Book Reviews : Protest and Prejudice: A Study of Belief in the Black Community. By GARY T. MARX. Foreword by BAYARD RUSTIN. (New York: Harper & Row, 1967. Pp. xxviii, 228, xxvii. $8.95.)

• Author: William C. Spragens
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296802100324
• Published date: 01 September 1968
• Date: 01 September 1968
• Subject Matter: Articles

526

This

is

an

enlightening

new

look

at

an

important

legislative

and

enforcement

problem,

although

the

scope

of

the

study

might

have been

broadened

somewhat.

Wisconsin

State

University,

Oshkosh

WILLIAM

C.

SPRAGENS

Protest

and

Prejudice:

A

Study

of

Belief

in

the

Black

Community.

By

GARY

T.

MARX.

Foreword

by

BAYARD

RUSTIN.

(New

York:

Harper

&

Row,

1967.

Pp.

xxviii,

228,

xxvii.

$8.95.)

This

comprehensive

study,

part

of

a

series

commissioned

by

the

Anti-Defama-

tion

League

of

B’nai

B’rith,

gives

useful

insights

into

a

vital

issue,

attitudes

of

the

American

Negro

toward

the

white

majority.

Findings

of

the

study,

expressed

empirically,

are

based

on

sample

surveys

carried

out

in

1964

and

1966,

primarily

in

Negro

ghettos.

The

author

says

the

data

suggest

that

many

people

hold

an

overly

sensational

image

of the

Negro

mood.

It

would

be

interesting

to

have

results

of

a

similar

survey

made

just

after

the

Detroit

riots

of

1967.

Marx

comments:

&dquo;To

be

sure

there

is

deep

anger

and

frustration,

as

well

as

varying

degrees

of

suspicion

and

resentment

of

whites.

Yet,

there

is

still

optimism

about

the

possibility

of

change

within

the

system.

Most

Negroes

favor

integration

in

principle,

are

loyal

to

the

United

States,

are

opposed

to

indiscrimi-

nate

violence,

and

are

not

consistently

antiwhite

or

anti-Semitic.

These

facts

aside,

rather

than

endless

discussion

about

the

nature

of

so-called

Negro

extremism,

attention

might

better

be

focused

on

changing

the

general

social

conditions

that

have

given

rise

to

virulent

hatreds

and

extreme

attitudes

on

the

part

of

a

small

but

no

doubt

increasing

minority

of

the

black

community.&dquo;

The

first

part

of

the

Marx

study

is

concerned

with

describing

various

Negro

responses

to

the

civil

rights

struggle

and

evaluating

their

prevalence.

The

second

part

of

the

study

is

concerned

with

Negro

attitudes

toward

whites,

and

one

aspect

of

the

study

is

an

analysis

of

Negro

anti-Semitism.

Numerous

breakdowns

of

data

by

item

analysis,

such

as

a

score

on

Index

of

Actual

Social

Participation,

are

presented,

as

well

as

representative

quotations

from

survey

respondents.

Conclusions

of

the

1964

and

1966

surveys

included

the

following:

Only

a

third

of

the

Negro

community

was

consistently

militant

in

outlook.

In

spite

of

what

many

would

consider

strong

provocation,

even

fewer

were

strongly

antiwhite.

To

the

degree

Negroes

distinguish

between

Jewish

and

non-Jewish

whites,

they

prefer

Jews.

Civil

rights

militancy

was

negatively

related

to

antiwhite

and

anti-

Jewish

feelings.

In

spite

of

its

importance

to

protest

in

some

respects,

religiosity

is

an

important

factor

inhibiting

militancy.

Conventional

civil

rights

groups

and

leaders

enjoyed

overwhelming

popularity.

Very

few

Negros

were

strong

supporters

of

the

Black

Muslims.

The

least-privileged

Negroes,

who

are

most

likely

to

profit

from

social

change,

were

the

least

likely

to

be

militant.

Marx

warns

however

that

&dquo;...

[S]uch

findings

offer

no

grounds

for

compla-

cency.

The

magnitude

of

moral

injustice,

the

intensity

of

concern

felt

by

many,

and

the

ever-increasing

potential

for

social

disruption

cannot

be

measured

by

a

simple

counting

of

the

’yeas’

and

’nays’....&dquo;