I used to consider myself fairly well-educated in US history, but have recently realized how little I was actually taught about black history, especially in the early to mid-20th C. Where do I start?

by LiliVonSchtupp
throwawayJames516

One of the most revered grand narratives on the history of Black Americans is John Hope Franklin's From Slavery To Freedom, which has been re-released in several new editions and has been used as a teaching text in classes across the country.

If you're interested in the aftermath of the Civil War and the foundational structure of the Jim Crow system, you may also enjoy Eric Foner's Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution.

voyeur324

I am very fond of a book called The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, which is about the Great Migration of Black people from the South to the North from ~1915 to ~1970 and had a profound effect on the politics cultures and economies of Northern cities. The book follows three case studies of people moving to Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York respectively.

You might also like There Is A River: The Black Struggle For Freedom in America by Vincent Harding, for a history focused on Black agency and resistance.

You should check out the thread titled What sources and resources would you recommend for integrating African American history into history curriculum...? feat. answers by /u/freedmenspatrol, /u/trb1783, /u/LordHussyPants and others. While many of the responses have specific book recommendations, I would also look at the USA section of the subreddit booklist, which has relevant entries scattered throughout, but also specific headings about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement.