Imagining Black America

By: Michael Wayne

Write A Review

Hardcover | 25 February 2014 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
336 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
2.39 x 1.64 x 0.3

Hardcover

$180.75

or 4 interest-free payments of $45.19 with

Ships in 10 to 15 business days

A fascinating and challenging inquiry into black identity and its shifting meaning throughout U.S. history

Scientific research has now established that race should be understood as a social construct, not a true biological division of humanity. In Imagining Black America, Michael Wayne explores the construction and reconstruction of black America from the arrival of the first Africans in Jamestown in 1619 to Barack Obamaâs reelection. Races have to be imagined into existence and constantly reimagined as circumstances change, Wayne argues, and as a consequence the boundaries of black America have historically been contested terrain. He discusses the emergence in the nineteenth centuryâ"and the erosion, during the past two decadesâ"of the notorious âone-drop rule.â He shows how significant periods of social transformationâ"emancipation, the Great Migration, the rise of the urban ghetto, and the Civil Rights Movementâ"raised major questions for black Americans about the defining characteristics of their racial community. And he explores how factors such as class, age, and gender have influenced perceptions of what it means to be black.

Wayne also considers how slavery and its legacy have defined freedom in the United States. Black Americans, he argues, because of their deep commitment to the promise of freedom and the ideals articulated by the Founding Fathers, became and remain quintessential Americansâ"the âincarnation of America,â in the words of the civil rights leader A. Philip Randolph.

Shipping

	Standard Shipping	Express Shipping
Metro postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Regional postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95
Rural postcodes:	$9.99	$14.95

Orders over $79.00 qualify for free shipping.

How to return your order

At Booktopia, we offer hassle-free returns in accordance with our returns policy. If you wish to return an item, please get in touch with Booktopia Customer Care.

Additional postage charges may be applicable.