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Description
Lee D. Baker explores what racial categories mean to the American public and how these meanings are reinforced by anthropology, popular culture, and the law. Focusing on the period between two landmark Supreme Court decisions-Plessy v. Ferguson (the so-called "separate but equal" doctrine established in 1896) and Brown v. Board of Education (the public school desegregation decision of 1954)-Baker shows how racial categories change over time.
Baker paints a vivid picture of the relationships between specific African American and white scholars, who orchestrated a paradigm shift within the social sciences from ideas based on Social Darwinism to those based on cultural relativism. He demonstrates that the greatest impact on the way the law codifies racial differences has been made by organizations such as the NAACP, which skillfully appropriated the new social science to exploit the politics of the Cold War.
Baker paints a vivid picture of the relationships between specific African American and white scholars, who orchestrated a paradigm shift within the social sciences from ideas based on Social Darwinism to those based on cultural relativism. He demonstrates that the greatest impact on the way the law codifies racial differences has been made by organizations such as the NAACP, which skillfully appropriated the new social science to exploit the politics of the Cold War.
Product Details
| Publisher | University of California Press |
| Publish Date | November 23, 1998 |
| Pages | 313 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Paperback / softback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780520211681 |
| Dimensions | 9.0 X 6.1 X 0.8 inches | 1.0 pounds |
About the Author
Lee D. Baker is Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Sociology, and African and African American Studies at Duke University.
Reviews
". . . an innovative examination of the 50-year period between Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education (1954), during which "ideas about racial inferiority were supplanted by notions of racial equality" in law, science, and public opinion."-- "Social Forces"
"From Savage to Negro is more than a historic academic discourse on race and anthropology. It is truly a remarkable elucidation of the construction of race in anthropology and its influence in American politics and must be read."-- "Black Scholar: Journal of Black Studies and Research"
"Through its interrogation of anthropological and political discourses about race and racial formation, From Savage to Negro topples historical myths about the nation's legacy of state-sanctioned segregation and racial difference."-- "Nation"
"With care and precision, Baker shows how by the mid-20th century, African American intellectuals and leaders selectively appropriated anthropology--specifically, the work of Franz Boas--in their efforts to affirm notions of racial equality. Thus, From Savage to Negro documents the paradoxically liberating and normalizing potentiality of anthropological thought."-- "History of Anthropology Review"
"From Savage to Negro is more than a historic academic discourse on race and anthropology. It is truly a remarkable elucidation of the construction of race in anthropology and its influence in American politics and must be read."-- "Black Scholar: Journal of Black Studies and Research"
"Through its interrogation of anthropological and political discourses about race and racial formation, From Savage to Negro topples historical myths about the nation's legacy of state-sanctioned segregation and racial difference."-- "Nation"
"With care and precision, Baker shows how by the mid-20th century, African American intellectuals and leaders selectively appropriated anthropology--specifically, the work of Franz Boas--in their efforts to affirm notions of racial equality. Thus, From Savage to Negro documents the paradoxically liberating and normalizing potentiality of anthropological thought."-- "History of Anthropology Review"
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