This series delves into the complex history and contemporary realities of race within American society. It explores how racial identities and relationships have shaped American culture, arts, and politics. Offering profound insights, it examines the persistent challenges and ongoing struggles for racial justice and equality. It serves as essential reading for understanding the American experiment.
Laura Anne Doyle argues that many of the major texts of twentieth century literature revolve around concepts embodied in mother figures. By studying key novels of the Harlem Renaissance and Modernism and drawing upon the history of eugenics and anthropology, Doyle shows how mother figures represent boundaries of race and ethnicity.
Drawing on recent research in cultural studies and social history, Eric Lott examines the role of the blackface minstrel show in the political struggles of the years leading up to the Civil War.