A Ghetto Takes Shape - Book Report/Review Example

A Ghetto Takes Shape A Ghetto Takes Shape is written by Kenneth Kusmer. This book is an historical account of Black Cleveland from the 19th century to the early 20th century. It covers the great migration and the importance is on the city which was long neglected by historians. The book is known to be the best of its kind outlining the formation of a black ghetto in the urban areas. It is a mixture of the African-American history and the urban development. Kusmer beautifully presents the case study of the modern black community with rich details and thoughtful construction of statistical and methodological data. This paper will present a critical review of the book in regard to the strengths, weaknesses, evaluation of data, the author’s representation of the topic, and conclusions made. The paper will analyze the summary and review of the book overall on the basis of which recommendations can be made. The leader of Cleveland said in 1865 that “an indication of the civilized spirit of the city of Cleveland is found in the fact that colored children attend our school, colored people are permitted to attend all public lectures and public affairs where the fashion and culture of the city congregate, and nobody is offended”. By 1915, the city had a huge number of black populations housed in cheap lodgings and deteriorating homes which were conditions inferior to other areas of the city (Kusmer 56). Kusmer has overall discussed the position of the African Americans in the social order present in the community. The position of blacks is compared with the position of native whites and immigrants in urban areas whereas the development of the urban ghetto is placed in the book as urban history context. Kusmer has also compared the urban setting of Cleveland with that of other major cities including Chicago, Boston, and New York. He has highlighted the differences that were present within the black communities. Through these evaluations and analyses Kusmer proves that the emergence of the black ghettos, their causes and their effects are serious historical problems and were never given as much recognition as these issues should have gotten. The emergence of the ghetto in Cleveland overall took more than 50 years and it resulted in the isolation of the black citizens from their general lives in urban communities. However, Kusmer has concluded that this isolation was the factor that ignited the sense of needs and goals that had to be addressed to help the black community to regain its unity as citizens. This isolation also provided the blacks a practical basis for their future struggle against discrimination in all expressions. Kusmer has systematically provided the account of the development of Cleveland in 1920s specifically focusing on the black community. The book systematically reviews the surveys and analyses how the ghetto emerged in the city. The book has covered some major aspects of the black life which includes political, social, economic, and cultural areas which are more than any other book has ever presented. The book provides a detailed structure of the life of blacks in the urban community of Cleveland and the range of available black occupations. The book also uses many manuscript collections of local organizations and black leaders (Kusmer 57). The main purpose of Kusmer to write this book is to give historic attention to the development of the ghetto. He believes that slavery and the development of the ghetto are the two most significant events in the history of African Americans. However, slavery has long been a topic for debate of many scholars since decades but the development of the ghetto is a phenomenon which hasn’t received historic attention or as much significance as it should have. This book is Kusmer’s effort to give this phenomenon some historic significance and mark the ways it has influenced and changed the position of the African Americans (Kusmer 57). Kusmer has strongly and critically fulfilled his purpose of writing this book as it is known to be the best book of its kind. The book has fulfilled the expectations of the reader and went beyond as it covers a wide range of responses and case studies that are systematically presented. The book does not only focus on the black communities of Cleveland but also on the black communities of other cities. The method of comparing and contrasting the position and place of African Americans allows readers to understand and make their stand on the data given. The sources that the author has used are the best part about this book. Since it’s a comparative study it includes the data from a wide range of sources to provide evaluations and descriptions. The sources used are impressive and exemplary which help the reader to understand this comprehensive historical study in a better way. The book extends its sources to the analysis of other cities as well as revision of broader studies by other theorists such as Franklin. The sources mentioned are used for exploring all aspects of black life including experiences of women. These case studies are taken from primary sources and thus are impactful on the readers (Kusmer 86). The facts used from the different sources add up to form the comparative study that Kusmer has efficiently chosen. The comparisons made and sources used fulfil the main aim of Kusmer which is to trace all aspects of the lives of African Americans such as economic, social, political, and cultural in one city; Cleveland, over a time period of over 50 years, and finally shows how these factors combined to relate integrally to the development of the black ghetto in Cleveland. Kusmer adds up all the information and data collected from primary and secondary sources; quantitative and qualitative, to present the relationship they have in the development of the ghetto (Kusmer 89). Perhaps, this is the best book written on the comprehensive comparative historic account of the development of the ghetto. The book includes so many points and facts which prove that why and how Cleveland was deviated from the activities that were happening elsewhere. The author does not leave the happenings of other cities a vague discussion; this book presents the details of the other side as well. The book does not only talk about the issues in Cleveland but also talks about the black communities elsewhere. Thus, if the specific purpose of this book is considered, the author has excellently put together all the sources and comparative studies to form a book with suitable and convincible conclusions. The book greatly clarifies the reader’s urban black experience. There is however no possibility that some other author’s work might contradict the information and data collected by Kusmer. There is a possibility that other historians may have different views and conclusions to make about the development of the ghetto and might have a different perspective; but the collection of information and data is unquestionable. Kusmer has ensured that the reader truly understands the African-American urban experience by including many main points in the book. These are the strengths of the book which make the book a strong research and study. The main strength of the book is the comparative analysis technique that the author has used to specify the urban experience in Cleveland. The study is also comprehensible because it shows the changing white attitudes towards the blacks with the development of the urban community in Cleveland. Kusmer has compared many points to make the urban experience clearer for the readers; these points include the comparison of the position in the social order of blacks with other native whites and immigrants. The book also systematically traces the urban growth of black communities before the Great Migration. Moreover, the strength is the representation and discussion of the black leadership and other black organizations in the society which have been influential in the development of Cleveland (Kusmer 80). There are many issues discussed in the book including social, economic, political, and cultural. The black communities are discussed in regard of their efforts, their leadership, their unity, their struggles, their communities, and so on. These issues are addressed quite clearly by the author as he compares all the aspects of the black experience to the whites and immigrants. Addressing these issues successfully has led to the causes and consequences of the black community experience. One of the major weaknesses of this book is that the author seems to be continuously in a number of thoughts in order to explain the issue and develop the reader’s urban experience. Since the historical aspects of the black communities had always been varying, the author has struggled throughout the book to present a detailed structure of the African-American history as well as the development of the black community in Cleveland. The author has addressed all the issues of this book with great sensibility and focus on the opposing views as well. The opposing viewpoints of all other theorists and historians have been challenged and adequately refuted in this book (Kusmer 89). The book is a discussion of a specific type of subject which is the history of black community in Cleveland using a comparative technique. The author has talked about the subject of black community in Cleveland but we cannot say that the book is specified to the African-American history. The historical account that the author has discussed includes the comparison of blacks from immigrants and white natives. This includes the discussion of the white natives as well as the ideologies of other historians. The book talks about a specific subject but it includes many aspects which make it a book with various topics and aspects. The book talks about the African-American communities in Cleveland which were formed in the city ever since the city transformed and were an important part of the city. However, this topic may be effective to understand the history of blacks and the development of their communities but today Cleveland has lost half of its black population who have migrated to other suburban areas. Cleveland consists of a wide range of ethnic groups which includes blacks as well but not as much as they were (Kusmer 132). However, the book is a complete historic account of the history of African-Americans in Cleveland and how they developed their communities. The black communities were discussed using economic, social, political, and cultural perspectives which were very important in order to understand the detailed factors. I would strongly recommend this book as it completely describes the history of African-Americans in comparison of other historians and white natives or immigrants. The book is a perfectly written book with a strong impact on the reader. Work Cited Kusmer, Kenneth. A Ghetto Takes Shape: Black Cleveland, 1870-1930 (Blacks in the New World). USA: University of Illinois Press, 1978. Print. Read More