This book about the various ethnic people in the state is disappointing in two ways: its format, and its very limited material about some of the groups who have been and are living in the state

Davies, Phillips G.

English

VCU Scholars Compass

Sid White and S . E .  Solberg,  e d s .  Peoples of Was hington: Perspectives on Cultural Diversity. (Pullman: Washington State University Press, 1 989) xix, 2 6 1  pp., $24.95; $ 1 4.95 paper. This book about the various ethnic people in the state is disappointing in two ways: its format, and its very limited material about some of the groups who have been and are living in the state. There are five maj or sections, one each on Native Americans, Euro­pean Americans, African Americans, Asian/Pacific Americans, and Hispano Americans. There is also a quite detailed bibliography. That the editors may have had less to work with than might be expected seems possible because of the large number of references to some groups of ethnic-related columns that appeared in Seattle newspapers, mostly during the 1980s. The latter two groups are the most detailed, in both cases emphasizing brief accounts of particular individuals and families as examples of the whole ethnic group. Both writers, however, spend too much time on what academics already know-namely that both Asians and Hispanics were persecuted. But for the general audience intended, the emphasis is justified, and all readers should be interested in the material about recent attempts to break down the barriers of prej udice. The material about Native Americans (only 17 pages) is thin, and overdependent on maps which show where they were and where they now are to be found in the state. Otherwise the emphasis seems to be on their closeness to nature and their general beliefs .  There is next to no contemporary material. The weakest section is on the E uropeans. Any attempt to deal with these many various groups in 48 pages (minus ten pages of illustrations­which, by the way, are excellent throughout the volume-and a two-page bibliography) is bound to be rather superficial. The 9,000 Portuguese­background people in the state are not mentioned at all, the 6,000 Belgians are all W orId War Two brides, at least according to the only reference to them. The Greeks fare better with one full paragraph and one other paragraph in which they and the E astern Orthodox churches are described. The 54,000 Welsh share one sentence with the Cornish and other "English speaking Americans" as foremen and supervisors in the coal fields. This is neither an accurate nor a sufficient treatment of the group. The section on African Americans does contain a fair amount of substantial information, but much moreso than with the sections on Asians and Hispanics, the author's sense of inj ustice causes her to overdocument inj ustices at the expense of giving a fuller account of where and when they come from, where they settled, what sort of jo bs they had, and the like.  In contrast to the section on Native Americans, considerable contemporary material is  presented. Although this reviewer is rather negative about this book, he welcomes Explorations in Sights and Sounds No. 10  (Summer 1 990) 67 another state to the relatively small group that has already attempted to chronicle the history and achievements of the ethnic groups that have lived in it, and he hopes that other states will do likewise, since such material would appear to be the cornerstone of both specific and general historically oriented ethnic studies courses . Although overstatistical, the similar volume on Minnesota's ethnic groups continues as the model for such studies. -Phillips G. Davies Iowa State University C ary D. Wintz, Black Culture and the Harlem Renaissance. (Houston TX: Rice University Press, 1 988) 2 7 7  pp. , $27.50; $ 1 0.95 paper. I n  1925 Professor Alain Locke argued in The New Negro that the Negro was " moving forward under the control largely of his own objectives . . .  " which were "none other than the ideals of American institutions and democracy . "  This allowed for blacks everywhere to be called "New Negroes" but nowhere were there as many New Negroes as in H arlem. The activities of these people in politics, arts, literature, music and the like between World War I and the Depression Era came to be called the H arlem Renaissance. In recent years, several comprehensive books have been written on the Renaissance .  The book un der review, however, purports to be a specialized treatment of black culture during the H arlem Renaissance which Wintz defines as "primarily a literary and intellectual movement." I n  an introduction and ten chapters , Wintz explores well known topics covered in previous works such as David Levering Lewis' When Harlem Wa s i n  Vo g u e  ( N e w  Y o r k :  A l fr e d  A .  K n o p f: 1 9 8 1 ) ,  J e r v i s  Anderson's This Was Harlem (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux: 1 981 ) ,  and others . But Wintz, by defining the era so narrowly, deals almost only with poets and novelists ofthe period. And while " culture" is never defined, it appears that Wintz's constricted view of the elements that determined the period rendered his conception of culture meaning­less , for there were other intellectual movements that contributed greatly to make the H arlem Renaissance culturally unique. If one thinks of the revolution in music, the transformation from the Blues and Ragtime to J azz, one has to admit that a musical movement of cultural importance was afoot. The political culture was changing swiftly also. It was in this period that black people began to desert the party of their liberator, Lincoln, for the party ofF.D.R.  after experimenting with a number of radical parties such as the Socialist and Communist parties. Nationalism reappeared strongly in the guise of Garvey's United Negro 68 Explorations in Sights and Sounds No. 10 (Summer 1 990) 

[Review of] Sid White and S. E. Solberg, eds. Peoples of Washington: Perspectives on Cultural Diversity

https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1513&amp;context=ess

[Review of] Sid White and S. E. Solberg, eds. Peoples of Washington: Perspectives on Cultural Diversity

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