Official Negligence

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Gilbert Jonas

"In 1909, "The Call" went out against Jim Crow racism, and American race relations began to change. The violent discrimination that continued in the South spurred a group of concerned white liberals to form the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an organization that grew to become one of the most powerful social forces in American history. Gilbert Jonas, who worked with the NAACP for more than 50 years, draws upon firsthand experience and extraordinary access to reveal how the organization contributed to the eradication of lynching in the South, the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision, and the passage of the 1964 Voting Rights Act. Jonas documents the NAACP's role in landmark events in American history, including the famed 1939 concert by Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial and the historic 1963 march on Washington, led by A. Philip Randolph." "Freedom's Sword also examines the accomplishments of the NAACP's legendary leadership, which included Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston, James Weldon Johnson, and Roy Wilkins."--BOOK JACKET.

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Laurence M. Hauptman

In the nine essays in this volume, Laurence M. Hauptman selects topics from the seventeenth century to the present as examples of some commonly held but erroneous views on Indian-white relations, including campaigns to pacify and christianize Indians, policies of removal, and stereotypes of Indians as mascots for sports teams or Hollywood film sidekicks. Some misconceptions arise from mistaken claims that pass as fact, such as the notion that the U.S. Constitution derived some of its concepts from the Iroquois. The misuse of terms such as genocide and paternalism has also obscured the experience of individual Indian nations or dulled perceptions about Anglo-American avarice. The tribal sovereignty guaranteed by treaties and, at the same time, the Native Americans' United States citizenship have confused many who assume Indians receive special considerations.

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Richard Spilsbury

"This book shows how we know about the marchers and their experiences from primary and othr sources. It includes information on some historical detective work that has taken place, which has enabled historians to piece together they fascinating story of the civil rights marches"--Back cover.

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Walter R. Borneman

In Polk, Walter R. Borneman gives us the first complete and authoritative biography of a president often overshadowed in image but seldom outdone in accomplishment. James K. Polk occupied the White House for only four years, from 1845 to 1849, but he plotted and attained a formidable agenda: He fought for and won tariff reductions, reestablished an independent Treasury, and, most notably, brought Texas into the Union, bluffed Great Britain out of the lion's share of Oregon, and wrested California and much of the Southwest from Mexico. On reflection, these successes seem even more impressive, given the contentious political environment of the time.In this unprecedented, long-overdue warts-and-all look at Polk's life and career, we have a portrait of an expansionist president and decisive statesman who redefined the country he led, and we are reminded anew of the true meaning of presidential accomplishment and resolve.From the Trade Paperback edition.