Reclaiming the past: local people, local and national history: a book review essay.

Jeanne Theoharis and Komozi Woodward, eds., Groundwork: Local Black Freedom Movements in America (New York: New York University Press, 2005).

John L. Driggins, A History f the Negro Community in Corning, NY (Corning, NY: An Occasional Paper of the Corning-Painted Post Historical Society, 2003).

It has been a half-century since the Brown v. Board of Education decision kicked off what most Americans think of as the Civil Rights Movement. It has been more than a generation since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the achievements they brought about. In that span of years America has witnessed an explosive growth in the professional black middle-class; two black Supreme Court justices; black mayors in many of the nation's largest cities, including New York City; the rise of the Black Congressional Caucus; three black United States senators; the first black governor since Reconstruction (and of a Southern state, Virginia, at that); and two black Secretaries of State in less than ten years. Though there has yet to be a black President of the United States, the fact that Jesse Jackson made a serious attempt at a run for it in the late 1980s, and Colin Powell's serious consideration of running in the 1990s clearly demonstrates that the Civil Rights Movement produced seismic changes in the body politics' view of African Americans.

In high schools and colleges, the Civil Rights Movement is as entrenched in American History as the signing of the Constitution, or the recounting of the Civil War, or World War II. For today's students, studying the 1960s, and the social movements it produced, is tantamount to studying the 1850s and that decade's march to the Civil War. Students see both periods as ancient. Given that today's students were born in the mid-to late eighties, it should come as no surprise that they view the past in this manner. And yet this lack of historical consciousness rests with historians of my generation who do not present the story to these students accurately. Indeed, the historiography of the Civil Rights Movement has been in urgent need of revision. Fortunately, in the last five to eight years that has been occurring. The problem is that this knowledge has yet to reach the masses of students (and adults).

The two books under consideration in this essay address the ongoing revision in Civil Rights historiography in ways that add immensely to our knowledge, while also raising questions for further study. Each work has strengths and weaknesses, but they both share a similar theme that is of importance to the revisionist project; the role of local people actively moving their communities towards social justice.

In 1994, John Dittmer's path-breaking study, Local People, reclaimed and refocused the Civil Rights Movement's narrative with its emphasis on the activities and participation of local peoples in bringing civil rights to Mississippi. With his use of the then newly opened Sovereignty Commission Papers, Dittmer had a wealth of material that recast the story in even more illuminating and chilling ways. For all of his brilliant achievement, however, the main accomplishment was his breaking free of the Manicheistic story of the Civil Rights Movement as a struggle between the evil white Southern segregationists and the good "new abolitionists" civil rights workers, mostly from the North, who came to the aid of the oppressed Southern black masses. As Charles Payne wonderfully puts it in the Foreword to Jeanne Theoharis and Komozi Woodward's collection of essays, Groundwork, Dittmer's "comprehensive knowledge of the 'factions' both within and between the black and white communities," his "giving respect to the multiple viewpoints," and his "complete rejection of the triumphalism that has traditionally dominated civil rights scholarship," sets a new and decisively high standard for Civil Rights historiography. In 1995, Charles Payne's work on the Mississippi Freedom Struggle took its place on the high bar set by John Dittmer. (2)

Theoharis and Woodward's collection of thirteen essays on local black freedom movements should build on the history that Dittmer reclaimed and which is one of the hallmarks of revisionist Civil Rights historiography; the role of local people and local communities in the struggle for civil rights over a long period. That long period or what Nikhil Pal Singh has called "the longue duree' sees the Civil Rights Movement starting as far back as the 1940s with World War II as a crucial backdrop. Even more so, that long period was heavily influenced by the emergent liberalism of the New Deal and the left radicalism of the popular Front in the late 1930s. (3)

Thus Michael Washington and Karen Miller's essays on the struggle for civil rights in Cincinnati, 1943-1953 and Detroit, 1940-1941, respectively, provides some rich and enlightening portraits of how local people came together and pressed for civil rights and social justice. Michael Washington captures the importance of this reclaiming of history when he writes:

       Significantly, in the absence of a single charismatic leader like
       King, Malcolm, or Huey, these seminal struggles in Cincinnati
       have escaped national attention. In Cincinnati it was unarmed
       local people, working through organizations and coalitions, and
       sometimes as individuals, who played decisive roles in creating
       and sustaining the push for civil rights. (216) (4)

Karen P. Miller's essay offers a sobering lesson in how a "civil rights community" is formed. Her essay also raises some disturbing questions that could be put to other pieces in this volume. Miller's article demonstrates that activities by the "civil rights community" were building up as a result of redlining in housing, segregation, police brutality, and school violence. Indeed, it was school violence that motivated and engineered the community into action. The white power establishment responded as long as pressure was exerted. When that pressure was lifted, however, the establishment ignored the community. Only when the Detroit riot of 1943 occurred did the mayor earnestly move to address race relations issues. But can the work of the "civil rights community" be considered a success if it takes the immense violence of a riot during wartime to get whites in power to respond? That is an issue that Miller does not discuss and perhaps should have.

In some respects local people's activities to gain social justice get obscured by misdirected focus, largely through the media. Brian Purnell captures this powerfully in his essay on Brooklyn CORE's 1964 stall-in at the beginning of the World's Fair in Flushing Meadows Park, Queens. (5) Purnell notes "few historians grapple ... with how the stall-in succeeded in demonstrating the power of ordinary people to influence and alter business as usual by merely threatening to shut down the city." (48) And yet the media tried to recast the "public discourse" of CORE's activity as one of violence. Purnell attempts to set the record straight by noting "with the stall-in, Brooklyn CORE planned to affect as many people as possible because of their belief that all members of society were responsible for maintaining racist structures and for eventually eradicating them."

Purnell's essay as well as Peter B. Levy's essay on Gloria Richardson's civil rights works in Cambridge, Maryland; Katherine Mellon Charron's piece on Septima Clark (who clearly deserves a full length biography); and Hasan Kwame Jeffries' work on the political radicalization of local people in Lowndes County, Alabama are true gems that rise to the standard set by John Dittmer.

Some of the essays in this volume show promise but ultimately disappoint. This especially true of Komozi Woodward's, "Message from the Grassroots: The Black Power Experiment in Newark, New Jersey." This should have been an interesting essay but it tends to ramble. And while there were certainly tensions between revolutionary nationalists and cultural nationalists, we do not get to see how that was played out in Newark.

Other essays provide jolts of joy and some cause exasperation. Emilye Crosby's, "God's Appointed Savior: Charles Evers' Use of Local Movements for National Stature", does not cast Evers in the most favorable light. Yet it is an honest and nicely crafted essay that shows Charles Evers (who is still alive) was a political opportunist who eventually found his true home in the conservative Republican Party. Tiyi Morris', "Local Women and the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi: Revisioning Woman Power Unlimited" makes strong and refreshing argument for a gendered analysis of the Civil Rights Movement. Her essay in this volume surely points the way for future studies, which should include the important roles that local women played in struggling for civil rights and social justice. Jeanne Theoharis's opening piece on Ruth Batson and the movement to integrate Boston's schools runs in the same vein. It should be noted that Theoharis's essay brilliantly sets the record straight on a chapter in Civil Rights history that has been maliciously distorted by the media and politicians.

A final essay that is joyful to read as well as educationally enriching is Patrick Jones', "Not a Color, but an Attitude: Father James Groppi and Black Power Politics in Milwaukee." This very good essay recaptures an important moment in Movement history that is often overlooked in the Civil Rights narratives. Jones demonstrates the complexity and the murky conditions under which civil rights-black power operated in the North. What is called for here, correctly, is a more nuanced dissection of the systemic forces that worked against the Civil Rights-Black Power Movement in the urban North.

That brings us to the exasperation and frustration with certain essays in this volume. In particular are the final two essays that focus on the Black Panther Party. Reynaldo Anderson's, "Practical Internationalists: the Story of the De Moines, Iowa Black Panther Party", and Robyn Ceanne Spencer's, "Inside the Panther Revolution: The Black Freedom Movement and the Black Panther Party of Oakland, California", are reflective of a recent trend that has seen a revival of a positive assessment of the Black Panther Party. That revival has come since the deaths of Eldridge Cleaver and co-founder of the party, Huey P. Newton in the 1990s and a strong critique of the BPP by Hugh Pearson. (6)

There is no doubt that the BPP represents local organizing at its best. The major difference between the Panthers organizing and the activities of most other local communities was the Panthers willingness to use violence, albeit in the name of self-defense. Their rhetoric was more likely to be more volatile than their actions. But when the rhetoric combined with a revolutionary ideology and a fondness for carrying carbines and pistols, local and national law enforcement was alarmed enough to lead to the inevitable and tragic confrontations and loss of black life.

But where the law enforcement agencies can be faulted for deadly over reaction (and certainly COINTELPRO must be condemned for its behavior overall if not for its very existence), the Panthers were not totally blame-free, Anderson's essay, more so than Spencer's, shows the fissures in the BPP that led to infighting and self-destructive actions.

The Black Panther Party is certainly an important part of the Civil Rights-Black Power struggle and the overall narrative of the Movement. However there is yet to be written a solid study of the Panthers that rises to the standards set by John Dittmer and Charles Payne. In the end, the Theoharis and Woodward collection, despite the disappointment of a few essays, is an excellent contribution to revisionist Civil Rights historiography. The best essays are deeply researched, well written, and rich in their analyses. Even the weaker essays have important insights that will be useful to scholars in the future.

While Theoharis and Woodward's volume looks at local people's activism in all the regions of the nation whether urban or rural and across classes, there is always an important place for the memoirs of those who have been active in their community.

John L. Driggins, recently deceased, spent over a decade collecting data on Corning, NY's African American community. Since I have been studying and researching the history of African Americans in the counties of Steuben (where Corning is located), Chemung, and Broome for over twenty-five years, I have come to rely greatly on and appreciate John Driggins' work, insights, and warm hospitality. It was John L. Driggins who exposed the disappearance of Harvey Street in the 1930s and, unwittingly, provided me with a central theme and concern about the history of blacks in this section of Upstate New York: the enshrouding of black people into invisibility. Thanks to Driggins' tireless efforts, that invisibility is becoming more and more visible.

A History of the Negro Community in Corning, NY can more accurately be described as a memoir than as a full history. To be sure there are many gems of knowledge here and Driggins did possess the sensibilities of a good historian. His use of sources: directories, court records, newspapers, church records, and the necessary interviews of long-standing black residents are very good. Driggins had a fine eye for geography and understood the importance of space in how Corning's black inhabitants saw themselves. Here again, noting that "because of prejudice and discrimination, the Negroes in this city lived in three distinct areas, not 'ghettos' in the traditional sense, but nonetheless areas 'beyond the pale' in which the bulk of the White citizens lived". (9) Driggins wonderfully sets up the intraracial class dimension in that occurred in the city. Even more important is Driggins' acute sense of what that dimension entailed. As he noted:

        The split among Negro groups was not just on the basis of
        "wealth," a term which can hardly be used when describing any of
        the three Negro communities. Part of it was sociological and
        reflected attitudes to be found among Whites as well as among
        Negroes. (7)

As a native of Corning, Driggins provides the reader with a vivid sense of what the black world was like in the early part of the twentieth century. He outlines the churches and their importance for the Negro community, and the importance of "Negro Holidays," particularly the one in August in Watkins Glen which celebrated Emancipation Day and which drew African Americans from all across the Southern Tier. These are but two precious historical nuggets that are sprinkled throughout this memoir.

The trained historian looking at a broader canvas soon realizes that African Americans in Upstate New York between 1890 and the present have created and sustained intricate networks through relatives, friends, churches, lodges, and events like the Negro Holidays that nurtured and unified them. Black people traveled between Bath (Steuben), Elmira, (Chemung), and Binghamton (Broome) visiting or catching cultural events. Driggins writes of driving his brother to Rochester to be with his mother while she was in the hospital. When one considers the lack of interstate highways that we have today it is truly remarkable the lengths to which black folks went to forge links with other black communities and to maintain them.

Oral interviews and close study of geographic and demographic patterns reveals that black communities in Upstate New York cities, towns, and rural environs were tight and unique in their own ways. Yet they could also come together in unity when necessary. I found this to be true with the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan in the Southern Tier. (8)

John Driggins provides another example in the case of Andrew Horton. Horton was a young migrant worker from Mississippi who was a material witness to a murder and was being unnecessarily held in jail. African Americans in Steuben County along with some whites petitioned the court for his release and raised money for his bail. This occurred in 1963 and caused the African American community to become more conscious of the Civil Rights Movement and its relation to them.

Driggin's story pretty much ends at this point. But there is certainly more to tell. The Civil Rights Movement and the ensuing Black Power Movement was definitely felt in Upstate cities such as Elmira, Corning, Rochester and Buffalo. How local African Americans responded to the Movement and what effect it had on the white community is a story yet to be unfolded. (9)

For now, historians of African Americans in Upstate New York are deeply indebted to John L. Driggins for his historical memoir. In an important and critical way he has uncovered and reclaimed an essential part of the history of Upstate New York: the integral presence and importance of African Americans.

(2) John Dittmer, Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1994) and Charles Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995.

(3) In talking about revisionist Civil Rights historiography, I am including the Black Power Movement. See Nikhil Pal Singh, Black is a Country: Race and the Unfinished Struggle for Democracy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004). This is a brilliant and important contribution to revisionist Civil Rights historiography.

(4) Michael Washington, "The Struggle of the Modern Civil Rights Movement in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1943-1953" and Karen P. Miller, "We Cannot Wait for Understanding to Come to Us": Community Activists Respond to Violence at Detroit's Northwestern High School, 1940-1941."

(5) Brian Purnell, "Drive Awhile for Freedom: Brooklyn CORE's 1964 Stall-in and Public Discourses on Protest Violence."

(6) Hugh Pearson, The Shadow of the Panther: Huey Newton and the Price of Black Power in America (New York: Addison Wesley, 1994). Pearson's book was actually a much-needed corrective. But for an original critique of the Panthers and the Black Power Movement see Julius Lester, "Cleaver, Carmichael, and The Politics of Black Liberation," in Dotson Rader, ed., Defiance 1 (New York: Paperback Library, 1970). An example of a recent positive assessment of the Panthers is Kathleen Cleaver and George Katsiaficas, eds, Liberation, Imagination, and the Black Panther Party: A New Look at the Panthers and Their Legacy (New York: Routledge, 2001).

(7) p. 10. Driggins use of the term "Negro" is because "since most of the story I will tell took place before 1960...." When that term was the formal one for black people. See page 7.

(8) See Charles Haley, "The Klan in Their Midst: The Ku Klux Klan in Upstate New York Communities," Afro-Americans in New York Life and History (7, 1, January 1983), 41-55.

(9) I have addressed this matter in a talk presented to the Federation of Historical Services Conference in Albany, NY on 15 September 1989. The essay has since been revised for publication. Charles Pete Banner-Haley, "Myths and Truths: The Impact of the Civil Rights Movement on Upstate African Americans."

Charles Pete Banner Haley (1)

(1) Charles Pete Banner-Haley is an Associate Professor of History at Colgate University.