Fighting Back: A Life in the Struggle for Civil Rights

Fighting Back is James B. McMillan's memoir of a life spent fighting racial discrimination in its many forms. His story is personal, but it represents the experiences of thousands of other African-Americans who demanded equality under the law. Born in Mississippi, McMillan and his mother moved north when he was five years old. He later attended the University of Detroit on an athletic scholarship, earned a degree in dentistry from Meharry Medical College, and served as an officer in the segregated U.S. Army.
    In 1955, McMillan moved his family to Las Vegas. He liked the city from the start, but he encountered the same type of racial discrimination there that he had lived with all of his life. He would not tolerate it, and within a year of his arrival he was attacking segregation in Las Vegas so vehemently that he was elected president of the local NAACP branch. Under his leadership the branch soon took direct action to end overt segregation on the Las Vegas Strip, something which they accomplished in 1960.
    McMillan's recollections do not end with the desegregation of the Strip, however. Fighting Back also includes discussions of bussing, the Black Muslims, interracial marriage, and current civil rights controversies. Through the experiences of James McMillan, Fighting Back addresses some of the most important issues in race relations in the twentieth century.
    Dr. James McMilllan passed away on March 20, 1999. He will be missed by the members of the Oral History Program and by his friends and admirers.

"A story that is alternately moving, searing, and funny."
     Michael Green, City Life

"The outspoken Las Vegas dentist and community activist bared his soul and pumped deep into his memory when telling his story."
     Mike O'Callaghan, Las Vegas Sun

"Fighting Back is written in the comfortable style of oral history-a person telling a story. Dr. James B. McMillan tells his story [with] little varnish but some straightforward insight."
     Susan Skorupa, Reno Gazette-Journal

James B. McMillan. Fighting Back: A Life in the Struggle for Civil Rights. Reno: UNOHP, 1997. (196 pages, 11 photo pages, $21.95)