Newark: A History of Race, Rights, and Riots in America (American History and Culture) (Paperback)

by Kevin Mumford (Author)
Key Phrases: second ghetto, interracial activism, black public sphere, Black Power, Central Ward, African Americans (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Excellent, lively, and learned. . . . An engaging and unsettling study of the city."
- The Bloomsbury Review

"From the city’s early days, where African-Americans fought for recognition and dignity, to their ascension to elected office in the midst of the Black Power movement, and then through countless though crucial fragments as new power brokers emerged amid old differences in vision, tactics and goals, Newark is spellbinding, and worth your attention."
- Altreads.com

"Mumford explores the devastating effect of the riots and how the city police, state police, and National Guard escalated the violence. He raises the controversial possibility that female looters stripping store mannequins may have been making a social statement about economic inequality. He also discusses such divisive personalities as Anthony Imperiale of the Citizens Council, with his anti-black sentiments, and the poet Amiri Baraka, who melded black nationalism with anti-white and, occasionally, anti- Semitic rhetoric."
- New Jersey Star Ledger

"Meticulously researched and engagingly written, Newark tells an important story. Portraying a city that functions as an archetype for Black Power in urban politics, Mumford writes with great sympathy for an earlier liberal integrationist tradition, periodizing and explaining its rise and fall carefully, eloquently, and persuasively."
- David Roediger, author of Working toward Whiteness

"Kevin Mumford's history of race relations in Newark is full of arresting insight, fascinating detail, and memorable writing. With interdisciplinary creativity, he offers an important contribution to the understanding of modern America."
- Randall Kennedy, Harvard University

Product Description

Newark's volatile past is infamous. The city has become synonymous with the Black Power movement and urban crisis. Its history reveals a vibrant and contentious political culture punctuated by traditional civic pride and an understudied tradition of protest in the black community. Newark charts this important city's place in the nation, from its founding in 1666 by a dissident Puritan as a refuge from intolerance, through the days of Jim Crow and World War II civil rights activism, to the height of postwar integration and the election of its first black mayor.

In this broad and balanced history of Newark, Kevin Mumford applies the concept of the public sphere to the problem of race relations, demonstrating how political ideas and print culture were instrumental in shaping African American consciousness. He draws on both public and personal archives, interpreting official documents - such as newspapers, commission testimony, and government records - alongside interviews, political flyers, meeting minutes, and rare photos.

From the migration out of the South to the rise of public housing and ethnic conflict, Newark explains the impact of African Americans on the reconstruction of American cities in the twentieth century.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 308 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814795633
• ISBN-13: 978-0814795637
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #515,409 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The riots and what became of the culturally rich city, April 22, 2009

By	Ernesto Aguilar (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

The city of Newark's story is, in a few ways, not unlike that of many post-Reconstruction, pre-Civil Rights movement Northeastern United States cities. Though not rife with bigotry as the South, such municipalities were not especially hospitable to African-Americans. What makes this New Jersey metropolis unique is the fact Black residents chose to become an electoral powerhouse in the spirit of ethnic minorities which had done the same thing before them. Though the explosive rebellions are the backdrop for this book, African-American political activism, the knotty alliances it created, and the aftermath of those efforts in a post-Civil Rights era are at the core of this book.

Mumford helps you understand the city of Newark and its tradition of African-American civic involvement by detailing the role of those most would consider militants in leading insurrectionist as well as mainstream efforts. Inevitably, the Newark clashes of old take center stage. But, more importantly, Mumford is intent on telling readers what happened before the uprisings, and after.

The author pens a colorful read, whose personalities leap off the page. Whether it's the poet turned radical messiah Amiri Baraka, white establishment types or the tangles for leadership of a burgeoning voting bloc, Mumford's book is an astute, opinionated primer on a slice on Newark's political pedigree. From the city's early days, where African-Americans fought for recognition and dignity, to their ascension to elected office in the midst of the Black Power movement, and then through countless though crucial fragments as new power brokers emerged amid old differences in vision, tactics and goals, this tome is spellbinding, and worth your attention.