Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Politics and Society in Modern America, 75)

In her book published in 2000, legal historian Mary Dudziak, currently teaching at Emory Law school, focuses on the effects of the cold war on the civil rights movement. Her argument is that while in some ways the cold war era is one of repression, it is also an era of which the civil rights movement is a product. Furthermore, not only does it produce the civil rights movement, the cold war also acts to frame and limit the nations commitment to this movement. Finally, by addressing civil rights reform, the federal government engages in an effort to shape the story into one of triumph, a story of “good over evil, a story of U.S. moral superiority.” (5-6)Dudziak uses a plethora of primary and secondary sources to craft her work, and these include State Department archives, the Congressional record and (amongst others) the presidential papers of Lyndon Johnson. In at least two ways her work represents a transnational approach, as she works hard to show the effects of international pressure and opinion on the civil rights movement and she shows how events in the US play overseas, thus making her work a fine example of transnational history.Speaking of transnational history, Dudziak's work is a fine example of this, and goes a long way to helping understand the effect the cold war has on the civil rights movement. Her narrative style is easy to follow, something which is not always the case when written by legal historians, and this book is useful to both the specialist and the novice. One area of criticism is that she does not address why Moscow changes its tactics and seems to drop criticism of American racism. Russian criticism of the US is an important part of her book, so not addressing the change in strategy seems a bit odd. Another criticism of this work could be that it is very traditional in its approach, in that it is very top down and does not include much from the point of view of women and other groups that are overlooked in traditional historical writings. This is true, however, her point is to write a traditional diplomatic history of the cold war, looking at "big players" and their effects on the world. Otherwise, the book is one which is a great addition to the historiography of both the civil rights movement and the cold war. As I said, it is easy to read and I highly recommend it if you are interested in the Cold War and it's effects on the Civil Rights Movement.

Had to read it for history class and didn’t couldn’t put it down, it goes into heavy detail of the aspect of civil rights in respect to the Cold War

Mary L. Dudziak argues that during the Cold War era, American empire -- cloaked in the false narrative of a plural, democratic, and capitalist America -- shaped and was shaped by its domestic racial politics. As Dudziak demonstrates, Civil Rights Movement gains and fervor had political and social repercussions for the emerging narrative of America as democratic beacon. The 1954 Brown v. Board decision, for example, stood as a foreign relations concern due to the direct challenge that Jim Crow offered to so-called "American" democracy. Moreover, by primarily using newspapers, Dudziak shows the transnational significance of the Civil Rights Movement and the ways in which Movement ideas and peoples continually struggled "over the narrative of race" in civil rights era America (252). Although Dudziak makes plain the transit of American racialism, her reliance on social politics clouds what was also at stake: global markets. It would have been helpful for Dudziak to discuss US business interests and the economic, imperial stakes in the management of US democratic identity abroad. In this way, political economy takes a back seat to discourse, perhaps downplaying what race would also come to mean with the rise of the postwar Global South. Either way, Dudziak provides yet another layer to how the traditional Civil Rights Movement unfolded.

I was at first bored about the subject matter. I had to read it for a college class, and I had learned about civil rights and the cold war COUNTLESS times before. So I was immediately bored.BUT, BUTBut, this book really opened up my eyes to how everything at this age connected together! I always learned about the cold war and civil rights differently. They were two different stages in history, two very different topics, that each had their own exams. But this book did an EXCELLENT job putting it all together! I now see history as a web of events, all of which effect one another. This book showed me how much civil rights and the cold war had to do with each other. I actually learned a lot, and it wasn't a dry read at all. I liked it.

I bought this book for a graduate history class. As I began to write my paper for the class and got to the first citation i noticed that there are no page numbers. The other kindle books that I have bought have page numbers that correspond to the hard copy, but not this one. When I did some research I found that some e-books are paginated others aren't. Nothing to do but find a hard copy, which considering that its Sunday and the local library is closed not much chance of finding a hard copy. Very frustrating.Now. The book is very well written, enjoyable and informative. I encourage everyone who wants to understand the Civil Rights movement in the broader context to read it.

Dudziak provides a refreshing look at the early civil rights movement. Focusing on the international effects of racial tensions in the mid twentieth century. This allows the reader to gain better perspective on the events of the civil rights movement in the United States.

I initially borrowed this book from a professor that I was working with on my honors thesis. After reading it, I had to purchase my own copy. I never realized how interconnected the cold war and civil rights were. This book is truly eye-opening.

I purchased this book for my daughter who was required to read it for her summer reading.She enjoyed the book.