through legal and extralegal means. Movie theaters used special ticketing and invitation only events to segregate their audiences (pg. 139). In regards to housing, Sugrue argues, “The existence of all-white and all-black neighborhoods was not a fixed, timeless feature of northern life. Rather, rigid housing segregation by race was a relatively new creation” (pg. 209). While certain towns enacted sundown laws, more commonly were neighborhood associations or realtors who limited prospective buyers of homes. Sugrue writes, “Whites often engaged in extralegal actions to enforce restrictive covenants and racially discriminatory lending policies. They fought viciously to keep ‘undesirables’ out of their neighborhoods as blacks migrated northward” (pg. 204). Despite efforts to change peoples’ minds, whites “moved in overwhelming numbers to all-white communities” (pg. 249).
Sugrue’s work blends synthesis with primary research, drawing extensively upon the secondary literature of the civil rights era while incorporating information from various local newspapers, African-American papers, the documents of the Congress for Racial Equality, and more. At times, the book loses its way due to the breadth and scope of the project.
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inequality and the breadth of challenges to it” (pg. xii). He argues, “To understand the history of civil rights – indeed, to understand modern America – it is essential to bring the North back in” (pg. xiv). To this end, he “focuses on the moment in modern American history when activists, especially in the North, fought for their rights broadly conceived” (pg. xvii). Despite the large scope of Sugrue’s work, he works within the realm of microhistory, moving from case study to case study to prove his point.Sugrue describes the push for civil rights activism, writing, “The civil rights impulse had been deeply rooted in the American past, yet it came to the surface in America at one particular moment, the 1940s. And it did so because of a shift in national politics and a simultaneous grassroots struggle from below” (pg. 31). He writes of the role of activism, “Whites would not yield the advantage of their race without a fight. Only the threat – or the actuality – of political disruption would” (pg. 32). Protests in the North paralleled and eclipsed those in the South. Sugrue writes, “Just as King and his allies were opening their nonviolent siege of Birmingham, an extraordinary wave of protests shook Philadelphia” (pg. 292). Elsewhere, “in Rochester, New York, a broad spectrum of civil rightd activists and nationalists, including Malcolm X, joined forces in protesting the city’s police, who had arrested twelve members of the Nation of Islam in January” (pg. 303-304). Sugrue devotes a great deal of attention to segregation in the North, which occurred through legal and extralegal means. Movie theaters used special ticketing and invitation only events to segregate their audiences (pg. 139). In regards to housing, Sugrue argues, “The existence of all-white and all-black neighborhoods was not a fixed, timeless feature of northern life. Rather, rigid housing segregation by race was a relatively new creation” (pg. 209). While certain towns enacted sundown laws, more commonly were neighborhood associations or realtors who limited prospective buyers of homes. Sugrue writes, “Whites often engaged in extralegal actions to enforce restrictive covenants and racially discriminatory lending policies. They fought viciously to keep ‘undesirables’ out of their neighborhoods as blacks migrated northward” (pg. 204). Despite efforts to change peoples’ minds, whites “moved in overwhelming numbers to all-white communities” (pg. 249).
Sugrue’s work blends synthesis with primary research, drawing extensively upon the secondary literature of the civil rights era while incorporating information from various local newspapers, African-American papers, the documents of the Congress for Racial Equality, and more. At times, the book loses its way due to the breadth and scope of the project.
Show Less
ISBN
0679643036 / 9780679643036