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Race Men. By Hazel V. Carby. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1998. Pp. 1, 228. $24.00.)
The "race men," a term used for highly successful black males whose accomplishments challenge myths of black inferiority, are towering examples of strength and courage-folk heroes. To locate the race man's proper place within the context of black political and intellectual history, Hazel Carby examines black masculinity as it has been projected in several different media.
Carby considers, for example, the sexually charged image of Paul Robeson, one of the few blacks to be photographed in the nude, whose success on stage and in film made him a national figure, although he was later spurned for his unwillingness to renounce his leftist leanings. As Carby clearly demonstrates, Robeson sacrificed a great deal by refusing the mantle of race representation thrust upon him. In what she points to as a courageous example of black male leadership, Robeson dared to contend the established social order of his time and inspired others in his field to do the same.
During America's search to put a black male face...