From Exclusion to Inclusion: The Long Struggle for African American Political Power (Contributions in Afro-American and African Studies: Contemporary Black Poets)

This book is designed to explore the historical and current level of African-American political participation, to assess the fruits of participation, and to provide recommendations for improving the efficacy of African American political participation in the future. Part One focuses on the historic struggle for securing and expanding African-American voting rights; Part Two focuses on the economic, legal, philosophic, and cultural context of African-American politics; Part Three focuses on prospects for African-American politics in the future--particularly the opportunities to develop successful electoral coalitions; and Part Four provides specific recommendations to produce fuller inclusion of African-Americans in the American polity.

By providing a balanced account from the national perspective, this volume assesses the historical and current positions of African-Americans in politics throughout the nation. It assesses the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and clarifies the significance of the struggle for voting rights--and how extensively equitable voting rights have been achieved. By focusing on the economic, legal, and cultural contexts of African-American politics, it evaluates both the potential for success and the built-in limitations of American society in improving black status and everyday life-chances through the political arena. The possibilities for coalition politics are carefully analyzed--providing useful insights into the pitfalls and opportunities of coalition building among minorities and between minorities and various sectors of whites. The book also makes recommendations for increasing African-American political participation and provides strategies for the future. This collection will be invaluable to Black Studies programs and those concerned with current American socio-political developments.

RALPH C. GOMES is Associate Professor of Sociology at Howard University. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles.

LINDA FAYE WILLIAMS is currently a Weiner Research fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. She is the co-editor of Race, Class and the New Urban Politics as well as scholarly articles and monographs.