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A review by oldsouls_lovebooks
A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History by Jeanne Theoharis
3.0
"White America came to embrace King in the same way that most white South Africans came to accept Nelson Mandela–grudgingly and gratefully, retrospectively, selectively, without grace but with considerable guile. By the time they realised that their dislike of him was spent and futile, he had created a world in which admiring him was in their own self-interest. Because, in short, they had no choice."- Gary Younge
This book is very informative in regards to particular moments in the Civil Rights Movement, both in the Jim Crow South and North, however, I feel it was too repetitive. I find that certain authors of nonfiction books repeat themselves in order to simply extend the page count otherwise it won't be considered as much of a definitive text. In that regard, the book rehashed many things said previously especially in one chapter in particular where it felt more like a recap of everything said in the previous ones. I also wish it delved more into what the title suggests, The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History. Examples of this misuse was interspersed throughout but not as much as I was expecting. I imagined far more specific contemporary examples of this and then a debunking with historical fact, but unfortunately, I found more examples of this said in the introduction than the rest of the chapters. The examples of hypocrisy, whitewashing, revision, and co-option done by Mike Huckabee, Trump, Ted Cruz, Obama, Clinton, Reagan, Bush, etc. were more prevalent in the preface and introduction than the entirety of the text.
I don't want to overstate though, it did give examples of how the Civil Rights Movement as well as other forms of Black Liberation struggles are used against current activists and progressive movements that are simply continuing the fight against imperialism, militarism, racism, capitalist exploit, the surveillance state, and de-funding of welfare programs. Theoharis quotes Obama from his March on Washington anniversary speech to show the way in which he and others paint Civil Rights and Black Power as diametrically opposed in order to suggest only one was about racial and economic justice. This is then used to denigrate current movements as also not being in the spirit of the "respectable" Civil Rights. She also highlights the way in which the news media helped and harmed movements. She points to how John Lewis praises the bravery of journalists going out and reporting on what was happening in the South, despite the fact that they often had a different tune when it came to protests in the North. The beginnings of the "inner city" and "be more like King" narratives that are thrown at BLM today had already begun to take root in the era of King ironically.
Despite my critiques this book is still worth the read and I did discover new information. For example, I didn't realize the movie The Butler did much to paint a respectability narrative that wasn't an entirely accurate depiction of Eugene Allen's life. The movie gives him two sons: the one who dies in Vietnam (true) and the one who becomes a Black Panther much to his dismay (false). The son who represents the "scary" radical isn't real. "By the film's end, Louis rejects the Panthers' "violence" for more "reasonable" electoral politics and "respectable" women. While Black Power is rendered as dangerous youthful naivete, war is treated as patriotic. Charlie attends Howard University... and he enlists in the army at a time when protest movement among Black soldiers was rising and Black anticolonialism was burgeoning–yet none of this is depicted."
I also had no idea Harry Belafonte was disinvited to Coretta Scott King's funeral in 2006 because he, along with her and Rosa Parks, were highly critical of the war. Once President Bush was expected to come to the funeral it was seen as better to not have Belafonte present despite being one of the Kings' most closest comrades. That is just one example of how they began to slowly quiet and neuter the message of those large figures like Coretta Scott King, especially once they were no longer around to speak out against them, and those that had their back were excluded from having a seat at the table even when it was simply to grieve and say goodbye.
This book is very informative in regards to particular moments in the Civil Rights Movement, both in the Jim Crow South and North, however, I feel it was too repetitive. I find that certain authors of nonfiction books repeat themselves in order to simply extend the page count otherwise it won't be considered as much of a definitive text. In that regard, the book rehashed many things said previously especially in one chapter in particular where it felt more like a recap of everything said in the previous ones. I also wish it delved more into what the title suggests, The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History. Examples of this misuse was interspersed throughout but not as much as I was expecting. I imagined far more specific contemporary examples of this and then a debunking with historical fact, but unfortunately, I found more examples of this said in the introduction than the rest of the chapters. The examples of hypocrisy, whitewashing, revision, and co-option done by Mike Huckabee, Trump, Ted Cruz, Obama, Clinton, Reagan, Bush, etc. were more prevalent in the preface and introduction than the entirety of the text.
I don't want to overstate though, it did give examples of how the Civil Rights Movement as well as other forms of Black Liberation struggles are used against current activists and progressive movements that are simply continuing the fight against imperialism, militarism, racism, capitalist exploit, the surveillance state, and de-funding of welfare programs. Theoharis quotes Obama from his March on Washington anniversary speech to show the way in which he and others paint Civil Rights and Black Power as diametrically opposed in order to suggest only one was about racial and economic justice. This is then used to denigrate current movements as also not being in the spirit of the "respectable" Civil Rights. She also highlights the way in which the news media helped and harmed movements. She points to how John Lewis praises the bravery of journalists going out and reporting on what was happening in the South, despite the fact that they often had a different tune when it came to protests in the North. The beginnings of the "inner city" and "be more like King" narratives that are thrown at BLM today had already begun to take root in the era of King ironically.
Despite my critiques this book is still worth the read and I did discover new information. For example, I didn't realize the movie The Butler did much to paint a respectability narrative that wasn't an entirely accurate depiction of Eugene Allen's life. The movie gives him two sons: the one who dies in Vietnam (true) and the one who becomes a Black Panther much to his dismay (false). The son who represents the "scary" radical isn't real. "By the film's end, Louis rejects the Panthers' "violence" for more "reasonable" electoral politics and "respectable" women. While Black Power is rendered as dangerous youthful naivete, war is treated as patriotic. Charlie attends Howard University... and he enlists in the army at a time when protest movement among Black soldiers was rising and Black anticolonialism was burgeoning–yet none of this is depicted."
I also had no idea Harry Belafonte was disinvited to Coretta Scott King's funeral in 2006 because he, along with her and Rosa Parks, were highly critical of the war. Once President Bush was expected to come to the funeral it was seen as better to not have Belafonte present despite being one of the Kings' most closest comrades. That is just one example of how they began to slowly quiet and neuter the message of those large figures like Coretta Scott King, especially once they were no longer around to speak out against them, and those that had their back were excluded from having a seat at the table even when it was simply to grieve and say goodbye.