Race and class in American society Book

This was an interesting history not only of Dorothy Height, but an introduction to many of the important civil rights players pre, during and post civil rights era. On of the most interesting ideas proposed by Dorothy Height was her explanation of why African American's have traditionally been strong supporters of federal government power. She says, "There is a good reason why protection promised by federal laws based on democratic principles has always meant more to black people than to whites: it was the only hope we had! After the emancipation, there were no civil rights laws enacted until 1957 (Pg134)."

I also learned one of the scriptures that backed up the strong supporters of slavery. Ephesians 6:5, "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ".

I have a hard time getting into the mind-set of a a culture that felt so strongly that they had the rights, and God's backing to hold a race of people under segregation, but I can tell that it was a real belief, and that changing that culture, and changing the other culture of turning a blind eye took enormous courage, immense intelligence, time and time again to be able to verbally define what was the ideal, why, and how to bring about invite change, and how to bring about change by those too obstinate to accept it. I am really impressed as I read about the civil rights leaders and their work. I am very impressed with the countless women who participated enormously in organizing civil rights activities, and how recognized as their work progressed that there was even more work to be done in terms of women's rights. A key example being the March on Washington, during which MLK Jr. gave his famous, I Have a Dream" speech. This event was supported and planned by countless women's organizations, and yet no women were able to participate in the giving of speeches.

I really enjoyed the chapters about the National Council of Negro Women's work behind the Cotton Curtain of Mississippi. The ideas they carried out were ingenious and really worked to meet the needs of the individual women living in Mississippi at the time, like the Pig Bank, and the Wednesdays in Mississippi.

I would have liked to have understood a little more about Dr. Heights personal life, and her personal feelings: her triumphs and her failures, etc. Did she wish to marry and have children, was she satisfied not have a family, or was that something she worked on.
Overall, I really enjoyed the history of this enormously influential woman during a very critical time in US history. I also started watching a black history course from Stanford that is really helpful: