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More About This Title Expectations of Equality: A History of Black Westerners
English
In this concise and engaging new volume, the latest in our growing Western History Series, Professor Broussard examines how African Americans over the course of nearly five centuries attempted to find their place in the states and territories west of the ninety-eighth meridian. Although black westerners, like white immigrants or native-born whites, defy easy characterization because they came to the West for a variety of reasons, blacks have shared certain commonalities with these groups. The majority of African Americans who settled in the West saw the region as a place where they could fashion a better life for themselves or their families. Some naively viewed the West as an oasis, a place free of racial or class restrictions. While many white immigrants, native-born whites, Hispanics, and Asians also saw the West as a place of opportunity, the experiences of African Americans differed profoundly from whites, people who never faced such a pervasive pattern of discrimination based solely on their race.
In addition to covering central themes and important figures, Expectations of Equality tells the stories of every-day African American men and women, persons who lived in the West from the early 1500s until the turn of the twenty-first century. Many of them led ordinary lives that are difficult to reconstruct in detail–working, raising families, attending church, and educating their children. Yet some of them forged colorful careers as scouts and mountain men, Buffalo Soldiers, businesswomen, athletes, activists, and politicians, their stories helping to make Expectations of Equality the perfect choice as supplementary reading—not only for courses in the history of the U.S. West, but also for survey courses in United States and African American history.
English
Albert S. Broussard is professor of History and the Cornerstone Faculty Fellow in the department of History at Texas A&M University. A former president of the Oral History Association, he has published Black San Francisco: The Struggle for Racial Equality in the West, 1900—1954 (1993) and African American Odyssey: The Stewarts, 1853-1963 (1998).
English
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Suggested Readings xvii
CHAPTER ONE Black Settlers 1
New Spain 3
Hawaii 7
California 8
Texas 11
Employment: opportunity and Restrictions 17
Civil War 20
Suggested Readings 25
CHAPTER TWO The Era of Reconstruction 26
Education 28
Politics 31
The End of Reconstruction 38
Buffalo Soldiers 40
Cowboys 46
Farmers 48
African American Communities 51
Women 54
Conclusion57
Suggested Readings 58
CHAPTER THREE Urban Communities, 1910—1940 60
Employment 62
The Entertainment Industry 68
African American Businesses 71
Housing 72
World War I 74
Racial Tensions 76
Struggles for Justice 78
The Great Depression 84
Conclusion 93
Suggested Readings 94
CHAPTER FOUR World War II 96
On the Move, In Search of Work 97
Civil Rights and the Military 106
Challenging Discrimination on the Job 115
Fighting Discrimination in Housing 118
Conclusion 126
Suggested Readings 127
CHAPTER FIVE New Expectations, New Frustrations, 1945—1970 129
Postwar Opportunity 130
Civil Rights 132
Sports and Entertainment 148
Urban Violence 155
Black Power 160
Conclusion 164
Suggested Readings 165
CHAPTER SIX The Modern Era: The Search for Equity 167
Political Success 168
Socioeconomic Challenges 173
Education 180
Social Marginalization 185
Conclusion 193
Suggested Readings 194
Epilogue 195
Bibliographical Essay 202
Index 238
Photographs follow pages 59, 166
English
“A very readable work, one that combines the human interest of biography with discussions of broad trends. Its bibliographies provide a foundation for deeper study. It would be useful as the black text in a multi-cultural U.S. or western history course.” (Lawrence B. de Graaf, Teaching History, Fall 2012)
