The Myth of The Negro Past

by Melville J. Herskovits

Almost fifty years ago Melville Herskovits set out to debunk the myth that black Americans have no cultural past. Originally published in 1941, his unprecedented study of black history and culture recovered a rich African heritage in religious and secular life, the language and arts of the Americas.

Genres: History, Anthropology, Nonfiction, Race, Africa, American History, Anti Racist

416 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1958

Reviews

[mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so mis-titled as to mislead the potential reader. In fact, Herskovits argues against the notion, common when this was written (1941), that the American descendents of slaves were a people without cultural history. Herskovits details the many African elements in the culture of peoples of African descent in the new world, many of which extend across national borders. Although Herskovits' idea is now commonly-accepted, the present-day reader will still find many interesting themes elucidated.

[Preston]

The novel by Melville J. Herskovites is a complicated novel of myths of the negro past. This novel is very difficult to unnderstand, but reading about my past helps me to comprehend how other cultures have tried to alter true events of black history.

[lalo🌸 lover of books]

Read for my US history paper. Had to only read 75% of it.

[Sanjay Varma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered this book from a footnote in Cornel West's book "Prophecy Deliverance." After perusing the library copy, I decided to buy my own copy.

The theme of this book is the persistence of African culture among slaves, even after the transatlantic trade was banned which cut off the perpetual infusion of native Africans. This thesis is so obvious, and yet great care must be taken to document the unbroken threads of culture. European descendants have so much scholarship available to connect themselves with 2500 years of European history. "The Myth of Negro Past" strikes me as the start of a similar project for African descendants.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a long time to get to this classic. It was impressive for its time but definitely dated now.