Negro: An Anthology
by Nancy Cunard, Hugh D. Ford
Category: Literary Collections

An ambitious anthology covering practically every aspect of Black life: history, literature, education, law, racial injustice, theater, art, and music. It examines not only Black life in the United States, but also in the West Indies, South America, Europe, and Africa. Nancy Cunard, a white intellectual, compiled and edited the anthology in 1934, hoping to prove "that there was no superior race, merely cultural differences, that racism has no basis whatsoever." The result is a book that exposes the persecution of Blacks through reportage on chain gangs, lynchings, and the Scottsboro boys case, proving the equality of Blacks through essays on their intellectual and artistic accomplishments. (Adapted from the New York Times: "When hatred was turning to pity" by Julius Lester, August 30, 1970).