A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History

The early 20th century has seen an explosion in critical histories of the civil rights movement that, like A More Beautiful and Terrible History, challenge popular narratives and invite readers to examine the movement more in depth. Some relevant titles are:

Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality by Tomiko Brown-Nagin (2022)

Emergent scholarship on civil rights and African American history often stresses the contributions of women and queer activists who have been underappreciated. Constance Baker Motley was an activist, state senator, and federal judge at a time when political and jurist positions were exceptionally rare for women of color. Those positions are still rarely occupied by women of color, which highlights the importance of this historical figure.

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi (2016)

Kendi’s historical study extends beyond the civil rights movement of the 20th century, although it is essential reading for studying the history of American racism. Kendi’s chapters on civil rights activism and historical figures interrogate popular perceptions and weigh historical actors’ commitments to true anti-racism. Famous Black historical actors such as W.E.B. DuBois and Martin Luther King Jr. emerge as complicated figures rather than simplified heroes.      

The Myth of Southern Exceptionalism edited by Joseph Crespino and Matthew D. Lassiter (2010)

Theoharis often cites this book in her own work. The edited volume challenges the myth that the South is a wholly unique region in the US rather than one iteration of prejudices common throughout the nation. These authors, like Theoharis, reject the popular conception of a liberal North in contrast to a backward South.

At The Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance—A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power by Danielle McGuire (2010)

This book examines violence and activism through gendered lenses. The highest profile violence committed against Black bodies in the 20th century have continued to be stories of lynchings targeting Black men, often falsely accused of crimes against white women. McGuire acknowledges the tragic destruction of lynching but focuses on violence against women, most notably violent rape. This is a book for mature audiences, as the subject matter is both sensitive and brutal. What the book ultimately achieves, however, is a fuller account of patterns of American racism and wider appreciation for the efforts of Black women who survived and resisted.