Black Leadership in America by John White - Essay Example

? Book Summary By Book Summary John White. Black Leadership in America. (New York: Longman Publishing Group, 1990). John White explores African-American experiences right from slave era, and as such, it is a modest work that is limited in extent. The book is somewhat a synthesis and explication reflection of famous black leaders of the 19 and 20th century (White, 1990, p.3). Thus, the book seeks to mirror the credence of twentieth century black leaders with national and global recognition, only reasoned their communities’ struggles, through the eye of prevalent and commonly incessant white racism. However, the text deals succinctly and methodically with African-American leadership history, as well as their individual biographies, such as detailed information about their education, early career progress and their views on Pan-Africanism. As a whole, the book offers a rock-solid and informative survey, in addition to assessing contribution of noteworthy personalities like Booker T. Washington, Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., and Marcus Garvey. Notably, the book comprises discussions which deal with significant works of black female political plus cultural leaders, such as Harriet Tubman, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Ida B. Wells. Especially due to their critical strategies that were meant to show defiance to the existing black leadership arrangement. The introductory chapter centers on problems faced by blacks and their leaders during the 19th century. The chapter is then followed by separate chapters dealing with key African American leaders from slavery to more contemporary Jesse Jackson period, but with a focus on their philosophies and works in achieving their rights. White expounds that during pre and post slavery struggle for racial equality, economic freedom, civil and political rights, the greatest anomalies within the black community have been the often limited prospects they have had in choosing their own leaders. The text also reveals that even though African Americans leaders had a common ideological continuity association, figures like Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington and W. E. B Du Bois were at the outset propelled into the public eye by their white supporters. In particular, the support offered by Andrew Carnegies, Samuel C. Armstrong and President Theodore Roosevelt in propelling their views (White, 1990, p.12). White goes on to argue that even those black leaders who owed their rise to their communities, were later perceived by some whites as heads of their particular interest group, especially Marcus Garvey and Martin Luther King Jr. The notion he brings about is that no matter what their ideological or otherwise physiological features are, these leaders historically relied on both white and black recognitions, so as to justify their champion for African Americans rights. For instance, White insists that they were denied access to centre of power and main political parties, since they were accorded strenuous and often vulnerable positions within their own race and immediate white communities, in what he refers to as self-styled exemplars (White, 1990, p.2). For instance, in chapter two which discusses Booker T. Washington leadership style, White argues that Washington formed and used his unique personal qualities, so as to remove his community lesser caste status. Washington just like Frederick Douglass believed in industrial education for Negroes, and it is apparent that both men supported the mainly white middle class qualities of prudence, temperance, education and capital buildup prior to achieving political right. To White, Washington had expressed and executed realistic initiatives aimed at racial advancement. When it comes to W. E. B Du Bois legacy, White professes that he was an avid enthusiast of vocational education strategies introduced by Mary Bethune. Moreover, Du Bois has been categorized as a talented propagandist. However, his leadership lacked followers from the community. Nonetheless he argues that Du Bois focus was more on economic advancement (White, 1990, p.65). The text reveals that Du Bois used race-based pleas, even though some of the outcomes of his appeals were passes and even counterproductive. But, ultimately, Du Bois has been a fundamental source of inspiration for black leaders, particularly the inspiration coming from his work “The Soul of Black Folk”, whereby Du Bois insisted that it is important for the community to be both Negro and American without being cursed or spit on by fellow countrymen (White, 1990, p.55). White agrees with Du Bois that black leaders have argued continuously about their priorities for attaining fundamental rights enshrined in the 14th Amendment, that the outcomes have mostly been mixed. Marcus Garvey who has been recognized as an Jamaican Messiah, has been defined as providing a leadership role that is complicated to define, since the struggle for leadership became scarce (White, 1990, p.97). White view on Martin Luther King is mixed and rather surprising. He brings out King as being deplored the limitations of his predecessors, particularly Washington, Marcus Garvey and Du Bois, since they only focused on admission of African culture and antecedent rather than fighting for civil rights (White, 1990, p.139). Therefore, the text rather brings out the changing connotations of major concepts within the community, such as civil rights, integration, and segregation or as though the leadership had restricted options. The final section of the book provides the life and profession of Jesse Jackson, and White insists that Jesse Jackson Leadership style mostly overplays the race issue when it comes to directions, and he was trying to be similar to Martin Luther King, while appearing to be a novice of most of the pioneer black leaders like Marcus Garvey or Booker T Washington (White, 1990, p.185). The text handles prominent African Americans like Washington, Du Bois, Malcolm X and Dr King with a preface glance, since it relies for the most part on secondary sources with no critical assessment. More emphasis has been placed on the goals of black protest movement as perceived by their influential leaders, participants with a little emphasis on their critics. Moreover, the observations in the book pay some interest to contentions, such as local community issues of blacks not being analogous to those of nationally renowned protest movements, like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people or the National Urban league (White, 1990, p.12). In addition, the book mentions the interactions involving these leaders’ racial philosophies. Those mentioned comprise famous heads of civil rights organizations, writers, major city mayors, scholars, and lawmakers. There is just too much quotations from secondary source, even in some cases at length making them too uncritical for contemporary judgment and examination. John White argues that all of African American leaders have been simply followed, instead of just articulating their mind-set and burden of their communities. That is why when most of them have been advancing, or at odds with their communities, they tend to be secluded and even some facing criticisms arising from other contending or wannabe black leaders. The familiar premise for the text is that African American leadership has been always at a crossroad. One can conclude that even though the text focuses on every leader origin, as well as thoughts, the author has paid little attention to their critic’s views and their failings. This is because a book of this magnitude needs to be a constructive suggestion text, rather than a biography collection on the extensive and often controversial history black leadership. However, the text can be classified as a significant piece of synthesis, along with being a combined biography, that lightens up with several first-person quotations. The text is ideal for any person or student interested in US history, politics, and sociology, especially in relation to race relations. The text also reveals numerous pathways to black leadership, whereby some of the leaders rose from enslavement, middleclass professions like ministry or journalism, and most significantly from the media. On the whole, in spite of their socioeconomic status, profession and political ideology, the black leaders evaluated in the text had one common mission, and this had been to speak on behalf of their speechless communities and then work persistently to augment their fortunes. Read More