The Black Hammer
 | |
| Author | Wes Andrews and Clyde Dalton |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Political |
| Publisher | Desco |
Publication date | 1967 |
| Pages | 101 |
The Black Hammer: A Study of Black Power, Red Influence and White Alternatives is a 1967 book by Wes Andrews and Clyde Dalton. It is notable for being endorsed by Ezra Taft Benson, the former Secretary of Agriculture in the Eisenhower Administration and an apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Benson also wrote the book's foreword.
Thesis[edit]
The book was written in response to what the authors perceived as a communist takeover of the civil rights movement.[1] The book cover features a decapitated and bleeding African-American head, being used at the end of a hammer in the communist hammer and sickle, illustrating the book's theme that the civil rights movement was being used as a tool by communists.
Foreword[edit]
In 1967 Benson gave a talk discussing his views on the civil rights movement at the anti-Communist/segregationist[2] leadership school of Billy James Hargis, who published it in his Christian Crusade magazine.[3] Benson approved this talk to be used as the foreword to the book.[4][5] Historian D. Michael Quinn notes that Benson's endorsement of the book came at the time when the John Birch Society was making efforts to nominate Benson for U.S. president, with segregationist Strom Thurmond as his running mate. Quinn also speculates that the endorsement of this book by Benson may have been an attempt to curry favor with segregationist George Wallace, who did ask Benson to be his vice-presidential running mate for his 1968 campaign.[6]
Summary[edit]
The book is dismissive of the civil rights legislation, warning that the organized efforts for civil rights were "part of the 100 year old Communist program for the enslavement of America," and that there existed "well-defined plans for the establishment of a Negro Soviet dictatorship in the South."[7]
The book sarcastically criticized the legislation as reducing black self-reliance and fed into "the Negro's need for complete subservience to the Great White Fathers in Washington."[7]
The book portrays African-Americans as victims rather than perpetrators of the communist plot, stating that they are "ready and willing to take any Negro by the hand and help him into an era of self-proprietorship that every deserving American can achieve."[8]
Reception[edit]
The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled the book as "vicious and racist".[9]
References[edit]
- ^ Andrews, W., & Dalton, C. (1967). The Black Hammer: A Study of Black Power, Red Influence and White Alternatives. full text online at: https://archive.org/stream/TheBlackHammer/The%20Black%20Hammer_djvu.txt
- ^ “Ezra Taft Benson Addresses Rally,” Deseret News, 7 Jan. 1963, A-3. For Benson's participation with Hargis and his Christian Crusade, see “This Week! 5 Great Nights of Christian Leadership Training: Christian Crusade Leadership School—Feb. 20-24,” advertisement in Tulsa Daily World, 19 Feb. 1967, photocopy in Williams papers. For background on Hargis, see John Harold Redekop, The American Far Right: A Case Study of Billy James Hargis and Christian Crusade (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968).
- ^ Ezra Taft Benson, "Trade and Treason," Christian Crusade 19 (Apr. 1967):22-24
- ^ Quinn, D. M. (2017). The Mormon hierarchy: extensions of power. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates. e-book location 4001 of 29417. see full text: https://archive.org/stream/TheBlackHammer/The%20Black%20Hammer_djvu.txt
- ^ Southern Poverty Law Center, https://www.splcenter.org/file/1913
- ^ Quinn, D. M. (2017). The Mormon hierarchy: extensions of power. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates. e-book location 4026 of 29417.
- ^ a b Andrews, W., & Dalton, C. (1967). The Black Hammer: A Study of Black Power, Red Influence and White Alternatives. page 32-35
- ^ Quinn, D. M. (2017). The Mormon hierarchy: extensions of power. Salt Lake City, UT: Signature Books in association with Smith Research Associates. e-book location 4026 of 29417
- ^ ezra-taft-benson-black-hammer.jpg. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.splcenter.org/file/1913