Dancing down the barricades : Sammy Davis Jr. and the long civil rights era : a cultural history

**A deep dive into racial politics, Hollywood, and Black cultural struggles for liberation as reflected in the extraordinary life and times of Sammy Davis Jr.** Through the lens of Sammy Davis Jr.'s six-decade career in show business—from vaudeville to Vegas to Broadway, Hollywood, and network TV—__Dancing Down the Barricades__ examines the workings of race in American culture. The title phrase holds two contradictory meanings regarding Davis's cultural politics: Did he dance the barricades down, as he liked to think, or did he simply dance down them, as his more radical critics would have it? Davis was at once a pioneering, barrier-busting, anti–Jim Crow activist and someone who was widely associated with accommodationism and wannabe whiteness. Historian Matthew Frye Jacobson attends to both threads, analyzing how industry norms, productions, scripts, roles, and audience expectations and responses were all framed by race against the backdrop of a changing America. In the spirit of better understanding Davis's life and career, __Dancing Down the Barricades__ examines the complexities of his constraints, freedoms, and choices for what they reveal about Black history and American political culture. A deep dive into racial politics, Hollywood, and Blackcultural struggles for liberation as reflected in the extraordinarylife and times of Sammy Davis Jr. Through the lens ofSammy Davis Jr.'s six-decade career in show business-fromvaudeville to Vegas to Broadway, Hollywood, and networkTV-Dancing Down the Barricades examines the workings ofrace in American culture. The title phrase holds two contradictorymeanings regarding Davis's cultural politics: Did he dance thebarricades down, as he liked to think, or did he simply dance downthem, as his more radical critics would have it? Davis was at oncea pioneering, barrier-busting, anti-Jim Crow activist and someonewho was widely associated with accommodationism and wannabewhiteness. Historian Matthew Frye Jacobson attends to both threads,analyzing how industry norms, productions, scripts, roles, andaudience expectations and responses were all framed by race againstthe backdrop of a changing America. In the spirit of betterunderstanding Davis's life and career, Dancing Down theBarricades examines the complexities of his constraints,freedoms, and choices for what they reveal about Black history andAmerican political culture A deep dive into racial politics, Hollywood, and Black cultural struggles for liberation as reflected in the extraordinary life and times of Sammy Davis Jr. Through the lens of Sammy Davis Jr.'s six-decade career in show business—from vaudeville to Vegas to Broadway, Hollywood, and network TV— Dancing Down the Barricades examines the workings of race in American culture. The title phrase holds two contradictory meanings regarding Davis's cultural politics: Did he dance the barricades down, as he liked to think, or did he simply dance down them, as his more radical critics would have it? Davis was at once a pioneering, barrier-busting, anti–Jim Crow activist and someone who was widely associated with accommodationism and wannabe whiteness. Historian Matthew Frye Jacobson attends to both threads, analyzing how industry norms, productions, scripts, roles, and audience expectations and responses were all framed by race against the backdrop of a changing America. In the spirit of better understanding Davis's life and career, Dancing Down the Barricades examines the complexities of his constraints, freedoms, and choices for what they reveal about Black history and American political culture. "Through the lens of Sammy Davis Jr.'s six-decade career in show business-from vaudeville to Vegas to Broadway, Hollywood, and network TV-Dancing Down the Barricades examines the workings of race in American culture. The title phrase holds two contradictory meanings regarding Davis's cultural politics: did he dance the barricades down, as he liked to think, or did he simply dance down them, as his more radical critics would have it? Sammy Davis Jr. was at once a pioneering, barrier-busting, anti-Jim Crow activist and someone who was widely associated with accommodationism and wannabe whiteness. Historian Matthew Jacobson attends to both threads, analyzing how industry norms, productions, scripts, roles, and audience expectations and responses were all framed by race, against a backdrop of a changing America. In the spirit of better understanding Davis's life and career, Dancing Down the Barricades examines the complexities of his constraints, freedoms, and choices for what they reveal about Black history and American political culture"-- Provided by publisher Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Author’s Note Preface: The Long Civil Rights Era 1. Star Rising at Twilight 2. “A Concentrated Bunch of Haters” 3. The All-Negro Cast, and Other Black Spaces 4. The Vegas Strip, Network TV, and Other White Spaces 5. “Division Is Not Our Destiny” 6. Writing Wrongs in Yes I Can 7. “The Skin Commits You” Coda Notes Index