The Struggle for Black Equality

Primary sources are scarce here and barely appear in the bibliographical essay , though this does not appear to weaken his case that the movement strove for laudable goals and achieved considerably but incomplete progress . He demonstrates sympathy for the activists , especially when the movement entered its most dangerous phase , when its struggles against Jim Crow brutality demanded considerable moral and mental courage

Also , he offers a clear , balanced understanding of key figures like Martin Luther King , whom he depicts as an initially sheltered intellectual who matured into a brave , inspirational leader

. Sitkoff is critical , though , of SNCC 's militancy , which increased after 1965 and resulted in a kind of counter-racism that alienated both the white activists who took considerable risks and much of the white mainstream He notes that SNCC became inexplicably extremist . both unamenable to reasonable compromise and ungrateful for real concessions (185

Sitkoff 's arguments take a moderate stance and are conventional from the current point of view , though they are persuasive and indeed reflect current views of the civil rights movement . He depicts King 's evolution from a bookish , somewhat green young preacher to a major leader , while more militant leaders , like Stokely Carmichael and H . Rap Brown , receive both less space and far less empathy for what Sitkoff implies was their negative , divisive effects on a movement the author considers noble and long overdue . In addition , Sitkoff 's prose is clear and accessible , presenting a considerable amount of information without making the work dense , wordy , or dull

Though not an extremely deep or detailed work , The Struggle for Black Equality is a readable , highly useful overview of a movement that , like Reconstruction a century before , strove to attain justice and equality for blacks and , despite its accomplishments , aimed high but ultimately fell short

WORKS CITED

Sitkoff...