All Eyes are Upon Us by Jason Sokol

All Eyes are Upon Us by Jason Sokol

All Eyes Are Upon Us explores the history of racial struggles in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York from World War I to the present.The Northeast has long basked in its reputation as the home of abolitionism and a refuge for blacks fleeing the Jim Crow South. But its cities have also stood as strongholds of segregation and racism. At times, this region witnessed bold experiments in interracial democracy: the schools of Springfield, Massachusetts, attempted to abolish racial and religious prejudice; white fans in Brooklyn embraced Jackie Robinson; voters repeatedly supported black candidates, including Senator Edward Brooke in Massachusetts and Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm in Brooklyn.Yet during these same moments, an opposing narrative unfolded--one highlighted by worsening black poverty, hardening patterns of segregation, and exploding incidents of racial violence. All Eyes Are Upon Us probes the conflict between these two warring traditions.

2015 Chautauqua Prize Finalist New York Times Approval Matrix Daily Beast Best Books of the About the Volatile 60s New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice New York Times Book Review "A prescient book that offers a great deal to explain a national self-deception of stunning brevity..Ambitious, engrossing, analytically lucid...It is certainly possible that when this decade ends it will have confirmed the relevance of W.E.B. Du Bois's grim prophecy about America's everlasting racism. Jason Sokol's exceptional All Eyes Are Upon Us prepares us for just such a possibility." Washington Post "A skilled storyteller, Sokol offers a series of interwoven case studies on topics that are sometimes familiar but, more often, not well known...Carefully balancing an appreciation of the symbolism of interracial politics with recognition of the forces that remain untouched by it, All Eyes Are Upon Us reminds us -- if we need reminding -- that the events unfolding in Ferguson, Mo., Staten Island and too many other communities are embedded in a complex and problematic history of both racial advances and obstacles to progress." Daily Beast "This groundbreaking history shows a civil rights movement beyond Birmingham, Selma, and Memphis. An important new voice in 20th-century history, Sokol expands the civil rights story to include segregated schools and racial politics in the Northeast." Boston Globe "All Eyes Are Upon Us succeeds in excavating unfamiliar insights." Kansas City Star "You will certainly come away with a better understanding of the continuum of racial discomfort that defines American society as it lurches between multi-racial progress and disturbing disappointment." History News Network "All Eyes Are Upon Us offers equally fascinating portraits of several successful black politicians...a refreshing departure from recent histories of iconic American figures and epic events aimed for the best-seller lists. He also allows the perceptions of many participants in this history, major and minor, to shape and deepen his own." Bookforum "An honest, conscientious book." Kirkus "With sharp research and insights, Sokol follows this blithe and self-congratulatory legacy through the election of President Barack Obama."

Jason Sokol is the Arthur K. Withcomb Associate Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire since 2016, and was previously a Fellow at Harvard College's Department of African and African American Studies. He holds a PhD in U.S. history from the University of California, Berkeley, and was previously a Visiting Assistant Professor of History and Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University and a Mellow Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. Sokol's first book, There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, received rave reviews and was named one of the best books of 2006 by the Washington Post Book World. He was also named one of America's "Top Young Historians" by the History News Network, and his writing has appeared in the Nation, the New York Times, Slate, and the Boston Globe. Sokol lives in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780465022267
ISBN 10	046502226X
Title	All Eyes are Upon Us
Author	Jason Sokol
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Basic Books
Year published	2014-12-02
Number of pages	416
Prizes	Commended for Chautauqua Prize 2015
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.