Litwack, Leon F. Been in the Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1979).

In reference to the immediate aftermath of the War Between the States, Litwack sees fairly conspicuous signs of the tensions between white and Negro society. In his mind, the extent of mutual dependence between the races and the responses it evoked stand out in as visibly apparent. Both races contributed significantly--directly or indirectly--to the development of the other; there was an element of the Negro in the white man and an element of the white man in the Negro. Litwack tries in the book to show how freedom was perceived and experienced by Negroes and how they joined together to built a world for their future.

Besides diaries, letters, journals, and the like, Litwack builds much of his foundation on the testimony of former slaves recorded in the 1930s by the Federal Writers' Project. He subordinates the importance of material gain for more spiritual gains in interpreting the effects of the reordering of Southern society toward one of freedom. Such reordering did not provide a role for the freedmen, though. To survive and achieve eventual successes in terms of becoming part of American society, Negroes formed communities, segregating themselves from white eyes, quite often. The tale of slavery ended in 1863, but the story of racism had really just begun. It is that new story and the role delegated to Negroes in it that makes up the theme of the work.