Haines argues that expanding black radicalism enhanced the successes of mainstream organizations and furthered many of the goals pursued by moderate black leaders.

Herbert H. Haines is Associate Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Cortland. He is the author of Black Radicals and the Civil Rights Mainstream, 1954-1970 (1988), which was selected as an Outstanding Book by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in the United States.

“Did the more radical groups working for blacks’ civil rights from World War II until the 1970s advance the cause of civil rights? Or did they harm it by provoking a backlash among whites? In Black Radicals and the Civil Rights Mainstream, Herbert Haines provides an imaginative and thoughtful analysis of a tumultuous period in American history, showing how the ‘radical flank’ of black collective action affected the power and effectiveness of more ‘moderate’ civil rights organizations.” –Paul Burstein, author of Discrimination, Jobs, and Politics

“Movement scholars and activists should read this book. Haines demonstrates beyond a doubt that radicalism had a net beneficial effect on the victories of the civil rights movement. The radicals may generate backlash effects but, by pressuring elites, they pave the way for social change.” –J. Craig Jenkins, Ohio State University

“This book is a useful contribution to the current plethora of works on the civil rights movement. It adds a set of insights that have either been missed or deliberately overlooked by chroniclers of the sixties’ unique social events.” —Hanes Walton, Jr., Georgia Historical Quarterly

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