Freedom Road: Convince Me: Hillary for President?

"The Selma of the North": Civil Rights Insurgency in Milwaukee

Between 1958 and 1970, a distinctive movement for racial justice emerged from unique circumstances in Milwaukee. A series of local leaders inspired growing numbers of people to participate in campaigns against employment and housing discrimination, segregated public schools, the membership of public officials in discriminatory organizations, welfare cuts, and police brutality.

The Milwaukee movement culminated in the dramatic—and sometimes violent—1967 open housing campaign. A white Catholic priest, James Groppi, led the NAACP Youth Council and Commandos in a militant struggle that lasted for 200 consecutive nights and provoked the ire of thousands of white residents. After working-class mobs attacked demonstrators, some called Milwaukee “the Selma of the North.” Others believed the housing campaign represented the last stand for a nonviolent, interracial, church-based movement.

Patrick Jones tells a powerful and dramatic story that is important for its insights into civil rights history: the debate over nonviolence and armed self-defense, the meaning of Black Power, the relationship between local and national movements, and the dynamic between southern and northern activism. Jones offers a valuable contribution to movement history in the urban North that also adds a vital piece to the national story.

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Blurbs:

Think you know the full story of the civil rights era? Patrick Jones's masterful study of the movement in Milwaukee will make you think again. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, The Selma of the North provides a devastating rebuttal of many of the conventional narratives of the civil rights movement. Here a vibrant nonviolent movement in the de-industrializing Midwest grows into a Black Power movement led by urban youth and a white Catholic priest who use confrontational direct action to lay bare the fissures of racial inequality in the 'liberal' North.
--Jeanne Theoharis, Brooklyn College, editor of Freedom North and Groundwork

A well-researched, well-written, and important history. Based on a rich array of sources, this book enhances our understanding of civil rights activism in the postwar urban North and establishes a useful foundation for the comparison of similar developments elsewhere in the country.
--Joe William Trotter, Jr., Carnegie Mellon University, author of Black Milwaukee

This book fills a serious gap in the literature of the civil rights revolution, joining studies on other cities in laying the groundwork on race and civil rights in the postwar urban North. Jones tells a good story, capturing events that might otherwise be lost to history.
--Arnold R. Hirsch, University of New Orleans, author of Making the Second Ghetto

The Selma of the North is an insightful and invigorating addition to the growing literature on black freedom struggles outside of the South. Jones's important and informative account writes Milwaukee back into the narrative of the civil rights-Black Power era and in the process expands our understanding of postwar America.
--Peniel E. Joseph, Brandeis University, author of Waiting Till the Midnight Hour

The Selma of the North is a riveting new story of the civil rights movement in America, a tale on par with Selma, Birmingham, and Montgomery in its power and importance. Jones's magisterial research and magnetic prose illuminate the untold story of the battle for the urban north in the 1960s, a battle that shows how race has always been the Achilles heel of white progressives. This story transcends easy dichotomies of black and white, North and South, radical and reformist. How did a group called 'the Commandos' define nonviolence? How did a white Catholic priest become a 'Black Power' leader? If this is not a saga for the age of Obama, I don't know what is.
--Timothy B. Tyson, Duke University, author of Radio Free Dixie and Blood Done Sign My Name

Monday, October 08, 2007

Convince Me: Hillary for President?

I would like to invite readers to convince me that I should vote for Hillary Clinton for President. I'm serious. I am having a hard time being enthusiastic at all about her candidacy. I am tired of "triangulation" and deeply suspicious of two families dominating the presidency for more than two decades. I like the idea of our first female President, but can't see that much will be different on the broad strokes of policy under a Clinton II administration.

Again, please offer the best possible argument you can come up with to support Hillary. Hit me with your best shot! I am open and ready to listen...

4 comments:

Patrick JonesOctober 9, 2007 at 6:15 PM
Well, the silence on this issue means one of two things:

A) Nobody reads my blog, which is a very real possibility!

B) No one can muster a compelling argument in support of Hillary.

Now, nearly 20 folks voted for her in my poll recently, so SOMEONE out there likes what she is selling. So, again, I am open and willing to listen. Please convince me that Hillary makes sense as the Dems' '08 nominee...
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Anthony SantoroOctober 10, 2007 at 3:26 AM
Tell you what -- I'll give you a reason ...

... just as soon as someone gives me one.

I'm normally very sympathetic to the Democrats (with my criticism of the Dems for the last decade or so being the fact that they are no longer a liberal party), but she gives me nothing.
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AnonymousOctober 10, 2007 at 9:53 AM
Because of her previous experience in the white house and senate, coupled with the people she has surrounded herself with for her campaign, I believe that Hillary could have the executive branch up and running quicker than any other canidate.

The urgent need for leadership in the nation makes this an important benefit of her potential presidency.

lucas
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Patrick JonesOctober 10, 2007 at 10:07 AM
Ant: I'm with you...

Hi Lucas: Well, honestly, this doesn't sound like a very compelling argument to me. Heck, these folks have from November to March to transition, so all of them should be able to get it rolling. And, it is precisely her coziness with the Establishment (that you cite) that turns me off to her. In the long run, is this technical point really that significant of an issue? Is it actually a reason to vote for someone? It is also interesting, I think, that you don't actually address any of her stances or policies, but rather this technical aspect of a potential Clinton presidency. I think that speaks to the weaknesses of a potential Clinton nomination and the lack of excitement out there in Democrat-land about her nomination...

I really don't hear too many folks that are ga-ga over Hillary. It is usually some sort of "well, she seems the most electable," which I think is actually a fairly spurious argument, as well. The Repubs WANT Hillary because they think she will rally their depressed base and that she is open to all kinds of attacks. Dems seem to be resigning themselves to her and settling for her when they'd really like someone else. Still seems to me that both Obama and Edwards offer so much more than she does as a President.

Anyway, thanks for the responses. I'm still searching for a compelling argument... Keep 'em coming.

Patrick
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Freedom Road

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"The Selma of the North": Civil Rights Insurgency in Milwaukee

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Monday, October 08, 2007

Convince Me: Hillary for President?

4 comments: