Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890-2000 [Paperback]

Adam Fairclough (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2002

From the end of postwar Reconstruction in the South to an analysis of the rise and fall of Black Power, acclaimed historian Adam Fairclough presents a straightforward synthesis of the century-long struggle of black Americans to achieve civil rights and equality in the United States. Beginning with Ida B. Wells and the campaign against lynching in the 1890s, Fairclough chronicles the tradition of protest that led to the formation of the NAACP, Booker T. Washington and the strategy of accommodation, Marcus Garvey and the push for black nationalism, through to Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and beyond. Throughout, Fairclough presents a judicious interpretation of historical events that balances the achievements of the Civil Rights Movement against the persistence of racial and economic inequalities.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fairclough (To Redeem the Soul of America; Martin Luther King, Jr.), who teaches American history at the University of East Anglia, aims to present "an interpretation of the black struggle for equality in the United States between 1890 and 2000, concentrating on the South." The first half of the book covers 1890 to 1919, with sketches of such individuals as Ida B. Wells, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois and Marcus Garvey. Quickly reviewing major events (e.g., the Great Migration, the Scottsboro affair), Fairclough guides readers through the 1910s, '20s and '30s, examining the failure of Garvey's black nationalism and recognizing the role of the Communist Party in fighting racism. After that, the book addresses a m‚lange of topics: education, employment, World War II, anti-communism, Brown v. Board of Education, the Montgomery bus boycott, the sit-ins, the 1965 Los Angeles riots and the Poor People's Campaign. He also analyzes the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., and the effects of the Black Power movement on the struggle for black civil rights. The final chapter, despite the subtitle's promise, skims over the remaining decades of the century. An easy read that relies heavily on secondary sources, this work may disappoint serious students of African-American history with its cursory treatment of some material. Still, Fairclough's approach will probably suit his intended audience, "the general reader... who may have little or no knowledge about the history of race relations since the American Civil War."

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Fairclough (To Redeem the Soul of America), who teaches American history at the University of East Anglia (U.K.), has written an overview of the American civil rights movement from the turn of the 19th century to the present. Intended specifically for the general reader, the book covers the major aspects of the black struggle for equality, although it slights the Harlem Renaissance and devotes only one brief chapter to the period since 1968. The author argues that this struggle featured conflict and interplay among three models of action-accommodation, confrontation, and separatism. Although it adds little to what experts in the field already know, this well-written work is a fine general introduction to the topic. Recommended especially for public libraries. A.O. Edmonds, Ball State Univ., Muncie, IN
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (June 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142001295
• ISBN-13: 978-0142001295
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Neither human progress nor Fairclough take a straight path, November 27, 2002

By 

J. Gillespie "gettingthere" ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890-2000 (Paperback)

Societal evolution seldom travels a straight path. As Professor Adam Fairclough succinctly titles one chapter of Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality 1890-1910, human progress tends to be "two steps forward, one step backward". Several decades after the book opens with the collapse of Reconstruction, American blacks are in a worse condition than they were immediately after the Civil War. The title seems almost ironic as segregation grows stronger and black life becomes harsher between the world wars.

However, this book doesn't claim to be a sociological study but a historical account of 110 years. In that sense it falls short.

Better Day Coming's greatest weakness is its attempt to cover the period of 1890-2000. The last chapter opens immediately after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., but apparently the author thinks little of import followed the civil rights leader's murder. The years between 1968 and 2000 are covered in a sketchy 14 pages that fail to mention prominent figures such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, and Fairclough dances around current issues relevant to the black community. Rodney King gets more mention than Jesse Jackson. The author is an educator and the last chapter resembles a textbook that acknowledges the latter material is insignificant and probably won't be covered on the final exam. Better Days Coming would have been much stronger if it focused only on the period between Reconstruction and the death of Dr. King.

Nonetheless, Professor Fairclough is a crisp writer. Although the problem noted above (along with one superfluous chapter that inexplicably rehashes previous material) hurts this book, it has strengths.

Better Day Coming predictably chronicles the lives of such prominent luminaries as Ida Wells, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B DuBois, Marcus Garvey, Dr. King, and Malcolm X. Yet it pays homage to several lesser know figures: Stanley Levinson, a brilliant and realistic white businessman; Fannie Lou Hamer, who led the charge for civil rights in Mississippi; and A. Philip Randolph, the socialist leader who proved a great inspiration to so many in the civil rights movement.

Fairclough also excels in his exploration of areas not normally covered in similar introductory works such as the vital role the United States Communist Party played in the Thirties. The author brings a fresh viewpoint to Garvey's black nationalism and Booker T. Washington's accomodationism, both of which have been widely discredited in recent years. Fairclough concludes these men and their movements were largely positive forces in black history. The book also expands on familiar areas, such as the racism of J. Edgar Hoover, who started his campaign against civil rights as a Bureau of Investigation agent assigned to investigate Garvey in 1919---more than 40 years before he began his dogged pursuit of Dr. King.

Better Day Coming is an excellent book for a reader who doesn't know much about the subject matter, and it provides details and fresh perspectives to those readers who study or were involved with the civil rights campaign. Despite its flaws, this is a solid account of one of the most important movements in American history.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dull and poorly researched., March 19, 2011

By 

Dr. Happy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Better Day Coming: Blacks and Equality, 1890-2000 (Paperback)

A very basic and scantily researched attempt at addressing an otherwise important time in American History. The author has a way of presenting his myopic view of history in a manner that makes watching paint dry, a much more entertaining prospect.