Class, Race, and the Civil Rights Movement: The Changing Political Economy of Southern Racism

There are hundreds of books on this era, and they all cover the same core topics -- Montgomery bus boycott, SCLC, SNCC, Black Power, ghetto revolts, etc. Bloom's book stands out from the rest, however, because of its razor-sharp class analysis in the first half of the book, called "The Changing Political Economy of Racism." Bloom begins after the Civil War, when the southern landowners need to replace the old slave-based economy with a new economy, and a new ruling class. From this vantage point he picks apart the shifting allegiances of ruling bodies, and the deliberate use of racist ideology to prevent political unrest.In the book's second half, "The Black Movement," all the familiar events are there, but they flow more clearly because of Bloom's historical set-up. Bloom is not a Marxist, but this book is a marvelous example of how a materialist class analysis can be used to better understand history. The analysis is not shallow or deterministic, but it clearly shows that white workers have nothing to gain by clinging to racist prejudices.Bloom isn't sure what kind of activism will bring black liberation, but his book helps us answer that question. It is essential reading for those who want to learn from the past and build the movements of the future.