A Covenant With Color Race and Social Power in Brooklyn
- Binding: Paperback
- Publisher: Columbia Univ Pr
- Publish date: 01/01/2001
Description:
Spanning three centuries of Brooklyn history from the colonial period to the present, "A Covenant with Color" exposes the intricate relations of dominance and subordination that have long characterized the relative social positions of white and black Brooklynites. Craig Steven Wilder -examining both quantitative and qualitative evidence and utilizing cutting-edge literature on race theory -demonstrates how ideas of race were born, how they evolved, and how they were carried forth into contemporary society.
In charting the social history of one of the nations oldest urban locales, Wilder contends that power relations -in all their complexity -are the starting point for understanding Brooklyns turbulent racial dynamics. He spells out the workings of power -its manipulation of resources, whether in the form of unfree labor, privileges of citizenship, better jobs, housing, government aid, or access to skilled trades. Wilder deploys an extraordinary spectrum of evidence to illustrate the mechanics of power that have kept African American Brooklynites in subordinate positions: from letters and diaries to family papers of Kings Countys slaveholders, from tax records to the public archives of the Home Owners Loan Corporation.
Wilder illustrates his points through a variety of cases, including banking interests, the rise of Kings Countys colonial elite, industrialization and slavery, race-based distribution of federal money in jobs, and mortgage loans during and after the Depression. He delves into the evolution of the Brooklyn ghetto, tracing how housing segregation corralled African Americans in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The book explores colonial enslavement, the rise of Jim Crow, labordiscrimination and union exclusion, and educational inequality. Throughout, Wilder uses Brooklyn as a lens through which to view larger issues of race and power on a national level.
One of the few recent attempts to provide a comprehensive history of race relations in an American city, "A Covenant with Color" is a major contribution to urban history and the history of race and class in America.
Expand description
In charting the social history of one of the nations oldest urban locales, Wilder contends that power relations -in all their complexity -are the starting point for understanding Brooklyns turbulent racial dynamics. He spells out the workings of power -its manipulation of resources, whether in the form of unfree labor, privileges of citizenship, better jobs, housing, government aid, or access to skilled trades. Wilder deploys an extraordinary spectrum of evidence to illustrate the mechanics of power that have kept African American Brooklynites in subordinate positions: from letters and diaries to family papers of Kings Countys slaveholders, from tax records to the public archives of the Home Owners Loan Corporation.
Wilder illustrates his points through a variety of cases, including banking interests, the rise of Kings Countys colonial elite, industrialization and slavery, race-based distribution of federal money in jobs, and mortgage loans during and after the Depression. He delves into the evolution of the Brooklyn ghetto, tracing how housing segregation corralled African Americans in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The book explores colonial enslavement, the rise of Jim Crow, labordiscrimination and union exclusion, and educational inequality. Throughout, Wilder uses Brooklyn as a lens through which to view larger issues of race and power on a national level.
One of the few recent attempts to provide a comprehensive history of race relations in an American city, "A Covenant with Color" is a major contribution to urban history and the history of race and class in America.
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