The Fire Is upon Us : James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate over Race in America / Nicholas Buccola.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Buccola, Nicholas, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baldwin, James, 1924-1987--Political and social views.

Baldwin, James.

Buckley, William F., Jr., 1925-2008.

Buckley, William F.

African Americans--Social conditions--20th century.

African Americans.

United States--Race relations--20th century.

United States.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (497 pages)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

How the clash between the civil rights firebrand and the father of modern conservatism continues to illuminate America's racial divideOn February 18, 1965, an overflowing crowd packed the Cambridge Union in Cambridge, England, to witness a historic televised debate between James Baldwin, the leading literary voice of the civil rights movement, and William F. Buckley Jr., a fierce critic of the movement and America's most influential conservative intellectual. The topic was "the American dream is at the expense of the American Negro," and no one who has seen the debate can soon forget it. Nicholas Buccola's The Fire Is upon Us is the first book to tell the full story of the event, the radically different paths that led Baldwin and Buckley to it, the controversies that followed, and how the debate and the decades-long clash between the men continues to illuminate America's racial divide today.Born in New York City only fifteen months apart, the Harlem-raised Baldwin and the privileged Buckley could not have been more different, but they both rose to the height of American intellectual life during the civil rights movement. By the time they met in Cambridge, Buckley was determined to sound the alarm about a man he considered an "eloquent menace." For his part, Baldwin viewed Buckley as a deluded reactionary whose popularity revealed the sickness of the American soul. The stage was set for an epic confrontation that pitted Baldwin's call for a moral revolution in race relations against Buckley's unabashed elitism and implicit commitment to white supremacy.A remarkable story of race and the American dream, The Fire Is upon Us reveals the deep roots and lasting legacy of a conflict that continues to haunt our politics.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Illustrations

Prologue

Chapter 1. The Ghetto and the Mansion, 1924-46

Chapter 2. Disturbing the Peace, 1946-54

Chapter 3. Joining the Battle, 1955-61

Chapter 4. Taking Responsibility, 1961-62

Chapter 5. In the Eye of the Storm, 1963-64

Chapter 6. "What Concerns Me Most": Baldwin at Cambridge

Chapter 7. "The Faith of Our Fathers": Buckley at Cambridge

Chapter 8. Lighting the Fuse

Epilogue. The Fire Is upon Us

Acknowledgments

Appendix. Transcript of the Baldwin versus Buckley Debate at the Cambridge Union

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 06. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9780691199122

0691199124

9780691197395

0691197393

OCLC:

1109390833