The term  Jim Crow II  is frequently used by African Americans to describe contemporary American race relations, by which they mean that just as legal segregation, lynching and voting restrictions followed emancipation, so has a period of racist reaction followed the successes of the Civil Rights movement. Williams sees parallels between the two periods:  I have attempted to describe and analyze the ideas of persons who provided, in a time comparable to our own, the bases of sophisticated discussion of race and race relations.  Williams is too good a historian to settle for merely demonstrating parallels; he also traces the continuing conflict between American social science which, with some notable exceptions, has been aggressively anti-racist since the 1930s, and America\u27s deeply ingrained racism

Jones, Rhett

English

VCU Scholars Compass

Ethnic Studies Review Vol .  1 9 ,  No. 1 and i n  s u rmount ing rac ia l  po l it ics i n  provid i ng  for ch i l d ren ,  and on  the h i story of aff i l i at ion and conf l ict between B lacks and Jews. This confrontat ion with nat ional issues has seemed to overwhelm issues of personal  rac ia l/ethn ic ident i ty such that mu lt i rac ia ls have been forced to develop st rateg ies to negot iate the borders of race.  St rateg ies range f rom us ing  s ituat iona l  ethn ic ity and , hav ing l i ngu i st ic f lex ib i l i ty, to  the ab i l ity to s imu ltaneous ly embrace mu l t ip le  perspectives. These "bor­der cross i ngs" by mu lt i rac ia l  i nd iv iduals defy the t rad i t ional  monorac ia l  c lass if icat ions of  race and fo rce us to th i nk  of  ways i n  wh ich the new d ialog may he lp  d ismant le negative construct ions of race .  In the f i na l  analys is ,  the author  leads us to  a d iscuss ion ,  not  on ly of  i nd iv idua l  race ident ity in p rocess, but the more profound imp l icat ions of nat iona l  iden­t ity. By re leas i ng  i ts  f i rm ho ld on the ru le of  hypodescent ,  the U n ited States i s  i tself in the p rocess of a new identity which may br ing  the coun ­t ry f u l l  c i rc le  to  the or ig i na l  not ion o f  t he  ideal  o f  a "melt i ng  pot." Yo landa F lores N iemann E .  L inco ln  James Wash i ngton State Un ivers ity Vernon J. W i l l i a m s ,  J r. Rethinking Race: Franz Boas and His Con­temporaries. ( Lex i n gton : U n ivers ity Press of Kentucky, 1 996) 1 52 p p . ,  $34.95 clot h ,  $ 1 5 .95 paper. The term "J i m  C row I I " i s  f req uent ly used by Af r ican Amer icans to descr ibe contemporary American race re lat ions ,  by wh ich they mean that j ust as lega l  seg regat ion ,  lynch ing  and vot ing  rest rict ions fo l lowed emanc ipat ion ,  so has a period of rac ist react ion fo l lowed the successes of the C iv i l  R i ghts movement .  W i l l iams sees paral le ls  between the two periods :  "I have attempted to descr ibe and analyze the ideas of persons who p rovided , i n  a t ime comparable to ou r  own, the bases of  soph i st i ­cated d iscuss ion of race and race re lat ions . "  Wi l l iams i s  too good a h i stor ian to sett le  for mere ly demonstrat ing para l le ls ;  he a lso traces the cont i nu i ng  conf l ict between Ame rican soc ia l  science wh ich ,  with some notable except ions ,  has been aggressively ant i - racist s i nce the 1 930s ,  a n d  Amer ica's deeply i ng ra i ned rac ism.  Franz Boas , born i nto a German Jewish  househo ld ,  and de­scr i bed by W i l l iams as the "father  of modern Amer ican anth ropology," is the p ivotal f i g u re i n  Rethinking Race. I n  h i s  work and h i s  re lat ions with co l leag ues ,  wh ite and B lack ,  Boas embod ied wh ite Ame rica's con­f l i ct i ng  ideas about race .  O nce Boas "had estab l is hed that wh ite p rej u ­d ice was the majo r  obstac le to b lack p rogress,  rather  t han  assu med i n nate rac ia l  t ra i ts ,  i t became exceed i ng ly d iff icu lt fo r anth ropology and 1 24 Book Reviews socio logy" to j ustify Amer ican rac ism .  Howeve r, Boas h i mself  was not f u l ly convinced that B lacks were ab le to p roduce as many "men of h i g h  gen ius '  " a s  were wh ites, a l though  he  d i d  argue  that not a l l  B lacks we re inte l lectua l ly  i nfe r ior to a l l  wh ites and that rac ist legal barr iers were there­fo re unfa i r. Wi l l iams t races the complex web of i nst i tut iona l ,  academic and pe rsonal re lat ionsh ips a long wh ich  Boas '  ideas moved d u ri ng  the f i rst fou r  decades of the twent ieth centu ry. He does so by d rawing on the correspondence of  Boas h imself as we l l  as on that of  such lead ing  f ig ­u res as W. E . B . DuBois ,  Carter G .  Woodson ,  Robert E .  Park, and Booker  T. Wash i ngton .  Wash i ngton " i n it ia l ly conceived o f  h i s  Af rican ancesto rs as pr im it ive barbarians" and exonerated "white Southe rners of respon­s ib i l ity fo r the so-ca l led Negro prob lem and p laced it  sq uarely on the shou lders of  blacks. Learn ing  the v i rtues of  common labor, he be l ieved , wou ld  y ie ld far more ga ins than pol i t ics." Wash ington also i ns isted that d u ri ng  Reconstruct ion ,  B lacks had re l ied far too much on the federa l  gove rn ment and had not done enough for themselves. But in f luenced by Boas, Wash i ngton changed h is posit ion ,  not i ng  i n  a 1 9 1 5  speech that wh i le  the Afr ican American was be l ieved to be i nfe r ior, i n  p ract ice "the idea appears to be that he is  a sort of superman.  He is expected wi th  about  one f ifth of  what wh ites rece ived for the i r  educat ion to make as much prog ress as they are making . "  I n  t rac ing  the i nf luence o f  Boas' ideas as  they were refracted th rough such wh ite i nst itut ions as Co lumbia U n ivers ity, the Rosenwald Foundat ion ,  and the Amer ican Associat ion of U n ive rs ity P rofessors ,  and such B lack ones as Howard Un ive rs ity, the Associat ion fo r the Study of Negro L ife and H istory, and The Negro Year Book, Wi l l iams writes a h istory that is ne i ther i nte l lectua l  nor  soc ia l ,  but carefu l ly  examines the complex i nterplay of ideas , patronage (academic ,  i nst itut ional  and f i ­nancia l ) ,  and organ izat ions .  W i l l iams demonstrates that the ideas he ld  by B lacks were not  f ree f loat i ng  but  were enmeshed i n  organ izat iona l ,  profess iona l ,  and personal re lationsh ips ,  and he shows that B lacks we re not people to whom th ings happened , but rather  p layed a strong ro le i n  f ight ing rac is m .  Boas suffered a fatal heart attack w h i l e  denounc i ng  Naz i  ant i -semit ism i n  1 942,  but  acco rd i ng  to  Wi l l iams had  al ready re­ceived strong support i n  h i s  attacks on  H it le r's race theo ries f rom many Afr ican American i ntel lectua ls .  Wi l l iams obse rves "that on ly  by u nderstand i ng  the p re - 1 945 social sc ient i f ic  scho larsh i p  on African Americans can we come to an understand i ng  of the i r potent ia l  contri but ion(s) and dest iny i n  the twenty­f i rst centu ry." Rethinking Race i s  a good p lace to beg i n  th is  under­stand i ng .  1 25 R hett Jones B rown U n ive rs ity 

[Review of] Vernon Williams, Jr., Rethinking Race: Franz Boas and His Contemporaries

Ethnic Studies Review Vol .  1 9 ,  No. 1 
and i n  s u rmount ing rac ia l  po l it ics i n  provid i ng  for ch i l d ren ,  and on  the 
h i story of aff i l i at ion and conf l ict between B lacks and Jews. 
This confrontat ion with nat ional issues has seemed to overwhelm 
issues of personal  rac ia l/ethn ic ident i ty such that mu lt i rac ia ls have been 
forced to develop st rateg ies to negot iate the borders of race.  St rateg ies 
range f rom us ing  s ituat iona l  ethn ic ity and , hav ing l i ngu i st ic f lex ib i l i ty, to  
the ab i l ity to s imu ltaneous ly embrace mu l t ip le  perspectives. These "bor­
der cross i ngs" by mu lt i rac ia l  i nd iv iduals defy the t rad i t ional  monorac ia l  
c lass if icat ions of  race and fo rce us to th i nk  of  ways i n  wh ich the new 
d ialog may he lp  d ismant le negative construct ions of race .  In the f i na l  
analys is ,  the author  leads us to  a d iscuss ion ,  not  on ly of  i nd iv idua l  race 
ident ity in p rocess, but the more profound imp l icat ions of nat iona l  iden­
t ity. By re leas i ng  i ts  f i rm ho ld on the ru le of  hypodescent ,  the U n ited 
States i s  i tself in the p rocess of a new identity which may br ing  the coun ­
t ry f u l l  c i rc le  to  the or ig i na l  not ion o f  t he  ideal  o f  a "melt i ng  pot." 
Yo landa F lores N iemann 
E .  L inco ln  James 
Wash i ngton State Un ivers ity 
Vernon J. W i l l i a m s ,  J r. Rethinking Race: Franz Boas and His Con­
temporaries. ( Lex i n gton : U n ivers ity Press of Kentucky, 1 996) 1 52 
p p . ,  $34.95 clot h ,  $ 1 5 .95 paper. 
The term "J i m  C row I I " i s  f req uent ly used by Af r ican Amer icans 
to descr ibe contemporary American race re lat ions ,  by wh ich they mean 
that j ust as lega l  seg regat ion ,  lynch ing  and vot ing  rest rict ions fo l lowed 
emanc ipat ion ,  so has a period of rac ist react ion fo l lowed the successes 
of the C iv i l  R i ghts movement .  W i l l iams sees paral le ls  between the two 
periods :  "I have attempted to descr ibe and analyze the ideas of persons 
who p rovided , i n  a t ime comparable to ou r  own, the bases of  soph i st i ­
cated d iscuss ion of race and race re lat ions . "  Wi l l iams i s  too good a 
h i stor ian to sett le  for mere ly demonstrat ing para l le ls ;  he a lso traces the 
cont i nu i ng  conf l ict between Ame rican soc ia l  science wh ich ,  with some 
notable except ions ,  has been aggressively ant i - racist s i nce the 1 930s ,  
a n d  Amer ica's deeply i ng ra i ned rac ism.  
Franz Boas , born i nto a German Jewish  househo ld ,  and de­
scr i bed by W i l l iams as the "father  of modern Amer ican anth ropology," 
is the p ivotal f i g u re i n  Rethinking Race. I n  h i s  work and h i s  re lat ions 
with co l leag ues ,  wh ite and B lack ,  Boas embod ied wh ite Ame rica's con­
f l i ct i ng  ideas about race .  O nce Boas "had estab l is hed that wh ite p rej u ­
d ice was the majo r  obstac le to b lack p rogress,  rather  t han  assu med 
i n nate rac ia l  t ra i ts ,  i t became exceed i ng ly d iff icu lt fo r anth ropology and 
1 24 
Book Reviews 
socio logy" to j ustify Amer ican rac ism .  Howeve r, Boas h i mself  was not 
f u l ly convinced that B lacks were ab le to p roduce as many "men of h i g h  
gen ius '  " a s  were wh ites, a l though  he  d i d  argue  that not a l l  B lacks we re 
inte l lectua l ly  i nfe r ior to a l l  wh ites and that rac ist legal barr iers were there­
fo re unfa i r. 
Wi l l iams t races the complex web of i nst i tut iona l ,  academic and 
pe rsonal re lat ionsh ips a long wh ich  Boas '  ideas moved d u ri ng  the f i rst 
fou r  decades of the twent ieth centu ry. He does so by d rawing on the 
correspondence of  Boas h imself as we l l  as on that of  such lead ing  f ig ­
u res as W. E . B . DuBois ,  Carter G .  Woodson ,  Robert E .  Park, and Booker  
T. Wash i ngton .  Wash i ngton " i n it ia l ly conceived o f  h i s  Af rican ancesto rs 
as pr im it ive barbarians" and exonerated "white Southe rners of respon­
s ib i l ity fo r the so-ca l led Negro prob lem and p laced it  sq uarely on the 
shou lders of  blacks. Learn ing  the v i rtues of  common labor, he be l ieved , 
wou ld  y ie ld far more ga ins than pol i t ics." Wash ington also i ns isted that 
d u ri ng  Reconstruct ion ,  B lacks had re l ied far too much on the federa l  
gove rn ment and had not done enough for themselves. But in f luenced 
by Boas, Wash i ngton changed h is posit ion ,  not i ng  i n  a 1 9 1 5  speech that 
wh i le  the Afr ican American was be l ieved to be i nfe r ior, i n  p ract ice "the 
idea appears to be that he is  a sort of superman.  He is expected wi th  
about  one f ifth of  what wh ites rece ived for the i r  educat ion to make as 
much prog ress as they are making . "  
I n  t rac ing  the i nf luence o f  Boas' ideas as  they were refracted 
th rough such wh ite i nst itut ions as Co lumbia U n ivers ity, the Rosenwald 
Foundat ion ,  and the Amer ican Associat ion of U n ive rs ity P rofessors ,  and 
such B lack ones as Howard Un ive rs ity, the Associat ion fo r the Study of 
Negro L ife and H istory, and The Negro Year Book, Wi l l iams writes a 
h istory that is ne i ther i nte l lectua l  nor  soc ia l ,  but carefu l ly  examines the 
complex i nterplay of ideas , patronage (academic ,  i nst itut ional  and f i ­
nancia l ) ,  and organ izat ions .  W i l l iams demonstrates that the ideas he ld  
by B lacks were not  f ree f loat i ng  but  were enmeshed i n  organ izat iona l ,  
profess iona l ,  and personal re lationsh ips ,  and he shows that B lacks we re 
not people to whom th ings happened , but rather  p layed a strong ro le i n  
f ight ing rac is m .  Boas suffered a fatal heart attack w h i l e  denounc i ng  
Naz i  ant i -semit ism i n  1 942,  but  acco rd i ng  to  Wi l l iams had  al ready re­
ceived strong support i n  h i s  attacks on  H it le r's race theo ries f rom many 
Afr ican American i ntel lectua ls .  
Wi l l iams obse rves "that on ly  by u nderstand i ng  the p re - 1 945 
social sc ient i f ic  scho larsh i p  on African Americans can we come to an 
understand i ng  of the i r potent ia l  contri but ion(s) and dest iny i n  the twenty­
f i rst centu ry." Rethinking Race i s  a good p lace to beg i n  th is  under­
stand i ng .  
1 25 
R hett Jones 
B rown U n ive rs ity 


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[Review of] Vernon Williams, Jr., Rethinking Race: Franz Boas and His Contemporaries

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