Thomas Borstelmann

There is a growing literature on the relations between the civil rights movement in America and international relations. Mary Dudziak has produced probably the best analysis of this, but Thomas Borstelmann still contributes to our understanding of the subject. He explores the ways in which international perceptions of racial conflict in the United States affected the federal government's support for civil rights.

For a fairly new subject, Borstelmann has a fairly traditional form of analysis. He looks predominantly at USG understanding of foreign perceptions and how the USG adjusted its policy to mitigate them. He breaks his book down by president. Although he finishes with Reagan, his book is definitely front-loaded, spending much more time from Truman to Johnson. Part of this is because race became less of an issue on the international stage, at least from the White House perspective.

As the Cold War developed, the United States was in a battle for influence across the world. The United States felt that its best weapon was the success of its society as open and affluent, giving a model for others to copy. Racial conflict interfered with that message and gave the Soviets and their allies ammunition to criticize the American system. Presidents would respond to international criticism that they felt would undermine the US position globally.

In starting with Truman, he demonstrates a man committed to civil rights even if he harbored his own personal prejudices. Lack of political support restricted him to executive decisions, integrating the armed services and the federal bureaucracy. These changes had significant impact because segregation of US servicemen overseas put US race relations in a very poor light. Similarly, foreign visitors to the State Dept. in Washington noticed the segregated workplace. "Leader of the free world" was a difficult claim to make when segregating part of the population.

Eisenhower was less committed to civil rights, but international pressure forced him to become more active. The integration of Little Rock schools and the defiance by the Arkansas governor forced Eisenhower's hand. Foreign press was reporting daily on the developments in Little Rock as an example of the prejudice and racial hatred in US society.

Kennedy was less committed to civil rights until it became clear that it was gaining momentum and that the conflicts it engendered were harming the U.S. image abroad. As such, he proclaimed that the U.S. government would attempt to redress civil rights leaders grievances. His most dramatic acts were the support of integration in southern universities, with troops if necessary. Although this did not endear him to southern whites, it did play very well overseas. He essentially shifted the blame from the U.S. as a whole to a specific region and showed that progress was being made. His assassination prevented him from following through on legislation, but LBJ eagerly took up the task. Passing the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act gave enormous credence to the US claim that change comes slow to a free society, but it does come.

Borstelmann continues into Nixon, Carter, Ford and Reagan, but his treatment is thin at best. His main point is that beginning with Nixon, Republicans began playing to white southerners to the negligence of blacks as a means to the White House. As such, they did very little to support civil rights or black grievances. In contrast, he gives very high marks to Jimmy Carter for his human rights stance and his courting of the black electorate.

Overall, this is a good book for as far as it goes, but it has some limitations. It looks at how the USG was influenced by foreign opinion to support civil rights in America. He does not look at the movement itself except as a catalyst for USG action. He likewise spends very little time discussing the actual effects of USG policies on foreign perception except to occasionally quote US Embassies on the opinions of Africans. He also focuses on Africa to the exclusion of all other regions, ignoring China, India, the Middle East and Latin America.

While this is a useful book, it will not rank as one of the most valuable in examining the international context of the civil rights movement.… (mehr)