Reluctant Reformers: Racism and Social Reform Movements in the United States

by Robert L. Allen

Book by Allen, Robert, Allen, Pamela P.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, American

356 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Robert Lee Allen is an American activist, writer, and Adjunct Professor of African-American Studies and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Allen received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, San Francisco, and previously taught at San José State University and Mills College.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly written as a textbook --dense and academic. Covers some of the same ground as Stamped from the Beginning. Thorough and thought-provoking scholarship.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a path-breaking book on racism and radical movements in the US. Very, very impressive.

[Scott Neigh]

History of six major social reform movements in the United States from the early 19th to mid 20th centuries – abolitionism, populism, progressivism, the so-called "first wave" of the women's movement, the labour movement, and the socialist and communist movements. The focus is how the white-dominated core of each related to racism, and how Black people engaged with, participated in, and challenged them (or didn't). And the final chapter provides a US-centric but globally attentive analysis of the shifts in racism and capitalism over time as a way to put these movements in context. Written almost 50 years ago by a radical Black scholar whom I had not previously heard of but who seems to have revolutionary left politics. The writing is clear and engaging and a pleasure to read, though with no literary pretensions and a pretty standard scholarly character.

I read this for a very specific purpose: I've occasionally encountered the idea that upsurges in the Black freedom struggle in the US have historically created space for and catalyzed momentum in a range of other kinds of movements, certainly in the case of the New Left but in earlier movements too. But I don't really know where that idea comes from, and I want to be able to cite it in something I'm writing. This, alas, does not seem to be where that idea comes from. The closest this book comes to that is arguing that Black activists and organizers have consistently challenged and thereby shaped white-dominated movements in the US (with varying degrees of success), which is a related but different point, albeit also related to something I want to say in what I'm working on.

Anyway, this is interesting history that, as someone not from/in the US, I only knew bits and pieces of, so I was happy to read it. (If you do happen to know of a good source that makes the argument I was originally looking for, though, do please leave a comment or send a message and let me know!)

[William 'Damani' · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reluctant Reformers: The Impact of Racism on American Social Reform Movements

I had read a bit of this book many years ago and more recently, as part of my research for our historical novel CLANDESTINE, I pulled it off my shelf and gave it a closer reading. The Allen's central premise is that racism is at THE CORE of American politics (I would add 'and culture'), including Reform Movements like Women's Suffrage, Populism, Socialist and Labor which CLAIMED to be for ALL and, to varying degrees, were focused on building alliances with African/Black people - only to backstab Black People in favor of currying favor with The Establishment, as we called it in the '60's - '70's.

Populism, labor, suffrage, socialist, etc. ALL of them fell victim to racism/white so-called supremacy!! They ended up betraying and abandoning Black folks in order to either ingratiate themselves or flat-out sell out to their "kith and kin."

It is chilling that there is not a single example of a reform or social movement that resisted racism and stood by Black folks, in the US of A,...........is there?
Damani

[Unwisely · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not actually going for a 70's theme, (despite having just read Games Mother Never Taught You. This was one of the zillion books recommended in Love and Struggle: My Life in SDS, the Weather Underground, and Beyond. And my library had it, so here we are.

This book covers six movements from American history - including abolition, labor, and woman's suffrage. The one I knew the most about going in was feminism. In the 90's we heard a lot about how white women wanted the vote because they were racist. This book is definitely a more nuanced story than that - certain white women were absolutely racist (OMG, society was appallingly racist-er than I imagined), and some were allies and some of the shift was about tactics they thought would work and different groups did different things at different times and it's way more complex than the version that got thrown around in college. (Shockingly.)

So, a good (albeit depressing) read - it might be worth it to see where good intentions have gone wrong in the past. And anyone working for change may want to consider whether it is worth it to give up your allies for tactical reasons (it certainly didn't seem like it). Some of the internal schisms and social context seemed to be ripped from the headlines, even though the book is 40 years old. Sigh.

[Mickey Ellinger]

This book was one of those that moved me from perception (seeing that the social justice organizations of well-meaning white people foundered on their white blind spots) to concept, with Allen's analysis of how white supremacy has undermined all our movements for justice. I read it first in the mid-70s, have read it half a dozen times since, find something useful every reading, share it with new readers whenever I can.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I buy extra copies of and hand out whenever I get a chance.