The book White supremacy: a comparative study in American and South African history was written by Fredrickson in 1982 when the major period of discrimination and racial segregation was already in the past, yet still evident. Frederickson’s book has produced a great impact on the vision of the history of the black community both in the USA and in South Africa and revealed much injustice towards the African American people and adopted a systematic approach for finding the roots of injustice as well as the tools for its systematic establishment on different continents.
The thesis of Fredrickson’s book is to explore the racist and discriminatory policies against black people all over the world in the chronological perspective and to find out how skin color could have become the right to become a member of the dominant community. The author reveals many contradictory data on the policy of segregation and apartheid in the USA since the emergence of slavery and up to the middle of the 20th century that did not eliminate the unwritten social rules for African Americans like Jim Crow Laws (Frederickson 239) and Black Codes similar to those that existed in the times of slavery (Frederickson 234).
The author, being an African American, surely has a strong bias in favor of African American people – he tries to find the answer to how the situation turned out historically in such a way that black people could not fight the discriminatory policies imposed against them even with the help of legislation and shows how little effect abolition of slavery had on the minds of whites who still impose white dominance through attitudes, ideology and policies supported legally. He conducts an investigation being guided by data from the US like of African Americans and the life in Cape Colony finding out the roots for color bars, apartheid, and certain occupational limitations, etc. to understand how the segregation system works and cannot be defeated.
The author takes a cross-cultural chronological approach to the issue of African colonization and discusses the overall history of South African slavery and major events in the USA that marked the emergence, abolition of slavery as well as further discrimination (Frederickson 140). Later on, after the abolition of slavery but with still existing class and race conflicts the author researches the ideological, religious, and social implications that promoted or prevented the establishment of segregation (Frederickson 221). His sources of data are objective historical documents, and in general his information seems highly credible – it is enough to have a look at the collection of maps at the end of the book at which Frederickson monitored the spread of white and black people and the major influences their relations experienced that led to slavery and discrimination.
The book is well-written and argued – the author proves the point he moves forward at the beginning of the piece of writing well. But the author himself states that his aim is not to answer any questions but to show the alternative way of documentary, comprehensive study of black people’s history, life and culture that can be used to assess the past of the African American nation in a more efficient and over-grasping way. Especially important is the statement about the continuous effect that the white dominance, at least as it is viewed by white people, produces on the black community emotionally, physically, culturally, or socially, making them live in a constant fight for their rights and often losing it.
The book may be really interesting and helpful for any reader, and I was no exception. It revealed much striking, but objective information about the set of historical events that led to the establishment of white supremacy on all levels and how they have been always justified. For the reason of such activity on ideological, occupational, social and cultural levels it is impossible to imagine how to overcome such a discriminatory past and to establish a new world of equality and social justice for African American people. But still, it becomes possible to understand how the problem emerged and to try to look for innovative approaches to discrimination.
Works Cited
Frederickson, M. George. White supremacy: a comparative study in American and South African history. Oxford University Press US, 1982.