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Lerone Bennett, Author, Historian
Lerone Bennett, Jr. (born
17 October 1928) is an American scholar, author and historian.
Lerone
Bennett, Jr. was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi, the son of late Lerone Bennett
Sr. and Alma Reed. When he was young his family relocated to Jackson,
Mississippi. He is most notable for his work as an editor for Ebony Magazine and for two historical texts: Before the Mayflower:
A History of Black America, 1619-1962
and Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream. The former discusses
the contributions of African Americans in the United States,
while the latter questions President Abraham Lincoln's role as the "Great Emancipator". Bennett is an alumnus of Morehouse College.
Mr. Bennett is also a distinguished member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. For your convenience, a few of his best-selling
books are listed below. You may also use the Amazon search box at the bottom of this page to locate additional books
by Bennett.
CNN Interview with Lerone Bennett, Jr.:
Recommended Reading:
Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's White Dream, by Lerone Bennett.
Description: Beginning with the argument that the Emancipation Proclamation did not actually free African American slaves,
this dissenting view of Lincoln's greatness surveys the president's policies, speeches, and private utterances and concludes
that he had little real interest in abolition. Pointing to Lincoln's support for the fugitive slave laws, his friendship with
slave-owning senator Henry Clay, and conversations in which he entertained the idea of deporting slaves in order to create
an all-white nation, the book, concludes that the president was a racist at heart—and that the tragedies of Reconstruction
and the Jim Crow era were the legacy of his shallow moral vision. Continued below...
Forced into Glory: Abraham Lincoln's
White Dream is the Winner of the 2002 American Book Award. About the Author: Lerone Bennett Jr. is the executive editor emeritus
of Ebony magazine and the author of 10 books, including Before the Mayflower, Great Moments in Black History, Pioneers in
Protest, The Shaping of Black America, and What Manner of Man, a biography of Martin Luther King. He lives in Chicago.
Recommended Reading: Before the
Mayflower: A History of Black America, by Lerone Bennett. Description: The black experience in America—starting
from its origins in western Africa up to the present day—is examined in this seminal study from a prominent African
American figure. The entire historical timeline of African Americans is addressed, from the Colonial period through the civil
rights upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. The most recent scholarship on the geographic, social, economic, and cultural journeys
of African Americans, together with vivid portraits of key black leaders, complete this comprehensive reference.
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