Anticommunism and the African American Freedom Movement: Another Side of the Story

Contemporary Black History

by R. Lieberman (Editor), Clarence Lang (Editor)

The original essays in this book highlight the destructive impact of McCarthyism on the African American Freedom Movement. Recovering little-known stories of black radical activism, they challenge the idea that the Cold War was, on balance, beneficial to the movement. The book emphasizes what was lost when anticommunism forced the movement to submerge broader issues of economic justice, labor rights, feminism, and peace. The authors illustrate the often neglected or understated human costs of the Red Scare, focusing on local and individual stories that offer insight into larger national and international trends.

251 pages, Hardcover

First published April 28, 2009