Copyright 1994 Adam Barnhart. All Rights Reserved. Fair use of this document.

I have tried to construct a narrative that examines Communism's political opposition through the lenses of social and cultural history, playing particular attention to the worlds from which these radicals came, the worlds in which they lived, and the imaginary worlds they sought to build. I pluralize "worlds" to emphasize the myriad individual and collective differences within the Alabama Communist movement (xi).

The level on which community is most completely demonstrated is in class. While Kelley recognizes the social roles occupied by a small minority of black entrepreneurs, the general similitude of the Southern black working experience was once which brought them together, both in terms of propinquity and politics. The politics of the Left before Communism appealed to the Afro-American population, but the movement towards unionization in the United States left the door open for a Communist political agenda that upheld the notions of equality that had traditionally been the focus of great struggle. The promises of a deliverance from poverty provided a means of achieving unity for the urban black population, while instituting a type of political movement that was uniquely Southern, combining Stalin and Marx with the traditional religiosity and ruralism of the South, supporting a greater tranquility in the domestic sphere while creating a greater dynamicism in the workplace.

The radical stance taken by many Southern blacks created an environment in which conflict emerged simultaneously along many lines. Racially, the Communist Party had come to be seen as the "nigger party," focused primarily on issues of race (92) while subverting conventional gender roles, allying communism with "sexual promiscuity and miscegenation" (79). The party became more entrenched, however, by pursuing ties with other liberal groups, most notably the NAACP, creating a notion of community based on an egalitarian ideology employed primarily by the most oppressed group of the South, poor black urban industrial workers. Ultimately, the Communist Party in Alabama was irreparably damaged by the changing face of Communism internationally, particularly in the alliance between the Soviet Communists and the Nazis. As a result, the historical role of Communism in Alabama appears to be located as much in its role as a precursor to other radical liberal groups in the South, such as SNCC, as in its own activities.

In combining two important historical phenomena -- the black American experience and Communism -- Kelley explores issues that support the importance of his own specific study while making for unusually interesting reading. However, as the work progresses, it becomes increasingly important to recognize the political position the book occupies. Like Vicki Ruiz, Robin Kelley writes about a traditionally underrepresented group, giving it a dignity that may not be totally realized in the traditional canon of historical writing. However, Kelley's writing is more disembodied than Ruiz's, constructed in a far less confrontational, polemic style, which makes its political agenda less obvious. As a total work, though, the Marxian tendencies of the author play a central role in the organization and direction of the book.