Front Cover; Table of Contents ix; List of Tables xi; Foreword xiii; Preface xvii; List of Abbreviations xix; Introduction: Writing theHistoryofthe NAACP 1; 1. The Making of an Integrationist Civil Rights Organization 10; 2. Educating Black Voters and White Politicians 40; 3. Chasing the Rainbow? Black Voting Rights in the Courts 69; 4. Protest and Loyalty: The NAACP in the Second World War 94; 5. Civil Rights and Liberal Anticommunism 116; 6. "Aren't You an American Citizen?" The NAACP Voter Registration Campaigns in the South 140; 7. Voter Registration or Nonviolent Direct Action? 166
8. The Politics of Civil Rights 1919. Black Power-White Backlash 221; Conclusion: The Ticket to Freedom? 250; Notes 265; Bibliography 323; Index 343
Summary
"After many years of neglect and faultfinding by contemporary activists, historians, and the media, Manfred Berg restores the NAACP to its rightful place at the heart ofthe civil rights movement. Berg reveals the group's eminently political character as he assesses both its historical achievements and its failures. He suggests that while the NAACP did make significant gains in furthering the progress of America's black citizens at the grassroots level, its national agenda should not be discounted. Berg challenges criticisms of recent years that the NAACP's goals and methods were half-hearted, ineffective, and irrelevant and reveals a resourceful, dynamic, and politically astute organization that has done much to open up the electoral process to greater black participation."--Jacket
