Slavery, Colonialism, and Racism

New York. 1974. Norton. 1st Printing. Very Good in Dustjacket. Remainder Mark on Bottom Edge. 0393011151. 213 pages. hardcover. keywords: Racism Essays Black. DESCRIPTION - In this volume twelve internationally noted scholars examine the historical and con- temporary experience of black peoples in the Americas and Africa. They contend that the richness and breadth of the black experience cannot be fully appreciated when viewed in isolated national contexts. As Roger Bastide asserts, black culture is not, as it appears, frozen into a system of defense mechanisms too rigid for change, but a living culture, capable of constant creation, keeping in step with the rhythms of change in a global society, of which it is not a marginal but a dialectical element. The collection opens with essays on slavery by David Brion Davis, on colonial- ism and imperialism by Philip D. Curtin, and on race relations by Michael Banton in which the authors attempt to sort out certain new trends in the study of these critical areas. They also suggest some of the more important historical changes in perception and interpretation and in so doing set the tone for the entire volume. Considerable attention is given to the black experience in the relatively neglected regions of the Caribbean and Latin America as well as in Africa and the United States. The social diversity and historical complexity of this experience are evident at every turn as the contributors explore various aspects of the black heritage. The selections range from J. H. Kwabena Nketia's discussion of the role of music in African life to Roger Bastide's assessment of the state of Afro-American research in Latin America to Thomas Sowell's analysis of the plight of black students in the United States. Taken together, these selections reveal a growing and changing awareness of the importance of the historical and contemporary experience of black peoples. inventory #17123 Very Good in Dustjacket. Remainder Mark on Bottom Edge.…