A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History

Reflect on your own prior exposure to the story of the civil rights movement. To what extent did your previous historical understanding match the “fable” discussed in the book? Which of the fable’s simplified or sanitized elements have you most regularly encountered? What challenges to the fable have you encountered?

Typically, the “heroes” of the civil rights movement are understood to be Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Which heroes does Theoharis credit in A More Beautiful and Terrible History? If King and Parks make this list, how do those historical figures come across in Theoharis’s account versus in popular imagination? If you detect other heroes (or groups of heroes), why might they get left out of popular narratives about the era?

Typically, the “villains” of the civil rights movement are understood to be overtly racist Southern politicians and violent, confrontational white Southerners. Who are the villains that Theoharis identifies, and how do you think the author would define villainy in this history, specifically? How does your own understanding of wrongdoing intersect with Theoharis’s definition?

The Introduction describes and largely condemns the Washington, DC memorial of Martin Luther King Jr. because of the narrative it conveys about him and his work. Revisit what Theoharis says about King throughout the book. How would you describe King, based on the book’s account? How does this contrast with the narrative given by the memorial and popular culture? Explain the discrepancy and why it might be problematic.

Though the book is centrally about racial inequality, gender factors into Theoharis’s analysis. What role(s) did gender play in civil rights activism? What role has gender played in the construction and circulation of myths about civil rights activism?

Theoharis contends that if Americans honored a more honest history of civil rights, they would be better equipped to work towards racial equality. What practical steps can Americans take to correct popular histories of this formative era? Think about that question on several levels. What can you do as an individual to promote honest historical interpretation? What can teachers and schools do? What about politicians? Authors? Filmmakers? What obstacles will be in place for anyone promoting a new and troubling account of the past?

Think about the usage of evidence throughout the book. What sources and methods does the author use to make and prove arguments? Do you find these strategies convincing? In other words, Theoharis promises to tell a truer history than what popular narratives offer; does she succeed? Why or why not?

Though often told as a Black versus white story, the civil rights era was more complicated and nuanced. Theoharis discusses disagreements among white politicians and the activist involvement of non-Black people of color in different American cities. What were some of the major fissures among different groups during the movement? What united certain groups? Include specific examples from the cities that Theoharis discusses.