Looking Beyond Race: The Life of Otis Milton Smith

By Otis Milton Smith and Mary M. Stolberg

In Looking Beyond Race, Otis Milton Smith recounts his life as an African American who overcame poverty and prejudice to become a successful politician, and eventual president of General Motors.

In Looking Beyond Race, Otis Milton Smith (1922-94) recounts his life, overcoming poverty and prejudice to become a successful politician, and going on to become the first Black vice president and general counsel of General Motors.

Born in the slums of Memphis, Tennessee, Smith was the illegitimate son of a Black domestic worker and her white employer, and he experienced racism from both white and Black people. Throughout his life, Smith worked with and met many prominent Americans. He knew boxer Joe Louis, future general Daniel "Chappie" James, and then-future Detroit mayor Coleman Young. He knew Michigan's prominent politicians and was appointed by Governor John Swainson to the Michigan Supreme Court, making him the first Black man since Reconstruction to sit on any supreme court in the nation. Smith also knew Eleanor Roosevelt, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., Estes Kevfauver, and presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan; and civil rights leaders A. P. Tureaud, Roy Wilkins, and Benjamin Hooks.

This memoir is a compelling tale that ends with Smith's reconciliation with his white relatives who still live in the South. Looking Beyond Race provides a moving tale that will appeal to readers interested in African American history, politics, labor relations, business, and Michigan history.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 081432939X
• ISBN13: 9780814329399
• Release Date: August 2000
• Publisher: Wayne State University Press
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.4"