In Search of the Black Fantastic

When Paul Robeson declared, at the height of Cold War tensions, that black Americans would never fight for a nation that had “oppressed us for generations" in a war against the Soviet Union, the actor and civil rights advocate ignited a firestorm that damaged his career and opened a debate about the role black entertainers should play in politics.

America's list of artists-turned-activists runs the gamut from John Wayne to Hanoi Jane, from Ronald Reagan as conservative standard-bearer to Sean Penn as professional Bush-basher. White celebrities, though, be they right-wing or left-, revered or reviled, aren't forced to consider racial identity when spouting their political views. For African American icons, politics and race are inseparable.

This theme runs through In Search of the Black Fantastic, a fascinating history and analysis of the nexus of black popular culture and activism from the Jazz Age to the hip-hop era written by Richard Iton, an associate professor of African American studies and political science at Northwestern University. Thanks to Jim Crow laws and other racist policies, African Americans remained locked out of the American political process for decades, and as late as the 1940s and '50s there were just a handful of black members of Congress. Without elected officials to represent it, Iton notes, the black community instead found political leaders in intellectuals, civic activists, clergy and, often, performing artists.

Iton dissects how the next generation of African American figures responded to the challenges of the civil rights era, with some risking livelihood to participate in political activities and others taking a more cautious path. Harry Belafonte was a confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. and helped support the Freedom Rides and the march on Washington. Nat King Cole, who was labeled an “Uncle Tom" by civil rights activist Thurgood Marshall, believed it was “idiotic" that black entertainers should get involved in politics. “I am a singer of songs. I am not a public speaker," Cole said. Sidney Poitier took a middle-ground approach, selecting only film roles that, in his view, portrayed black men with dignity. As racial politics grew more heated, Poitier's nobler-than-thou characters became obsolete and the actor's popularity plummeted.

In Search of the Black Fantastic
Politics & Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era Richard
Iton Oxford University Press: 424 pp., $29.95