Race Riot at East St. Louis (July 2, 1917). by Elliott M. RudwickReview by: Charles E. KingSocial Forces, Vol. 43, No. 3 (Mar., 1965), p. 449Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2574800 .

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BOOK REVIEWS 449

ences, since the social and economic gap between Negroes and whites is not likely to change radically in the near future, and since the Negro protest is likely to increase in intensity, it is no longer a question of "merely allowing Negroes to enter the main-stream of American Life but of enabling them to enter."

Pettigrew's book contains several deeply im- pressive features. It is above all a fresh, in- vigorating, and comparative analysis of the argu- ments and literature on racial differences; it may well adumbrate the beginning or extension of role theory in the analysis of race relations. As an extra bonus, an extensive bibliography containing 565 references is provided. Also, there is rein- forcement of the nascent trend toward employing the concept Negro American in lieu of American Negro. There are meaning and significance for the social scientists and for the general reader; the book may well become a widely used non- technical reference on racial differences and the consequences of segregation and discrimination.

TILMAN C. COTHRAN

A tlanta University

RACE RIOT AT EAST ST. Louis (July 2, 1917). By Elliott M. Rudwick. Foreword by Oscar Hand- lin. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois Uni- versity Press, 1964. 300 pp. Illustrated. $6.00.

As a result of extensive examination and a prodi- gious collection of data from newspaper files, official and unofficial investigations made after the riot, correspondence and board minutes of local organizations, transcripts of court trials, and per- sonal interviews, Professor Rudwick has produced a rather provocative and lucid study of the de- velopment of a race riot. The volume may well be considered a case study of riot behavior and its origins.

The first four chapters present an assessment of situational factors in East St. Louis that motivated social unrest in the population. Further in this same section an analysis of the factors, facts and rumors-about-facts are related to the engendered unrest in the relations between and among the white and Negro elements in the population. Basically, according to the author, the riot was spawned out of conflicting interests of the political situation between the Democrats and Republicans and between labor union leaders and industrial leaders. Democrats accused the Republicans of a "Colonization Conspiracy" to bring Negroes into East St. Louis to bolster the political power and control of the Republican Party. Union leaders stimulated unrest among employees with rumors that industrial leaders were importing Negroes as strikebreakers in an effort to defeat the unioniza- tion of labor. Negroes, as a fact, were coming into the community as part of the general migration process, but not to the extent, nor for purposes as the Democrats and union leaders influenced the

white masses to believe. The local press facili- tated the spread of the above rumors and further fanned the fires of prejudice which increased fears and unrest.

Chapters five and six vividly describe the dy- namics of the riot-the elements involved; the law enforcement agents' ineptness and/or unwillingness to protect the Negro citizenry from the mobs; the racial bias of the general community regarding the situation. In chapters seven through ten, Mr. Rudwick utilizes the available data to make an analysis of the differentials of race as a factor in making arrests and how the court trials tended to favor the white violators. The inefficient use, the ineptness, and apathy of Federal troops (Na- tional Guard) is vividly portrayed. A final sum- mation of the East St. Louis situation and the factors involved is analytically concluded and in- terpreted relative to the riot background and riot process, thus giving in retrospect a socially com- posite view of the nature of the developing politico- economic racial conflict situation culminating in a race riot.

The final chapter and a most significant con- tribution, "A Summary of Patterns in Race Riots," is an endeavor to characterize the patterns of behavior leading to and including race riots. The author makes comparisons of the East St. Louis, Chicago, and Detroit riots. From these compari- sons it is observed that mob activity tends to follow certain ecological patterns; similar charac- teristics and weaknesses appear among the law en- forcement bodies in each instance; population char- acteristics, situations, and dynamics were similar.

The study has implications for community con- trols, if not prevention, of race riots. It is worth serious reading by all individuals involved in the political, economic, and communication systems of a community.

CHARLES E. KING

North Carolina College at Durhamn

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY?: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE DISCIPLINE AND PROFESSION. By Alex Inkeles. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1964. 120 pp. Cloth, $3.95; paper, $1.50. (Foun- dations of Modern Sociology Series)

The Foundations of Modem Sociology Series consists of paperbacks-roughly 100 pages each- covering the topics treated in standard introduc- tory texts, but in greater depth. The advantages of the series over a standard text are flexibility and thorough, expert coverage of each topic. What Is Sociology? is to the series as the first few chapters are to the standard introductory text, except that it does not cover methodology or techniques of measurement and analysis.

The title is apt. Herein, students are intro- duced to the discipline and the profession. Thi place of sociology among other disciplines, sociol- ogists' various views of their subject matter,

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