Blacks and Reds: Race and Class in Conflict, 1919-1990

In this important new study, Hutchinson examines in detail the American Communist party's largely unsuccessful effort to win the allegiance of black Americans in the 20th century. From the time of its creation in 1919, Hutchinson argues, the party sought to recruit African Americans, initially by arguing that Marxist ideology best served their interests; further, Communist ideologues declared that injustices visited upon African Americans resulted from economic and class antagonism, not racia…