Freedom's sword
Subtitle: the NAACP and the struggle against racism in America, 1909-1969
By: Gilbert Jonas ; with a foreword by Julian Bond.
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2005
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 520
Subjects: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- History; African Americans -- Civil rights -- History -- 20th century; Civil rights movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century; African Americans -- Politics and government -- 20th century; Racism -- United States -- History -- 20th century; United States -- Race relations
Description: "In 1909, "The Call" went out against Jim Crow racism, and American race relations began to change. The violent discrimination that continued in the South spurred a group of concerned white liberals to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization that grew to become one of the most powerful social forces in American history. Gilbert Jonas, who worked with the NAACP for more than 50 years, draws upon firsthand experience and extraordinary access to reveal how the organization contributed to the eradication of lynching in the South, the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, and the passage of the 1964 Voting Rights Act. Jonas documents the NAACP's role in landmark events in American history, including the famed 1939 concert by Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial and the historic 1963 march on Washington, led by A. Philip Randolph." "Freedom's Sword also examines the accomplishments of the NAACP's legendary leadership, which included Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston, James Weldon Johnson, and Roy Wilkins."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [471]-480) and index.
Table of contents: title: Creating a change agent : the NAACP's early years during which the new group rejects Booker T. Washington's accommodationist views for W.E.B. DuBois' militancy; title: The law as a weapon against unjust laws : how Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall crafted the strategy which produced Brown v. Board of Education; title: Southern retaliation vs. Negro determination : the NAACP's assault on Jim Crow places it in mortal combat with the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens Councils; title: Leading the quest for political power : James Weldon Johnson leads the fight against lynching, then Walter White defeats President Hoover's Supreme Court nominee; title: Comes the revolution : the struggle between the NAACP and the Communist Party USA : White and Wilkins thwart the communist attempts to win the loyalty of American Negroes; title: World Wwar II and its consequences for race : the NAACP presses FDR to utilize Negro troops and open up defense industry jobs to Negroes with Mrs. Roosevelt's help; title: The politics of political advancement, passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Bill : as Dr. King leads southern civil rights confrontations, Roy Wilkins and Clarence Mitchell, with Pres. Johnson's help, guide the passage of this unprecedented bill through Congress; title: Revolution at the ballot box, the fight for the 1965 Voting Rights Act, led by the NAACP : a broad coalition joined by LBJ, Dirksen and Humphrey win congressional approval of Voting Rights Bill; title: Black workers, white unions and the struggle for job equality : A. Philip Randolph and NAACP challenge the AF of L, while looking to the John L. Lewis and CIO for equity in the workplace; title: Head-to-head with the ILGWU : a case study of conflict between a powerful union and the NAACP : Herbert Hill exposes the racial labor practices of David Dubinsky and the Ladies Garment Workers Union; title: The end of pretense : organized labor refuses to desegregate : George Meany and the ALF-CIO reject the NAACP's pleas to open labor's doors to opportunities for African-Americans; title: Roy Wilkins : the gentle giant, advisor to presidents and the nation's leading spokesman for black Americans : Wilkins' steady hand on the tiller brings the NAACP to its apogee; title: The NAACP develops financial muscle : new white income sources drive program expansion; from Ford Foundation to Rockefeller, from General Motors to AT&T, the nation's heavy financial hitters extend their support to the NAACP.