A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life by
Between the eighteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, countless African Americans passed as white, leaving behind families and friends, roots and community. It was, as Allyson Hobbs writes, a chosen exile, a separation from one racial identity and the leap into another. This revelatory history of passing explores the possibilities and challenges that racial indeterminacy presented to men and women living in a country obsessed with racial distinctions. It also tells a tale of loss. As racial relations in America have evolved so has the significance of passing. To pass as white in the antebellum South was to escape the shackles of slavery. After emancipation, many African Americans came to regard passing as a form of betrayal, a selling of one's birthright. When the initially hopeful period of Reconstruction proved short-lived, passing became an opportunity to defy Jim Crow and strike out on one's own. Although black Americans who adopted white identities reaped benefits of expanded opportunity and mobility, Hobbs helps us to recognize and understand the grief, loneliness, and isolation that accompanied-and often outweighed-these rewards. By the dawning of the civil rights era, more and more racially mixed Americans felt the loss of kin and community was too much to bear, that it was time to "pass out" and embrace a black identity. Although recent decades have witnessed an increasingly multiracial society and a growing acceptance of hybridity, the problem of race and identity remains at the center of public debate and emotionally fraught personal decisions.
Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by
A New York Times Notable Book of 2020 The first book to explore the historical role and residual impact of the Green Book, a travel guide for black motorists used for decades when traveling through segregated America. Published from 1936 to 1966, the Green Book was hailed as the "black travel guide to America." At that time, it was both dangerous and difficult for African Americans to travel, because black travelers couldn't eat, sleep, or buy gas at most white-owned businesses. The Green Book listed hotels, restaurants, gas stations, and other businesses that were safe for black travelers. It was a resourceful and innovative solution to a horrific problem. Candacy Taylor writes in her introduction, "The Green Book was published during a time when car travel symbolized freedom in America, but since racial segregation was in full force throughout the country, the open road wasn't open to all. When black motorists picked up a copy of the Green Book, they were greeted by the words 'Just What You Have Been Looking For!! NOW WE CAN TRAVEL WITHOUT EMBARRASSMENT.'" Chapters in her book Overground Railroad include: Driving While Black The Business of the Green Book Vacation Music Venues The Roots of Route 66 Women and the Green Book And more! It took courage to be listed in the Green Book, and Overground Railroad celebrates the stories of those who put their names in the book and stood up against segregation. It shows the history of the Green Book, how we arrived at our present historical moment, and how far we still have to go when it comes to race relations in America.
Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance by
From the music of Louis Armstrong to the portraits by Beauford Delaney, the writings of Langston Hughes to the debut of the musical Show Boat, the Harlem Renaissance is one of the most significant developments in African-American history in the twentieth century. The Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance, in two-volumes and over 635 entries, is the first comprehensive compilation of information on all aspects of this creative, dynamic period. For a full list of entries, contributors, and more, visit the Encyclopedi a of Harlem Renaissance website.
Harlem Renaissance by
Outstanding, in-depth scholarship by renowned literary critics; great starting point for students seeking an introduction to the theme and the critical discussions surrounding it. Critical Insights: Harlem Renaissance presents the period of unparallel growth in art and literature from the African American Community, also known as the Harlem Renaissance. With its production of key authors, from Langston Hughes to Claude McKay, among others, the Harlem Renaissance saw the rise in creative endeavors by black artists and writers eager to celebrate the unique characteristics of black life and to challenge the institutionalized racial hierarchy pervasive within twentieth-century American society. These creative thinkers, certainly intellectuals in their own right, used their poetry, short stories, novels, and plays as a vehicle to critique the longstanding issues within society that limited socioeconomic mobility for blacks, while perpetuating startling stereotypes about a community too long oppressed. Because of its undeniable impact in shaping the American cultural imagination regarding blacks and on the larger American literary canon, the Harlem Renaissance has since been heavily studied as the most significant period of artistic as well as cultural development the African American community has ever experienced. This title seeks to offer not only expanded readings of the central themes that have long captivated the attention of scholars across time, but also providing valuable insight into the texts, authors, and critical perspectives too often overlooked. Each essay is 2,500 to 5,000 words in length, and all essays conclude with a list of ""Works Cited,"" along with endnotes. Finally, the volume's appendixes offer a section of useful reference resources: About This Volume; Critical Context: Original Introductory Essays; Critical Readings: Original In-Depth Essays; Further Readings; Detailed Bibliography; Detailed Bio of the Editor; General Subject Index.
Passing Interest: Racial Passing in US Novels, Memoirs, Television, and Film, 1990-2010 by
Explores how the trope of racial passing continues to serve as a touchstone for gauging public beliefs and anxieties about race in this multiracial era.
Encyclopedia of Race and Racism by
In more than 1, 800 pages of alphabetical entries, each ranging from 500 to 12, 000 words, The Encyclopedia Of Race And Racism, 2nd Edition, provides critical information and context on the underlying social, economic, geographical, and political conditions that gave rise to, and continue to foster, racism. Religion, political economy, social activism, health, concepts, and constructs are explored. Given the increasingly diverse population of the United States and the rapid effects of globalization, as well as mass and social media, the issue of race in world affairs, history, and culture is of preeminent importance. This work is designed to bring vetted and accessible facts and analysis to experts and students as well as lay readers.
Jim Crow Laws by
This disquieting yet important book describes the injustices, humiliations, and brutalities inflicted on African Americans in a racist culture that was created--and protected--by the forces of law and order. Jim Crow Laws presents the history of the discriminatory laws that segregated people by race in the American South from the end of the Civil War through passage of the 1965 Civil Rights Act. To paint a true picture of these deplorable restrictions, this book provides a detailed analysis of the creation, defense, justification, and fight against the Jim Crow system. Among the subjects covered here are the origins of legal inequality for African Americans in the aftermath of the Civil War; the role of the U.S. Supreme Court in weakening constitutional protections against discrimination established in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments; the white justification of segregation; and the extreme brutality of Jim Crow's defenders. Equally important, readers will learn about the psychological, political, social, and economic costs endured by the victims of Jim Crow inequality, as well as about the motivations, rejections, and successes faced by those who stood against these abominations. Primary source documents, including Supreme Court decisions and W.E.B DuBois's 1947 "Statement on the Denial of Human Rights to Minorities in the Case of Citizens of Negro Descent in the United States of America and an Appeal to the United Nations for Redress" A chronology of events concerning the legalization of discrimination in the era of Jim Crow, 1865-1965 A glossary of key terms related to Jim Crow laws, court decisions, and culture An annotated bibliography of significant books from history, sociology, psychology, and political science relating to Jim Crow
"Gale Academic OneFile Database Search" (4:13) by Sandburg Library is licensed under CC BY.
"Introduction to EBSCOhost - Tutorial" (4:17) is by EBSCO Tutorials.
EBSCOhost provides a number of databases, and most work in the way the video shows. However, there may be different filters to narrow your results between the databases provided by EBSCOhost.
"Searching the JSTOR Database" (6:08; video clip starts at 0:24) by Pace University Library
"Literature Resource Center" (starts at 1:01 and ends at 5:46) is by
Take the Merced College Library's "Using OneSearch" tutorial independently to learn how to use various aspects of OneSearch.
In this 30-minute tutorial, you will learn how to:
You can take the tutorial as often as you'd like, and you can also download a PDF certificate of completion with your name, score, and timestamp.