The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South [Paperback]

Osha Gray Davidson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0807858692 | ISBN-13: 978-0807858691

In a vivid portrait of a relationship that defied all odds in 1960s North Carolina, Davidson tells how C.P. Ellis (a poor white member of the KKK) and Ann Atwater (a poor black civil rights activist) went from being each other's worst and most hostile enemies to forming an incredible, long-lasting friendship. By placing this very personal story into broader context, Davidson demonstrates that race is intimately tied to issues of class, and that cooperation is possible--even in the most divisive situations--when people begin to listen to one another.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Billed as the story of the friendship between black activist Ann Atwater and ex-Klansman C. P. Ellis (whose story was broached in Studs Terkel's Race), this book actually devotes few pages to that relationship. Rather, Davidson (Broken Heartland) has written a well-crafted portrait of the evolution of race relations in Durham, N.C.-and of America's tendency to ignore issues of class. He describes white Durham's historical self-delusion on race, and the student-fueled rise of 1960s civil rights activism. Atwater, a poor domestic, became inspired by a community organizer to become a goad to city officials. Meanwhile, Ellis, a poor white laborer who believed in segregation, decided to attend city functions to express the voice of poor whites. A daring city official put Atwater and Ellis in charge of a series of meetings on school desegregation. Ellis learned, to his surprise, that he and black parents shared many of the same class-based fears and concerns; this led to friendship with Atwater and his estrangement from the Klan. Unfortunately, this book ends at that turning point, in the early 1970s.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Davidson traces the course of the remarkable friendship that evolved between Ann Atwater, an outspoken black activist, and Claiborne Paul "C. P." Ellis, a ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan. Both lower-class residents of Durham, North Carolina, Ann and C. P. continually crossed paths and swords during the emotionally charged civil rights movement of the 1960s. When they were asked to serve on a school desegregation committee, they discovered--to their mutual surprise and consternation--that they shared much common ground. In addition to being impoverished members of oppressed classes, both were determined to improve the educational and economic opportunities of their children. Their initially cautious relationship eventually blossomed into a committed friendship based on genuine affection and respect. The author places this tremendously insightful chronicle in its proper context by interweaving the narrative with brief histories of the city of Durham, the civil rights movement, and the Ku Klux Klan. A powerful testament to the redemptive powers of human nature. Margaret Flanagan --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (July 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807858692
• ISBN-13: 978-0807858691
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #820,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-written, scrupuosly researched important book., November 13, 1998

By 

Linda Alband (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South (Hardcover)

As someone who works for parity in this society, I look for materials that show clearly that poor white people have more in common with blacks and other ethnic/racial peoples than they do with the power structure that oppresses us all. This book clearly and beautifully illustrates that point.

It has always mystified me that more poor "white" men, in particularly, fail to see this. Every young white man who blames blacks for his inability to get a decent job, the meagerness of his life, or whatever, should read this book. Every petty racist should read the story of C.P. Ellis and Ann Atwater and learn something about the real problems, not the cheap shot racist answers that many of us come to too readily in this society.

I've purchased five copies for myself and friends. A great book to give that relative, co-worker or acquaintance who persists in making racist comments and blaming blacks for the problems in this society.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of Enemies to Start With...But is Doesn't End that Way., July 31, 2007

By 

David B. Eck "davideck57" (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South (Paperback)

This book has been out of print for some time, but thankfully the University of North Carolina Press has resurrected it. Duke University's incoming Freshman class has been assigned to read this book as their compulsory summer reading assignment. The Class of 2011 will then discuss this book during Freshman Orientation Week. The selection of this book as the summer reading assignment is timely with the upheavals in Durham and at Duke during the so called "Duke Lacrosse Scandal."

It is interesting to note that Durham held on to Jim Crow laws and was very slow to integrate public schools compared with some high profile Southern cities. When forced to comply with court-ordered integration, the school district took the unusual step of pairing a long-time black activist and a ranking member of the Ku Klux Klan to lead a committee whose purpose it was to deal with the issues surrounding integration. It seems like this would be a disaster, but surprisingly it was far from it.

I should note that this is not some dry recitation of the past. The story reads much more like a novel. I couldn't put in down and found myself quite moved by the story.

This is a truly poignant book that demonstrates how much we have in common with people of other races, creeds or colors and how, by finding common ground, we can move ahead in our society. There are lessons here for us in the new millennium.

For those interested in an excellent book dealing with similar issues, I recommend Blood Done Sign My Name: A True Story

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable and insightful book, October 10, 2007

By 

Hampshire Mom - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South (Paperback)

This thoroughly researched and well-written book held special meaning for me, one of the last generation from the segregated South who entered a movie theater through the "colored" entrance and sat in the balcony, and who spent four years at Duke U. during the early '70's. The presence of the Klan in my small North Carolina town was always known but hidden, and this book provided insight into why poor whites find membership in the Klan and its philosophies so attractive and how the white elite was secretly complicit in its support of the Klan. This book introduced me to Hayti, the section of Durham where low-income African-Americans live. Despite my four years at Duke, I'd never heard of this neighborhood, and the story of Hayti resident Ann Atwater's activism to improve conditions for poor blacks and whites in Durham is amazing. Duke U. is a very insular campus, and town-gown relations between the school and Durham have historically been tense. I'm very glad that this book exists for incoming freshmen to read; to spend four years on a campus and have no knowledge of the town surrounding the campus (as I did not have) is shameful.

A very valuable insight in this book is the author's understanding of the strange dynamics of class, which exists throughout the South but is seldom mentioned. Blaming African-Americans for their economic woes, and receiving secret support from the white elite, has historically distracted poor whites from the reality that it is this white elite, with its power and money, that keeps poor whites economically down-trodden.

Although I was in Durham slightly later than the years during which the events of the book take place, I had some familiarity with many of the key players (Howard Fuller, Floyd McKissick, Asa Spaulding), and the book exhaustively discusses the roles of everyone involved in this tumultuous time in Durham. It reads like riveting fiction, and the evolution of the relationship between C.P. Ellis and Ann Atwater is a wonderful story.