Brandi Cruz History 110T Dr.

Clune In Cold War Civil Right: Race and the Image of American Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2011), Mary L. Dudziak examines the various ways in which the Cold War and the civil rights movement affected one another between 1946 and the mid-1960s. Dudziak argues that WWII was a watershed moment in "American foreign relations, American politics, and American culture" because "the meaning ascribed to the war would help to shape" the nation's ideological shift in racial equality (7). The author asserts that the U.S. domestic conflicts fuelled by segregation and racism was a threat to American foreign relations and the nation's global fight against communism. These internal issues over race resulted in foreign nations questioning the American government's commitment to democracy, its global leadership, and fuelled ant-American propaganda. Thus, Dudziak argues that at times government officials like President Harry S. Truman and Congressmen William Benton argued that civil rights reforms were necessary to improve foreign perceptions of the United States in order to fight communism. Dudziak uses such primary sources as magazine and newspaper articles, radio broadcasts, and court rulings. The author establishes foreign opinions of U.S. democracy and racism through the use of foreign newspaper articles and State Department documents. Dudziak also utilizes newspaper cartoons and articles from the Soviet Union that were circulated as part of its antiAmerican propaganda campaign. Using these sources, Dudziak presents a political, judicial, cultural, media, social, and diplomatic history of the United States civil rights movement and Cold War dynamics. Dudziak supports her argument that racism in America affected foreign relations by presenting examples of discrimination and violence against African-Americans that influenced

the opinions of foreign nations. Dudziak also argues that global perceptions were influenced by racial discrimination against foreign dignitaries. For example, Dudziak cites how Haiti's Secretary of Agriculture Francois Georges was denied a room in the Buena Vista Hotel because he was black. When Georges returned to Haiti, foreign newspapers ran articles of the incident which raised questions about American democracy and its treatment of minorities as it advocated for equality overseas. These types of incidents created diplomatic problems. Dudziak also asserts that the United States government tried to improve foreign perceptions of America by arguing that its treatment of blacks had improved since obtaining independence from Britain. Dudziak uses The Negro in American Life pamphlet. It depicted an improvement to African-American living standards and racial integration. However, it was an Ameerican propaganda that argued "'the cardinal cause' of American racial prejudice was the nation's history of slavery" rather than racism (40). Dudziak also argues that since the government tried to improve foreign opinions, it supported civil rights reforms. The author explains that court cases like the Brown v the Board of Education helped end segregation in schools. For instance, in Sweatt and McLaurin cases, the Supreme Court ruled that each person's fourteenth amendment rights were violated since the education offered was not equal (78). These cases challeneged separate but equal and according to Dudziak, set the precedent for the Brown case. As a result, the rulings affected the civil rights movement, racial equality, and other nations' views of the United States. The author did an excellent job at demonstrating a connection between the civil rights movement and the Cold War with examples of the reverberating affects of racism and segregation toward diplomats.