New book gives closeup view of '60s civil rights movement

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Summer 1963: As part of their campalgn to end segregation in Birmingham, Ala., civil rights activists rally outside the local Black church. Where To FInd Us Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63, by Taylor Branch. Simon and Schuster, 1988.

Some books you borrow from the library. Others you wait for until they're in paperback. A few, like a favorite novel or book of poetry, you want to have in hardcover.

Taylor Branch's new history of the civil rights struggle is such a book. This is because the events described in this book in such a moving way represent a part of what we are. This is a biography not just of people but of an entire generation.

For many of us who are part of the babyboom, the civil rights movement was an integral part of our growing up. The lessons learned from the civil rights movement carried over into other political activities, such as the antiwar movement and the women's liberation Students who enter college this year, however, will have been born after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. Most will know very little about his life or about America during the years of the civil rights movement.

For those of us who were too young to remember—or for those who never knew— the history of the early years of the civil rights movement lives in Taylor Branch's "Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63."

Events that were once blurred memories are now vividly recreated. Important historical figures of the day are no longer pictures on a textbook page.

Leaders, virtually regarded as saints in some quarters, become real people-subject to all the fears and doubts as the rest of us. Secondary figures, most of whom have remained anonymous to the general public, become major figures in the day-to-day struggle. And the heroism and dignity of the movement's unknown rank and file receives its proper recognition.

A partisan of the cause In this massive work of 1064 pages, Taylor Branch has written the definitive history of the first 10 years of the civil rights movement. While it revolves around the life of Martin Luther King Jr., it is a history of America during some its most turbulent years.

The author is obviously a partisan of the cause he chronicles, and he makes you share all the emotions of it.

The scope of research in this work is impressive. Facts that are little known or in dispute are documented. The range of sources is broad, from the papers of Sheriff "Bull" Connor in the Birmingham Public Library to 18 SOCIALIST ACTION the files of the FBI.

Every aspect of the civil rights movement is covered in detail: the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the student lunch-counter sit-ins, the freedom rides, voter registration, the Albany struggle, James Meredith and the integration of "Ole Miss", ", the Battle of Birmingham, and the March on Washington.

An understanding of the importance of the role of students in the movement is given in his description of the start of the sit-in protests. Something had changed in America; you are aware of it from the atmosphere he creates with his writing.

Throughout the book, there is detailed coverage of the relationships between the different groups in the movement. For example, he spends considerable time on the disputes between the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The bitter fights on major issues of strategy and tactics (legal vs. activist, the courtroom vs. the streets) are carefully documented.

Government disruption attempts The duplicitous role of the Republican and Democratic parties during this period receives much attention. Particular attention is given to the work of the FBI, who (with the complicity of Robert Kennedy and the Department of Justice) attempted to red-bait, ham-string, and eventually destroy the civil rights movement.

One of the more interesting aspects of the book is the recounting of the treacherous role played by the upper strata of the Black MAY 1989 Baltimore P.O. Box 16005 Baltimore, MD 21218 Boston P.O. Box 1046 GMF Boston, MA 02205 (617) 497-0230 Chicago P.O. Box 578428 Chicago, IL 60657 (312) 327-5752 Cincinnati P.O. Box 21015 Cincinnati, OH 45219 (513) 272-2596 community in attempts to defame King, blunt the politics of the civil rights movement, and in some cases stop the movement dead in its tracks. Numerous incidents—such as Ebony and Jet knowingly printing attacks on King fed to them by the FBI-are given by Branch.

In the introductory chapters of the book, Branch recounts the role of the Black church in America. He tells stories of a few of the congregations that had an influence on King. He points out that King's father, popularly known as "Daddy" King and the minister of a large Atlanta congregation, continually tried to act as a brake on his son's activism.

While much that has been written of King paints him as a virtual saint, Branch gives us Cleveland P.O. Box 6151 Cleveland, OH 44101 (216) 429-2167 Detrolt P.O. Box 32546 Detroit, MI 48232 Los Angeles P.O. Box 862014 Los Angeles, CA 90086-2014 (213) 250-4608 For information il cities call 415-82 other -0458.

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