A much discussed and relevant book for today updated in 1998.
Professor Schlesinger, a great liberal historian in the 20th Century, would be appalled by what is going in the country today. He remarks that the history of this country over the years has been one of inclusion rather than segregation. He would be shocked by how the Republican Party has become openly a white supremacy party. He would be incredulous by how this country elected someone as inept and unqualified as Trump.
"America is continually struggling for its soul."
-Gunner Myrdal, P. 33
Gunner Myrdal proclaimed the "American Creed" in the 40's. P. 33
The country began with an anglo-centric focus. This cannot be denied and must be recognized as a starting point. P. 34
Today we have forgotten the racial politics of anti-Irishness and anti-catholicism. P. 35
The Know-Nothings have a different shape today: the Republican Party. P. 36
"The principle on which this country was founded and by which it has always been governed is that Americanism is a matter of the mind and the heart; Americanism is not, and it never has been, a matter of race and ancestry. A good American is one who is loyal to this country and to our creed of liberty and democracy." P. 43
Tocqueville say racial exclusion as deeply ingrained in the American character. P. 44
Racism is the irremediable flaw in the American system and the US doomed Native Americans to extinction. P. 44
Concise history of American racism. P. 44-45
The American "solvent" is partly a myth. P. 45
Schlesinger would be at shocked how racial politics has arisen in this country. Academic liberals in the 20th Century were lulled to sleep.
A cult of ethnicity is a sign of declining faith in the future. P. 47
Since the 60's "ethnic" has come to mean non-Anglo minorities. P. 48
"The ethnic upsurge began as a gesture of protest against the Anglocentric culture. It became a cult, and today it threatens to become a counter-revolution against the original theory of American as one people, a common culture, a single nation. P. 49
The present can recreate the past. P. 52
There is no such thing as "pure history." P. 53
History is a weapon. P. 57
History is an argument without end. P. 63
Frederick Jackson Turner and the Beards tragically downplayed slavery in American history. The Beards credited blacks only with the invention of ragtime. How can this racism from prominent historians be overlooked??? Add Samuel Eliot Morrison and Henry Steele Commager. Much of American historiography is morally reprehensible. P. 64
The pluralistic nature of American history has only recently been recognized. P. 71
The dominance of the Euro-Anglican perspective cannot be changed. P. 74
History is a weapon. P. 77
Multiculturalism arises out of a reading to Anglo-Europeancentrism. At what point does it mutate into ethnocentrism of its own? This seems to be the issue for Schlesinger. P. 80
Can we defend Western Civ and also be multiculturalists?
When does obsession with differences threaten an overarching idea of American nationality? P. 81
Fascination with Egypt does not intrigue me. P 85
There is no single African culture. P. 92
Strengthen and perpetuate separate racial subcultures or a common American culture? Somehow there has to be room for both. P. 95
Ralph Ellison: You don't write out of your skin. You write out of your imagination. P. 97
Is history therapy? P. 98
Black ethnocentrism. P. 100
The teaching of ethnic pride and self-esteem leaves certain things in the closet. P. 101
Textbook genocide. P. 102
Let us teach ethnic history, but as history only not to satisfy grievances. P. 104
Speak standard English. P. 107
Who can blame blacks for always being suspicious of white motives? P. 116
The dream of integration ends with scorn for assimilation. P. 117
The cult of ethnicity has reversed American history. P. 117
The perils of ethnocentrism. P. 122
The sactifiction of the group threatens the idea of a coherent society. P. 123
Common ideals of the common good, the ideals of democracy, and dedication to human rights are what's held American together. P. 123
Our ideals should transcend our differences. P. 124
Will changing immigration trends endanger Eurocentrism eventually? P. 126
"No one likes to be a No-Nothing." The author didn't live to see today's Republican Party. P. 127
The Eurocentric focus historically in American historiography is a matter of historical facts. P. 128
Multiculturalism yes; ethnoseparatism no. P. 128
Defending the traditional literary canon. P. 131
The sins of the West are no worse than the sins of Asia, the Middle East, or of Africa. P. 132
There is no escape from the fact that the country was founded principally on European ideas. P. 133
Afrocentrists have no right to lay guilt trips on Western Civilization. P. 133
The US has been a multiethnic experiment from the start says the author. Certainly not anymore I say. One political party is seeking to dissolve the melting pot. P. 135
A single nation from diverse origins is under attack. P. 142
The author would have to agree if he were living today that race relations are getting worse.
A common culture that is multicultural, which is the source of our issues. P. 144
Can we renew common ideals? P. 145
Can we affirm diversity yet also affirm agreed upon ideals? P. 147
"Recently multiculturalism has emerged not alone as a word but as an ideology and a mystique. In its mild form, it calls attention to neglected groups, themes, and viewpoints and redresses a shameful imbalance in the treatment of minorities both in the actualities of life and in the judgements of history. it does this within the concept of a shared culture.
However, multiculturalism also assumes a militant form in which it opposes the idea of a common culture, rejects the goals of assimilation and integration, and celebrates the immutability of diverse and separate ethnic and racial communities. Extreme separationists, while often flourishing the multicultural flag, in fact rush beyond true multiculturalism into ethnocentrism, the belief in the superior virtue of their own ethnic group." P. 150
Monoculturalism will turn oust greater crowds than multiculturalism. P. 163
Monoculturalists are white supremacists. P. 163
Rightwing political correctness catches kids before they are old enough to think for themselves. P. 164
Good bibliography. P 167-179
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