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An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy Vol. 1
In this landmark effort to understand African American people in the New World, Gunnar Myrdal provides deep insight into the contradictions of American democracy as well as a study of a people within a people. The title of the book, 'An American Dilemma', refers to the moral contradiction of a nation torn between allegiance to its highest ideals and awareness of the base realities of racial discrimination. The touchstone of this classic is the jarring discrepancy between the American creed of respect for the inalienable rights to freedom, justice, and opportunity for all and the pervasive violations of the dignity of blacks. The appendices are a gold mine of information, theory, and methodology. Indeed, two of the appendices were issued as a separate work given their importance for systematic theory in social research. The new introduction by Sissela Bok offers a remarkably intimate yet rigorously objective appraisal of Myrdal―a social scientist who wanted to see himself as an analytic intellectual, yet had an unbending desire to bring about change. 'An American Dilemma' is testimonial to the man as well as the ideas he espoused. When it first appeared 'An American Dilemma' was called "the most penetrating and important book on contemporary American civilization" by Robert S. Lynd; "One of the best political commentaries on American life that has ever been written" in The American Political Science Review; and a book with "a novelty and a courage seldom found in American discussions either of our total society or of the part which the Negro plays in it" in 'The American Sociological Review'. It is a foundation work for all those concerned with the history and current status of race relations in the United States.
812 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1944
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 2, 2017
Do you think sociology from the mid-1940s is relevant to U.S. race relations today? Yes, is it! At least that by the remarkable Gunnar Myrdal. We were...um....distracted by the war so the newly- and well-minted Carnegie Foundation brought in a Swede to study our painful "negro problem". Myrdal brought his economic sociology in for a look (along with Alva, his sociologist wife) and ended up holding a mirror to the contradiction (or "dilemma", as Myrdal called it) of our ugly race relations existing with the American, democratic ethos of equality and liberty. Myrdal wondered how we could possibly reconcile this contradiction, and set out to use interviews of poor Whites and Blacks in the south to find out. Of course, we know early industrial capitalist like Carnegie pitted Blacks brought up from the South to the North to be used as strike-breakers against Whites, so there is that irony the philanthropy would want to study what evil it has created to amass its millions. See Women, Race, and Class yet our textbooks merely make us wring our hands to understand the "race riots" without noting how the corporations set them up.
The thrust of what Myrdal found out was encoded in lists of those elements that most concerned Whites and Blacks about each other, where Whites were most scared with Blacks dating their children, living close by, going to the same schools, and less concerned with Blacks accessing jobs, housing (as long as it wasn't close to them), or bank loans. The exquisite irony of racism here is that Myrdal detailed how Blacks were concerned with just the opposite rank order: they wanted jobs, housing, bank loans, good schools, and *least* concerned about dating White girls (to put a point on it.) Highly recommended and I think the extreme denial of the persistance of racism among U.S. Whites in the South and Midwest still smacks of Myrdal, 70 years later.
I must get to the sociologist Hochschild's Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right that goes to the U.S. South (that which the "southern" ideology stretches clear up through the U.S. midwest, as we know from Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis to study the phenomenon among the lower socio-economic demographics of "voting against one's interests", e.g., voting against Federal programs that the individuals rely upon in their lives. I recently recalled that this behavior that seems contrary to Enlightened Self-Interest was noted by Myrdal here who commented that poor Blacks and Whites in the south thought themselves and each other the problem, not the government or larger society, therefore politically conservative, and were leery of New Deal programs designed to help them.
The thrust of what Myrdal found out was encoded in lists of those elements that most concerned Whites and Blacks about each other, where Whites were most scared with Blacks dating their children, living close by, going to the same schools, and less concerned with Blacks accessing jobs, housing (as long as it wasn't close to them), or bank loans. The exquisite irony of racism here is that Myrdal detailed how Blacks were concerned with just the opposite rank order: they wanted jobs, housing, bank loans, good schools, and *least* concerned about dating White girls (to put a point on it.) Highly recommended and I think the extreme denial of the persistance of racism among U.S. Whites in the South and Midwest still smacks of Myrdal, 70 years later.
I must get to the sociologist Hochschild's Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right that goes to the U.S. South (that which the "southern" ideology stretches clear up through the U.S. midwest, as we know from Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis to study the phenomenon among the lower socio-economic demographics of "voting against one's interests", e.g., voting against Federal programs that the individuals rely upon in their lives. I recently recalled that this behavior that seems contrary to Enlightened Self-Interest was noted by Myrdal here who commented that poor Blacks and Whites in the south thought themselves and each other the problem, not the government or larger society, therefore politically conservative, and were leery of New Deal programs designed to help them.
March 23, 2015
This magisterial book was well worth the three weeks it took me to read it. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to understand the significance of race in American life.
November 5, 2012
The most basic civil rights primer
April 26, 2023
This classic work goes into every aspect of the American shame - the comprehensive mistreatment of black people that has made a mockery of our claim of liberty and justice for all.
First published in 1944, the book describes all of the malevolent practices that kept African-Americans from even approaching the American dream. Myrdal cites the attitude of respect for what he calls the American Creed that is universal among both whites and blacks in the United States, but that is held at the same time, and with little discomfort, with bigoted views by whites.
Emphasis is of course on the southern states but the north was (is) not free of the prejudice that accepts racial equality in principle, but didn't want blacks in the neighborhood or workplace.
The history of slavery is here as is the virtual return to slavery that was enforced by the South after the brief period of Radical Reconstruction following the Civil War. The great migration to the north by blacks in the southern states is recounted as is the Harlem renaissance. Labor relations, the closed door of most unions and the limitation of black employment to the dirtiest and most menial jobs is reviewed. The views of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois are examined in the period before the world had heard of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The white mindset in the north and south is captured through extensive interviews throughout the country. The psychology that supports lower class white unity through bigotry is dissected. Myrdal, being white, had no difficulty getting whites to open up letting the reader understand how complete was the suppression of every attempt by blacks to take their place as equals. We get to see how the white primary, the poll tax, literacy tests and outright physical threats succeeded in keeping blacks away from the polls, denying them the very representation they needed politically to bring change.
Myrdal didn't hesitate to write about the effects of slavery on the psychology of blacks. The subservience that made for survival in bondage, the endless attempt to escape from work without pay survived emancipation in habits that reinforced white appraisal of blacks in the not baseless accusations of laziness and slow performance.
Times have changed since this book was written. Share cropping has disappeared as have poll taxes and the white primary. The famous Brown vs Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court was 10 years in the future in 1944. No longer do we see the "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" signs that I saw frequently in the South of the 1950's.
Progress has been made, but not without endless struggle in court and in the court of public opinion. Incidents of executions of blacks by the police occur to this day. Nixon's famous "southern strategy" worked to gain votes through bigotry, shifting the historically Democratic South to the Republican Party we see today that consists almost entirely of white faces. Terrible carnage by gang members continues in the black ghettoes of large American cities, as does the disproportionate conviction and imprisonment rate for blacks. But it has our attention and concern.
This book is a must read for white Americans, in particular because today white males have a legitimate complaint that they are discriminated against in the name of diversity. Today schools and businesses rush to show a rainbow student body or workforce. Balance is the watchword and because of this blacks at long last have opportunities that were traditionally denied them. Their complete rejection by society has been replaced by a very partial rejection by business of white males. This book makes clear that there is no comparison. It is difficult for this white male reader to see how any progress could have been made without affirmative action. A legitimate question now is how far it should go.
I wish that every societal problem could be examined in the highly professional way this study was done.
Because this has become a textbook, the price for a new copy is outrageous and a Kindle edition is almost $50. Check your local library and be on the lookout at yard sales for a 25 cent copy.
First published in 1944, the book describes all of the malevolent practices that kept African-Americans from even approaching the American dream. Myrdal cites the attitude of respect for what he calls the American Creed that is universal among both whites and blacks in the United States, but that is held at the same time, and with little discomfort, with bigoted views by whites.
Emphasis is of course on the southern states but the north was (is) not free of the prejudice that accepts racial equality in principle, but didn't want blacks in the neighborhood or workplace.
The history of slavery is here as is the virtual return to slavery that was enforced by the South after the brief period of Radical Reconstruction following the Civil War. The great migration to the north by blacks in the southern states is recounted as is the Harlem renaissance. Labor relations, the closed door of most unions and the limitation of black employment to the dirtiest and most menial jobs is reviewed. The views of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois are examined in the period before the world had heard of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The white mindset in the north and south is captured through extensive interviews throughout the country. The psychology that supports lower class white unity through bigotry is dissected. Myrdal, being white, had no difficulty getting whites to open up letting the reader understand how complete was the suppression of every attempt by blacks to take their place as equals. We get to see how the white primary, the poll tax, literacy tests and outright physical threats succeeded in keeping blacks away from the polls, denying them the very representation they needed politically to bring change.
Myrdal didn't hesitate to write about the effects of slavery on the psychology of blacks. The subservience that made for survival in bondage, the endless attempt to escape from work without pay survived emancipation in habits that reinforced white appraisal of blacks in the not baseless accusations of laziness and slow performance.
Times have changed since this book was written. Share cropping has disappeared as have poll taxes and the white primary. The famous Brown vs Board of Education ruling by the Supreme Court was 10 years in the future in 1944. No longer do we see the "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" signs that I saw frequently in the South of the 1950's.
Progress has been made, but not without endless struggle in court and in the court of public opinion. Incidents of executions of blacks by the police occur to this day. Nixon's famous "southern strategy" worked to gain votes through bigotry, shifting the historically Democratic South to the Republican Party we see today that consists almost entirely of white faces. Terrible carnage by gang members continues in the black ghettoes of large American cities, as does the disproportionate conviction and imprisonment rate for blacks. But it has our attention and concern.
This book is a must read for white Americans, in particular because today white males have a legitimate complaint that they are discriminated against in the name of diversity. Today schools and businesses rush to show a rainbow student body or workforce. Balance is the watchword and because of this blacks at long last have opportunities that were traditionally denied them. Their complete rejection by society has been replaced by a very partial rejection by business of white males. This book makes clear that there is no comparison. It is difficult for this white male reader to see how any progress could have been made without affirmative action. A legitimate question now is how far it should go.
I wish that every societal problem could be examined in the highly professional way this study was done.
Because this has become a textbook, the price for a new copy is outrageous and a Kindle edition is almost $50. Check your local library and be on the lookout at yard sales for a 25 cent copy.
May 10, 2021
This tome has taken about six weeks to read and it is only Volume ONE. But if I were in charge of US education I would make at least excerpts from this study required reading in high school.
My most serious critique is that the author seems at times amazingly naive and optimistic, but that is because, in part, I am reading it 80 years after it was published. But I also have enjoyed his often uncontained sarcasm in the face of white Southern prejudice and “reasoning” to justify it.
Perhaps most of all I am depressed in reading this because although it certainly qualifies as historical and definitely allows the American reader to see just how far the civil rights movement has brought us from the realities of the Depression and early days of WWII, too many of the observations could still be made today, and many of the attitudes recorded could be found today (if much less openly stated).
I was expecting to be blinded by the heavy use of statistics and while there are a LOT, with accompanying analysis, the narrative flow of these small-print 520 pages (with another over 800 pages of footnotes!) was beautifully and straightforwardly written. Myrdal strive to maintain a professional academic mien and in most cases succeeded. But he very definitively refused to accept Southern justifications for treatment of black people, their exclusion from voting ranks and privileges granted to all others. He was openly astounded at the intellectual brain twisting that had to occur to try to align white supremacist policy with Constitutional reality.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough and will soon be embarking on Volume Two.
My most serious critique is that the author seems at times amazingly naive and optimistic, but that is because, in part, I am reading it 80 years after it was published. But I also have enjoyed his often uncontained sarcasm in the face of white Southern prejudice and “reasoning” to justify it.
Perhaps most of all I am depressed in reading this because although it certainly qualifies as historical and definitely allows the American reader to see just how far the civil rights movement has brought us from the realities of the Depression and early days of WWII, too many of the observations could still be made today, and many of the attitudes recorded could be found today (if much less openly stated).
I was expecting to be blinded by the heavy use of statistics and while there are a LOT, with accompanying analysis, the narrative flow of these small-print 520 pages (with another over 800 pages of footnotes!) was beautifully and straightforwardly written. Myrdal strive to maintain a professional academic mien and in most cases succeeded. But he very definitively refused to accept Southern justifications for treatment of black people, their exclusion from voting ranks and privileges granted to all others. He was openly astounded at the intellectual brain twisting that had to occur to try to align white supremacist policy with Constitutional reality.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough and will soon be embarking on Volume Two.
August 17, 2020
A very important cultural book on race relations.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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April 27, 2023E185.6 M95 1996 Memorial Library
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews