The Press, the Civil Rights Struggle, and the Awakening of a Nation
by Gene Roberts, Hank Klibanoff
This is the story of how America awakened to its race problem, of how a nation that longed for unity after World War II came instead to see, hear, and learn about the shocking indignities and injustices of racial segregation in the Southand the brutality used to enforce it.
It is the story of how the nations press, after decades of ignoring the problem, came to recognize the importance of the civil rights struggle and turn it into the most significant domestic news event of the twentieth century.
"Although sometimes weighted by mundane detail and deadening statistics, the book is so enlivened with anecdotes that it remains a page-turner." - PW
"[T]he authors present fascinating accounts of editors and reporters-famous and little known, black and white, liberal and reactionary-who, in the words of Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), "changed this nation once and for all."" - Library Journal
"At times, their attention drifts away from the press and onto rehashes of familiar stories -- the murder of Emmett Till, the march in Selma, the mob violence at the University of Mississippi, the church bombing in Birmingham -- but these may be useful to younger readers for whom, alas, these events are ancient and perhaps unknown history." - Washington Post
"[D]escribed here in richly instructive detail how, more often than not, the professional performance of both Southern newspapers and national beacons like The Times left much to be desired." - New York Times
This information about The Race Beat was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

If you liked The Race Beat, try these:
by Tessa Fontaine
Published 2019
Tessa Fontaine's astonishing memoir of pushing past fear, The Electric Woman, follows the author on a life-affirming journey of loss and self-discovery - through her time on the road with the last traveling American sideshow and her relationship with an adventurous, spirited mother.
by Philip Connors
Published 2012
A decade ago Philip Connors left work as an editor at the Wall Street Journal and talked his way into a job as one of the last fire lookouts in America. Fire Season is Connors's remarkable reflection on work, our place in the wild, and the charms of solitude.
by Scott Weidensaul
Published 2006
Retracing the journey that birding guru Roger Tory Peterson and naturalist James Fisher took in 1953 (recorded in Wild America), Return to Wild America is likely to become a classic in its own right - a sweeping survey of the natural soul of North America today.
Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.