Civil Rights and the Idea of Freedom

King, Richard H.

ISBN 10: 0820318248 / ISBN 13: 9780820318240

Published by University of Georgia Press, 1996

About this Item

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Civil Rights and the Idea of Freedom
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820318248
• ISBN 13: 9780820318240
• Binding: paperback
• Condition: Very Good

About this title

Synopsis

Civil Rights and the Idea of Freedom is a groundbreaking work, one of the first to show in detail how the civil rights movement crystallized our views of citizenship as a grassroots-level, collective endeavor and of self-respect as a formidable political tool. Drawing on both oral and written sources, Richard H. King shows how rank-and-file movement participants defined and discussed such concepts as rights, equality, justice, and, in particular, freedom, and how such key movement leaders as Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Baker, Stokely Carmichael, and James Forman were attuned to this "freedom talk."

The book includes chapters on the concept of freedom in its many varieties, both individual and collective; on self-interest and self-respect; on Martin Luther King's use of the idea of freedom; and on the intellectual evolution of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee, especially in light of Frantz Fanon's thought among movement radicals.

In demonstrating that self-respect, self-determination, and solidarity were as central to the goals of the movement as the dismantling of the Jim Crow system, King argues that the movement's success should not be measured in terms of tangible, quantifiable advances alone, such as voter registration increases or improved standards of living. Not only has the civil rights movement helped strengthen the meaning and political importance of active citizenship in the contemporary world, says King, but

About the Author

RICHARD H. KING is a professor in the American and Canadian Studies department at the University of Nottingham. His books include A Southern Renaissance and Dixie Debates, which he coedited with Helen Taylor.