Race and Kinship in a Midwestern Town: the Black Experience in Monroe, Michigan, 1900-1915 (Blacks in the New World) [Hardcover]

James E. Devries (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 189 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (April 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252010841
• ISBN-13: 978-0252010842
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,332,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting - goes beyond what the author intended, January 24, 2007

By 

Kurt A. Johnson (North-Central Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

In this fascinating book, author and professor of history, James DeVries looks at race and racism in the broader American context, and what a group of African-Americans experienced in the small Midwestern town of Monroe, Michigan at the beginning of the twentieth century. Overall, I found this to be a very interesting book. The author obviously did a great deal of research on the subject, and presents it in a clear and highly informative way.

Interestingly, though the author does not apparently mean to, the book shows an interesting phenomenon. While the author does demonstrate the prevalence of an often unthinking racism on a macro-level, he also demonstrates that on a micro-level of person-to-person, African-Americans could and often did lead a normal life in Monroe. Yes, this is a very interesting book, one that I am very glad that I read. I highly recommend it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, May 13, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Race and Kinship in a Midwestern Town: the Black Experience in Monroe, Michigan, 1900-1915 (Blacks in the New World) (Hardcover)

This book was very well researched and reflects the town of Monroe very well. High level reading.