Harlem Vs. Columbia University

by Bradley, Stefan M.

• ISBN13: 9780252078866
• ISBN10: 0252078861
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-07-12
• Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr

Summary

In 1968-69, Columbia University became the site for a collision of American social movements. Black Power, student power, antiwar, New Left, and Civil Rights movements all clashed with local and state politics when an alliance of black students and residents of Harlem and Morningside Heights openly protested the school's ill-conceived plan to build a large, private gymnasium in the small green park that separates the elite university from Harlem. Railing against the university's expansion policy, protesters occupied administration buildings and met violent opposition from both fellow students and the police. In this dynamic book, Stefan M. Bradley describes the impact of Black Power ideology on the Students' Afro-American Society (SAS) at Columbia. While white students--led by Mark Rudd and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)--sought to radicalize the student body and restructure the university, black students focused on stopping the construction of the gym in Morningside Park. Through separate, militant action, black students and the black community stood up to the power of an Ivy League institution and stopped it from trampling over its relatively poor and powerless neighbors. Bradley also compares the events at Columbia with similar events at Harvard, Cornell, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania.

Author Biography

Stefan M. Bradley is an associate professor of history and African American studies at Saint Louis University.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. vii
Introduction	p. 1
Why I Hate You: Community Resentment of Columbia	p. 20
Gym Crow: Recreational Segregation in Morningside Park	p. 39
Up against the Wall: Columbia's Integrated Protest Effort	p. 63
On Our Own: SAS's Self-imposed Separation	p. 74
Supporting the Cause: SDS, Protest, and the "Bust"	p. 93
Black Student Power: The Struggle for Black Studies	p. 110
Striking Similarities: Columbia, the Ivy League, and Black People	p. 133
Is It Over Yet? The Results of Student and Community Protest	p. 155
Conclusion	p. 187
Epilogue: Where Are They Now?	p. 193
Notes	p. 199
Bibliography	p. 227
Index	p. 239
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