Us and Them: A History of Intolerance in America [Paperback]

Jim Carnes (Author), Herbert Tauss (Illustrator), Justice Harry A. Blackmun (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 1999

Us and Them illuminates the dark corners of our nation's past and traces our ongoing efforts to live up to the American ideals of equality and justice. Fourteen case studies--enhanced through the use of original documents, historical photos, newly commissioned paintings, and dramatic narrative--bring readers a first-hand account of the history and psychology of intolerance. We read about Mary Dyer, executed for her Quaker faith in Boston in 1660. We learn how the Mormons were expelled from Missouri in 1838. The attack on Chinese miners in Wyoming in 1885, the battle of Wounded Knee in 1890, the Ku Klux Klan activities in Mobile, Alabama in 1981, and the Crown Heights riot in 1991 are among the memorable episodes presented in clear, evocative language that brings to life history that is often forgotten or slighted.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 7^-12. The language of hatred is the same through the centuries, even in a country that draws its strength from diversity. Each chapter in this excellent history focuses in depth on one individual's experience or on a particular episode of bigotry--the Cherokee people's journey to exile on the Trail of Tears, the nineteenth-century conflict between Protestant nativists and Catholic immigrants in Philadelphia, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, the recent race riots in Crown Heights, the murder of a gay man in Maine, and more. The accounts are grim (several chapters end in death, including lynching or massacre), and in each case readers are asked to think about what happened to ordinary people and to connect the episode with prejudice throughout our history and right now. The large-size volume has a handsome, readable design, with lots of boxed quotes and insets, contemporary photos and prints, and bold, dramatic pastel illustrations. There's a long bibliography, but the lack of source notes is a serious drawback (which 1992 survey found that 47 per cent of high-school students would participate in racist incidents or silently support them?). Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, includes this book as the text component in a kit that also contains a video, The Shadow of Hate, and a teacher's guide. The book should get widespread use, both for classroom discussion and for personal reading. Hazel Rochman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"This balanced account belongs in all libraries."--Library Lane

"Effectively presents stories of intolerance from colonial times to the present."--The Horn Book Guide

"Each chapter in this excellent history focuses in depth on one individual's experience or on a particular episode of bigotry.... The large-size volume has a handsome, readable design.... Should get widespread use, both for classroom discussion and for personal reading."--Booklist

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195131258
• ISBN-13: 978-0195131253
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #678,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book effectively tells the story and links oppressions., October 20, 1999

By 

Keith Kron (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Us and Them: A History of Intolerance in America (Paperback)

This terrific book effectively tells the story of oppression inthe United States and subtly connects the interrelatedness ofoppressions by putting the chapters side by side. The information and sidebars are magnificent in their detail and it is nice to have many sides of history that are so rarely shown. I learned more about history from this book than any history textbook I can remember. The stories of racial, religious, ethnic, and gay oppressions become human stories in this book--hopefully stories that we can learn from and choose not to repeat.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Face of Prejudice, July 31, 2001

By 

Toby Sanders (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Us and Them: A History of Intolerance in America (Paperback)

In an age of sanitized history and calls for revisionism that make people feel comfortable, there is a great need for more books like Jim Carnes' history of intolerance in America. With 128 pages of text and 16 concise chapters this book corrects much of the white washing that is taking place in much longer history texts, even at the college level. Religious liberty, Native American exile, freedom from slavery, racial extermination, and ethnic tensions are highlighted with graphic images and easily accessible narratives. The trials of diverse groups such as Mormons, Catholics, Chinese, Native Americans, Jewish immigrants, Mexican Americans, Japanese citizens, and just playing Americans are dramatically highlighted in an unforgettable montage of images and words that give the lie to the "melting pot" that is the United States.

Paintings, etchings, drawings, and photographs illustrate in no uncertain terms would hate has done to this country. More than that the pictures combined with the simple prose personalizes each inequity that is introduced. For example, "A Rose for Charlie" presents photographs of the community disrupted by hate, as well as that community's response to the hate. From photographs of hate speech scrawled on walls to portraits of citizens mourning the victim of a deadly hate crime present a view of America that could not be farther from the Norman Rockwell ideal we all wish this country would be. For those interested, a fictionalized account of this particular crime can be found in "The Drowning of Stephan Jones" by Bette Greene, which chronicles the death of the young man simply because of who he loved.

It should be an essential book for all classrooms.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important book for educators, January 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Us and Them: A History of Intolerance in America (Paperback)

I used this book in both my 6th and 8th grade classrooms with great success. I embarked on a diversity project using it and the video (which I strongly recommend); it's an excellent starting point because its scope is so wide and yet it gives very detailed accounts of intolerance in America, starting from the beginning (you see, we have a rather long history of intolerance). Middle school students find it interesting and easy to understand, and it's perfect for the teacher because it covers many ethnic and racial groups in the U.S.. Use this book! It's very important.