From Savage to Negro: Anthropology and the Construction of Race, 1896-1954

Rating:
Summary: An excellent study in United States history
Review: Dr. Baker's work is not merely of interest for anthropologists. He looks at the overlapping histories of "racial science" and the politics of race relations in the United States between 1896 and 1954. His narrative is impressively written and accessible to a wide readership. Please take a look at this book if you have any interest whatsoever in the current public debates over affirmative action, racial categories, or civil rights law enforcement--or if you have interest in the recent "Bell Curve"-inspired debates over supposed theories about race, class, and I.Q. Baker's From Savage to Negro provides a historical perspective on the uncanny resonance between racial politics and "racial science" in U.S. history that is desperately needed in today's public debates over the social and political meanings of "race" in contemporary American society.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent study in United States history
Review: Dr. Baker's work is not merely of interest for anthropologists. He looks at the overlapping histories of "racial science" and the politics of race relations in the United States between 1896 and 1954. His narrative is impressively written and accessible to a wide readership. Please take a look at this book if you have any interest whatsoever in the current public debates over affirmative action, racial categories, or civil rights law enforcement--or if you have interest in the recent "Bell Curve"-inspired debates over supposed theories about race, class, and I.Q. Baker's From Savage to Negro provides a historical perspective on the uncanny resonance between racial politics and "racial science" in U.S. history that is desperately needed in today's public debates over the social and political meanings of "race" in contemporary American society.