12-1-00
Earl Hutchinson Sr. was born in Tennessee in
1903 and grew up in St. Louis, which was once
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among the most notoriously racist cities in
America. Throughout the book, he observes the
historical events swirling around him, both
nationally and locally, and his story plays off the
larger events, providing a microcosm of how one
man was affected by the changing laws and
customs.
A fighter and a doer, who always seems to have
a plan of action to raise his family's fortunes, he
tells of moving to Chicago while keeping his post
office job, then scoring hard-fought victories
against racism in the workplace and the housing
market.
The book is anecdotal, rather than going into
minute detail. The style is somewhat choppy,
lacking the smooth gloss of Dawson's book, but
still compelling. With considerable skill,
Hutchinson weaves together history, politics,
sociology, personal experience, and thoughtful
reflection into a complete fabric.While the book
is successful on its own terms, it suffers from a
common fault of autobiographies -- initially
describing every event in microscopic detail, then
gradually losing steam, so that the story finally
peters out, and virtually ends by the 1950s. One
is left wondering how many memorable incidents
from the past 40 or 50 years could be included.
But this is the first book by the senior
Hutchinson, and his son no doubt had limited
time to devote to the project, because he
continues to write many books on his own. His
11th, "The Disappearance of Black Leadership,"
was published in the summer of 2000.
The review of this Book prepared by Max Millard
