Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: William "Rip" Lhamon, Jr., Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Interdisciplinary Program in the Humanities. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed June 14, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 143 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

The goal of this thesis is to examine the relationship between race, masculinity, and the politics of success as they relate to the figure of Harry Belafonte. During the 1950s and 1960s he was, by all accounts, a wildly successful performer and, due to his celebrity, avoided many of indignities which plagued the daily lives of most African Americans. Although this was typically taken as a sign of race's declining importance in American culture, the varied reaction to his success show that even 'success stories' of integration during this period were far from clear cut.

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