We Are not What We Seem

Roderick D. Bush

ISBN 10: 0814713173 / ISBN 13: 9780814713174

Published by New York University Press, US, 1998

About this Item

An "Indispensable" Book of The Black World Today website A fresh new look at the Black Power movement and its leaders Much has been written about the Black Power movement in the United States. Most of this work, however, tends to focus on the personalities of the movement. In We Are Not What We Seem, Roderick D. Bush takes a fresh look at Black Power and other African American social movements with a specific emphasis on the role of the urban poor in the struggle for Black rights. Bush traces the trajectory of African American social movements from the time Booker T. Washington to the present, providing an integrated discussion of class. He addresses questions crucial to any understanding of Black politics: Is the Black Power movement simply another version of the traditional American ethnic politics, or does it have wider social import? What role has the federal government played in implicitly grooming social conservatives like Louis Farrakhan to assume leadership positions as opposed to leftist, grassroots, class-oriented leaders? Bush avoids the traditional liberal and social democratic approaches in favor of a more universalistic perspective that offers new insights into the history of Black movements in the U.S.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780814713174

Bibliographic Details

• Title: We Are not What We Seem
• Publisher: New York University Press, US
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0814713173
• ISBN 13: 9780814713174
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

An "Indispensable" Book of The Black World Today website

A fresh new look at the Black Power movement and its leaders

Much has been written about the Black Power movement in the United States. Most of this work, however, tends to focus on the personalities of the movement. In We Are Not What We Seem, Roderick D. Bush takes a fresh look at Black Power and other African American social movements with a specific emphasis on the role of the urban poor in the struggle for Black rights.

Bush traces the trajectory of African American social movements from the time Booker T. Washington to the present, providing an integrated discussion of class. He addresses questions crucial to any understanding of Black politics: Is the Black Power movement simply another version of the traditional American ethnic politics, or does it have wider social import? What role has the federal government played in implicitly grooming social conservatives like Louis Farrakhan to assume leadership positions as opposed to leftist, grassroots, class-oriented leaders? Bush avoids the traditional liberal and social democratic approaches in favor of a more universalistic perspective that offers new insights into the history of Black movements in the U.S.

About the Author

Rod Bush is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at St. John's University and editor of The New Black Vote: Politics and Power in Four American Cities.