Customer Reviews

The Crucible of Race: Black-White Relations in the American South since Emancipation

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One might be forgiven for thinking that a 522-page book from 1983, that is subtitled "Black-White Relations in the American South Since Emancipation," might actually deal in some depth with black-white relations in the American South from Emancipation through at least the 1960s.

He would, however, be gravely mistaken. As the author, Joel Williamson, admits on page 285, the Crucible of Race up until that point "focuse[s] very narrowly upon what white people, the dominant racial group, thought and did about black people up through the turn-of-the-[20th-]century years." But even this confession overstates the purview of the first half of the book, as it does not treat very much at all with "what white people . . . did about black people," only what they thought--and by "they," I mean their leaders.

Yes, there are a few pages about disfranchisement, lynching, the bloody Wilmington coup of 1898, and the New Orleans and Atlanta pogroms of 1900 and 1906, respectively. But hardly an allusion is ever made in the entire book to the Red Summer of 1919, or any of the many other massacres of black people at the hands of white mobs during the first quarter of the 20th century. "Since Emancipation" to Williamson only means "up until about 1910."

And forget about any discussion at all regarding the economic subjugation and exploitation of black Southerners, which were the primary aims and principal accomplishments of white supremacy (even more so than black people's political death or social debarment). The words "sharecropping" and "peonage" are mentioned once each--"convict leasing," perhaps twice. These concepts--these fundamental black-white relations--are, perforce, never explicated.

This is, of course, a colossal and unforgivable oversight, which alone would render the Crucible of Race's subtitle a complete fraud, if not the entire volume practically worthless. But so much of what the book does contain is ungermane at best, and foolish at worst.

The second half of the book waxes irrelevant, and at times ridiculous, with lengthy discussions of such topics as "How Du Bois Became a Hegelian," and "White Soul." And Williamson routinely substitutes hamfisted metaphors (as well as wild generalizations) for hard facts and analysis. For instance, he begins one paragraph with the perfectly reasonable, "After the [Atlanta] riot [of 1906], there was clearly a Thermidorian reaction among whites."

Alas, he follows that up with "The Radical face receded as the Conservative mask rotated to the fore. With strong, bold, deft strokes of the trowel, Conservative Atlanta quickly mortared over the large and unsightly cracks left by the racial earthquake." The Crucible of Race might be a good fifth shorter if not for all this purple nonsense. (I may as well note here that Williamson's main theme is that Southern whites were either Conservatives (i.e., those who considered themselves paternalistic toward black people, but still wanted to keep black people underfoot economically, politically, and socially); Radicals (i.e., those who saw no place at all for an allegedly barbarizing black race in America--not even a subordinate one--and wanted to speed the demise of black people in the United States through, inter alia, barbaric violence), and Liberals (i.e., those very few and very silent who wanted to lift black people up). Needless to say, Williamson has flogged this "insight" to death long before the book ends. Make of it what you will.)

Now, the Crucible of Race, while almost completely devoid of even the least value, isn't utterly so. There are some interesting factoids scattered throughout that I had not encountered before (e.g., to the effect that George Washington Cable (one of Williamson's Liberals) was once nearly as famous as Mark Twain, or that Cable's Waterloo came when he one evening broke the taboo of eating at the same table as black people). All in all, though, if you really want to know what black-white relations in the American South over the course of at least the first two or three generations after Emancipation were like, stay far, far away from the Crucible of Race. A far superior overview/starting point is Leon Litwack's Trouble in Mind.

This was one of the best books written on the subject when it was published. It had data in it not found in other books. I highly recommend it to anyone's library.

I purchased this book a couple of years ago and apologize for the late review. It is intense reading and informative. The book also speaks of one of my ancestors and I was unaware of how he gained his position. This book clarifies that point. I thank Mr. Williamson for this enlightening experience.
The book was sent to me in excellent condition and in a timely manner.
Many thanks.