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[SOVIET PERSPECTIVE ON RACISM IN THE UNITED STATES] Chernyye i belyye v Soyedinennykh shtatakh Ameriki [i.e. Black and White People in the United States of America]

Ratner-Shternberg, S.

Item #2029

Moscow; Leningrad: Izd-vo Akad. nauk SSSR, 1936 ([Leningrad]: tip. VKSKHU im. Stalina). 98, [2] pp.: ill. 21.5x14.5 cm. In original publisher’s printed wrappers. Loss of the pieces of the spine, title page detached, previous owner’s pencil inscription on the title page, otherwise good.

Scarce. First edition. Executive editor Ivan Meshchaninov (1883-1967), a Soviet linguist, ethnographer, and the director of the Institute of Anthropology, Ethnography and Archeology. Foreword by S. Bykovsky. With numerous black-and-white illustrations throughout. One of the first comprehensive studies of racial inequality in the United States as seen through the eyes of a pioneer Soviet religious scholar Sara Ratner-Shternberg (1870-1942). The book, published amid rising political tensions, was part of the Soviet endeavor to spark a global class revolution under the guise of internationalism. The foreword of the edition states: “S. A. Ratner-Sternberg’s essay, aimed at delineating the regrettable phenomenon of misanthropy in the United States, further deepens our affection and appreciation for our socialist homeland.” The book consists of 25 chapters and commences with the historical narrative of African Americans, exploring slavery in
the southern US, racial theory, “negro issue,” etc. An interesting chapter examines the historical instances of lynching in the United States, providing statistical data on the frequency of such acts and the number of African American victims. There are also several sections dedicated to the political activists Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, etc. The author concludes the narrative by emphasizing the solidarity between the black and white proletariat in their struggle against capitalism and fascism. The edition includes twenty-three black-and-white illustrations of “negro life” in the US and a map, documenting the ratio of black to white populations in various states of America.
Sara Ratner-Shternberg, a pioneering Soviet Jewish expert on religion, has authored more than thirty works on the ethnography of North American communities. After receiving a gymnasium education and graduating in 1890 from the natural history department of the Higher Women’s Courses in St. Petersburg, she moved to Moscow in 1891. There, she engaged in pedagogical activities and contributed to the publication of Granat’s Entsiklopedicheskiy slovar’ [i.e. Encyclopedic Dictionary], preparing articles on geography and ethnography. In 1900, Sara married Soviet ethnographer L. Shternberg, and they settled in St. Petersburg. Initially focused on translating ethnographic literature from German, French, and English, she eventually became a key figure in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (MAE). Sara played a vital role in supporting her husband, L. Shternberg, in his work and posthumously edited and published some of his writings. Despite plans for a comprehensive collection of L. Ya. Shternberg’s scientific works being disrupted by World War II, Sara continued to contribute to ethnography until her passing on February 28, 1942.

Status: On Hold