CONVERSAT IONS ON

RACIAL EQUALITYIN AMERICA

A COMPANION GUIDE TO

Second in a Series on Inalienable Rights by Oxford University Press

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the official in charge is late, or the official in charge is absent. … [I]f hemanages to fill out an application he is given a test. The register is thesole judge of whether he passes his test. He may be asked to recite theentire constitution, or explain the most complex provisions of statelaws. And even a college degree cannot be used to prove that he canread and write. For the fact is that the only way to pass these barriers isto show a white skin. This bill will strike down restrictions to voting inall elections — federal, State, and local — which have been used todeny Negroes the right to vote.

D. The constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act (1965) was challenged inand upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Congress had found that case-by-case litigation was inadequate to combatwide-spread and persistent discrimination in voting, because of the inordi-nate amount of time and energy required to overcome the obstructionisttactics invariably encountered in these lawsuits. After enduring nearly acentury of systematic resistance to the Fifteenth Amendment, Congressmight well decide to shift the advantage of time and inertia from the per-petrators of the evil to its victims.—Chief Justice Warren, majority opinion, South Carolina v. Katzen-bach (1966)

Discussion Questions

1. Klarman argues that the story of racial progress did not follow aslow but inevitable trajectory towards gain. He also argues thatgains were “episodic” and sometimes followed by losses. Taken aswhole, what do the primary source documents reveal about the tra-jectory of voting rights for blacks in the United States? How do theyexemplify or refute Klarman’s argument?

2. Klarman assigns partial blame to northern whites for the failureof Reconstruction (1865–1877) principles; the North experiencedan economic recession, wanted to decentralize government author-ity, and sought sectional reconciliation. He also holds that blacksvoted in large numbers into the 1880s in southern states, and aslong as they did, they sat on juries, held offices, and “enjoyed equalfunding for schools.” Many people argue that voting and other politi-cal rights are tools with which people maintain or fight for greatersocial equality. To what extent do you believe northern abandon-ment of Reconstruction principles and southern resistance toblack voting rights was designed to regain social or economic sta-tus and control?

3. Klarman describes the last fifty years as a time of “revolutionary so-cial change” but concludes, “For many blacks the goals of equality andracial integration are as distant today as they have ever been.” (p. 207)Today, blacks make up 11.3 percent of the voting age population. Inyour opinion, how does the significance of the initial drive to achieveequal voting rights for blacks compare with the significance of voting asa tool for achieving racial equality today? Why?

4. What barriers stand in the way of meeting the goal of racialequality today?

A. Under the 1867 Re-construction Act afterthe Civil War (1861-65),federal troops registeredsouthern blacks to vote.The 14th and 15th Amend-ments prohibited insurrec-tionists from holding officeand state and federal gov-ernments from using raceor color as a voting qualifi-cation and guaranteed cer-tain rights to former slaves.

B. The following pamphletexcerpt describes disen-franchisement practicesaround 1900 in the south-ern states.

IN Alabama, Louisiana,Mississippi, North Car-

olina, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee YOU MUST PAY YOURPOLL TAX. YOU MUST REGISTER AND HOLD YOUR CERTIFI-CATE OF REGISTRATION. If you can read and write you can register.

IN Alabama, Louisiana and South Carolina If you cannot read and writeyou can register if you own $300 worth of property.

IN Arkansas and Georgia YOU MUST PAY YOUR POLL TAX.

IN Florida, Kentucky, Texas and West Virginia You must reside inthe State.

A man convicted of almost any crime may be barred from voting.— Library of Congress, Rare Book and Special Collections Division,African American Pamphlet Collection

C. On March 15, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered the followingspeech about the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Every American citizen must have an equal right to vote. Yet the harshfact is that in many places in this country men and women are kept fromvoting simply because they are Negroes. Every device of which human in-genuity is capable has been used to deny this right. The Negro citizen maygo to register only to be told that the day is wrong, or the hour is late, or

THE NATURE OF PROGRESS

At first glance the history of American race

relations appears to be one of slow but inevitable

progress. … Appearances can be deceiving,

however; the true story of American race

relations is much more complicated. Progress

has been episodic, not ineluctable.

Michael Karman, Unfinished Business, p. 4

Unfinished Business: Racial Equality in American History is the second in a new series on Inalienable Rights published by Oxford Univer-sity Press. Written by Michael J. Klarman, winner of the prestigious Bancroft Prize in American History, Unfinished Business exploresthe factors that have influenced the quest for racial equality.

“The First Vote,” Library of Congress, Prints & PhotographsDivision, Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-19234 (5-21).

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A. As depicted in the poster“True Sons of Freedom,”over 350,000 African Amer-icans served in World War I— in segregated units. In hiswar message to Congress onApril 2, 1917, PresidentWoodrow Wilson said, “Theworld must be made safe fordemocracy. Its peace must beplanted upon the tested foun-dations of political liberty … ”

B. President Franklin D.Roosevelt’s 1941 annualmessage to Congress soughtsupport for U.S. entry intoWorld War II. In August1941, Roosevelt and Win-ston D. Churchill secretlymet for the first time. Theydrafted and issued an eight-point public statement of waraims — The Atlantic Charter — which included Roosevelt’s “third” and “fourth”freedomsas crucial Allied war aims.

[T]here is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strongdemocracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and eco-nomic systems are simple. They are: Equality of opportunity for youth and forothers. Jobs for those who can work. Security for those who need it. The endingof special privilege for the few. The preservation of civil liberties for all. … [W]elook forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. … Thethird is freedom from want, which, translated into world terms, means eco-nomic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetimelife for its inhabitants — everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means aworld-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thoroughfashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical ag-gression against any neighbor — anywhere in the world. … Freedom meansthe supremacy of human rights everywhere.—Annual Message to Congress, Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 6, 1941.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

[S]upportive political and social conditions have proved

essential to progressive racial change. Wars, internal

migration, shifting political coalitions and technological

advances have played vital roles in American racial

reform. … Racial progress has often been an

unintended consequence of other developments.

Michael Klarman, Unfinished Business, p. 5

C. In 1941, labor leader A. Philip Randolph planned a march on WashingtonD.C. by thousands of African Americans to protest discrimination in defense in-dustries and the military. In response, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order8802,which barred discrimination in defense industries. Randolph was also one ofthe organizers of the 1963 March on Washington D.C. for jobs and voting rights.

WHY SHOULD WE MARCH?15,000 Negroes Assembled at St. Louis, Missouri20,000 Negroes Assembled at Chicago, Illinois23,500 Negroes Assembled at New York City

Millions of Negro Americans all Over This GreatLand Claim the Right to be Free!

FREE FROM WANT!

FREE FROM FEAR!

FREE FROM JIM CROW!

Winning Democracy for the Negro in Winning the Warfor Democracy!— A. Philip Randolph

—”Why Should We March?” March on Washington fliers, 1941.A. Philip Randolph Papers, Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (8-8).

D. On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order9981. It abolished segregation in the armed forces and ordered full integra-tion. By October 30, 1954, the last racially segregated unit in the U.S.armed forces had been abolished.

WHEREAS it is essential that there be maintained in the armed services ofthe United States the highest standards of democracy, with equality of treat-ment and opportunity for all those who serve in our country’s defense:

… [T]here shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all per-sons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or na-tional origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible,having due regard to the time required to effectuate any necessarychanges without impairing efficiency or morale.

Discussion Questions

1. Klarman believes that World War I prompted the black community to“assert their rights.” (p. 114) What principles and ideals does the WorldWar I poster “True Sons of Freedom” exemplify, and how might the imagesand text touch the aspirations of African Americans long denied their politi-cal and social rights?

2. Klarman contends that World War II offered unprecedented opportuni-ties to further racial equality. For one, the anti-fascist, prodemocratic “ideol-ogy” of the War contrasted with the treatment of blacks. How do the idealsand principles of the “Why Should We March?” pamphlet echo and expandon the ideals and principles espoused in President Roosevelt’s messageto Congress (see B)? Would a threat of a march on Washington for equalityhave political leverage today? Why?

3. Citing examples from World War II and the Cold War, Klarman arguesthat U.S. engagement in foreign policy initiatives and international perspec-tives on U.S. race relations spurred domestic policy initiatives, such as thedecision to desegregate the Armed Services (see D). Why do you think in-ternational perspectives held weight for American government leaders?What factors do you think affect policy on U.S. race relations today?

This publication is designed to foster discussion of key arguments made by Michael J. Klarman in the book. Quotes from UnfinishedBusiness are matched with other materials, both historical and contemporary, which illustrate or describe factors that have advanced orimpeded racial equality. Discussion questions invite you to debate the issues raised by Klarman’s statements.

True Sons of Freedom, Library of Congress, Prints &Photographs Division, WWI Posters, ReproductionNumber: LC-USZC4-2426 (7-1).

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A. In 1916 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People(NAACP) established an Anti-Lynching Committee to develop a legislativeand public awareness campaign to end lynching. Until 1938, when it wasthreatened with losing its lease.the NAACP flew a flag at its New York head-quarters to report lynching.

B. The Women’s Political Council (WPC) was founded in 1946 to increase civicinvolvement in the Montgomery, Alabama, African American community. TheWPC initiated the Montgomery bus desegregation boycott (1955–1956) — alaunching event of the Civil Rights movement — challenging the constitutionality ofcity and state codes requiring segregated buses. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled thecodes violated the 14th Amendment (Browder v. Gayle, 1950).

Every person operating a bus line in the city shall provide equal but sepa-rate accommodations for white people and negroes on his buses, by requir-ing the employees in charge thereof to assign passengers seats on thevehicles under their charge in such manner as to separate the white peoplefrom the negroes, where there are both white and negroes on the same car;provided, however, that negro nurses having in charge white children orsick or infirm white persons, may be assigned seats among white people ...—From the Montgomery City Code Chapter 6, Sec. 10

C. The end of World War II spurred African liberation and colonial independencemovements. Gold Coast, now Ghana, was the first colony to secure national inde-pendence. Martin Luther King, Jr. attended the independence celebration. Thefollowing excerpts are from a radio interview he gave immediately afterward.

…I think this event, the birth of this new nation, will give impetus to op-pressed peoples all over the world. I think it will have worldwide implicationsand repercussions— not only for Asia andAfrica, but also for America. As

THE CHARACTERISTICS AND ROLE OF ADVOCACY

Americans have rarely reformed racially

oppressive practices simply because it was the

right thing to do. … Rarely has racial progress

been achieved without strong pressure from

African Americans.

Michael Klarman, Unfinished Business, p. 5

you well know, we have a problem in the Southland in America, and I thinkthis freedom— the freedom in the birth of a new nation—will influence thesituation there. This will become a sort of symbol for oppressed people all overthe world. Just as in 1776 whenAmerica received its independence, a harbor ofNew York became a sort of a beacon of hope for thousands of oppressed peopleof Europe; and just as when after the French revolution Paris became a beacon ofhope for hundreds and thousands of common people; nowGhana will become asymbol of hope for hundreds and thousands of oppressed people all over theworld—Africa and in Asia, and also oppressed peoples in other sections of theworld [Barnett: Yes] as they struggle for freedom [Barnett:Yes].

… It renews my conviction in the ultimate triumph of justice. And it seemsto me that this is fit testimony to the fact that eventually the forces of justicetriumph in the universe, and somehow the universe itself is on the side offreedom and justice. So that this gives new hope to me in the struggle forfreedom as I confront it.—March 6, 1957, Accra, Ghana, The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Vol-ume IV. Interview with Etta Moten Barnett. Originally recorded by WMAQRadio, Chicago, as part of the program I Remember When

D. Self-advocacy strategies included nonviolent civil disobedience. Nonviolent protestsoften spurred violent responses. On April 12, 1963, eight white Alabama clergymen is-sued a statement calling demonstrations “unwise and untimely.” They wrote, “racialmatters could properly be pursued in the courts,” and in the meantime, called for peace-ful obedience to the law. In response, Martin Luther King, Jr., penned “A Letter fromBirmingham Jail.” On May 2–3, over one thousand children took to the streets tomarch peacefully. Local firefighters turned hoses on them. Hundreds of children werejailed. Accounts and pictures shocked the nation.

You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so forth?Isn’t negotiation a better path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation.Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct actionseeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community whichhas constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks soto dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. …My friends, I mustsay to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without deter-mined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact thatprivileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.—Martin Luther King, Jr., Letter from a Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

Discussion Questions

1. Klarman argues that initially, the success of self-advocacy dependedupon the success of anti-lynching campaigns and greater personal safety.What factors contributed to turning this historic tool of subordination into atool for change?

2. Klarman writes that the African liberation and anti-colonial movements afterWorld War II motivated the American Civil Rights movement. How does the inter-view with Martin Luther King, Jr., on the occasion of Gold Coast independencesituate the American Civil Rights movement in a broader context?

3. Klarman shows how nonviolent advocacy and civil disobedience were metby white on black violence in the South, and that it became a tool in the fightfor racial equality in the 1960s. Why do you think the Civil Rights movementadopted such a strategy?

The American Bar Association Division for Public Education is pleased to partner with Oxford University Press in encouraging publicdiscussion of our Inalienable Rights. We trust that you will find Michael J. Klarman’s book both engaging and provocative.

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Visual Materials from the NAACP Records.Reproduction Number: LC-USZC4-4734/LC-USZ62-33793 (6-10b). Courtesy of the NAACP.

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THE ROLE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF LAWLaw has played an ambiguous role in the history

of American racial equality. The law on the books

has frequently borne little relationship to the law in

action. … In other contexts, however, law proved

vital to both the creation and the destruction of

white supremacy. … The Supreme Court’s

contributions to racial equality have also been

ambiguous. … The justices reflect dominant

public opinion too much for them to protect truly

oppressed groups.

Michael Klarman, Unfinished Business, pp. 211–213.

A. The NAACP lawyer Charles Hamilton Houston wrote the following in“Don’t Shout Too Soon,” for the Crisis. (Quote from Genna Rae McNeil,Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for CivilRights, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1983, p. 139).

Law suits mean little unless supported by public opinion. Nobody needs toexplain to a Negro the difference between the law in the books and the lawin action. In theory, the cases are simple; the state cannot tax the entire pop-ulation for the exclusive benefit of a single class. The really baffling problemis how to create the proper kind of public opinion. The truth is there aremillions of white people who have no real knowledge of the Negro’s prob-lems and who never give the Negro a serious thought. They take him forgranted and spend their time and energy on their own affairs.—Charles Hamilton Houston, “Don’t Shout Too Soon,” Crisis 43 (March1936): 79.

B. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court ruled that a Louisianalaw providing for separate railway cars for whites and blacks did not violatethe Constitution.

The object of the [14th A]mendment was undoubtedly to enforce the ab-solute equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things itcould not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or toenforce social, as distinguished from political, equality. … If one race be infe-rior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot putthem upon the same plane.—Justice Henry Billings Brown, majority opinion, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

C. In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court ruled thatseparate public schools violated the Constitution.

(a) The history of the Fourteenth Amendment is inconclusive as to its in-tended effect on public education.… (c) Where a State has undertaken to provide an opportunity for an ed-ucation in its public schools, such an opportunity is a right which must bemade available to all on equal terms.(d) Segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race depriveschildren of the minority group of equal educational opportunities, even thoughthe physical facilities and other “tangible” factors may be equal.—Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

D. In Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School DistrictNo. 1 (2007), the U.S. Supreme Court held that voluntary public school planscannot use racial criteria to maintain integration.

Before Brown, schoolchildren were told where they could and couldnot go to school based on the color of their skin. ... [T]he way “toachieve a system of determining admission to the public schools on anonracial basis,” Brown II, is to stop assigning students on a racial basis.The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discrimi-nating on the basis of race.—Chief Justice Roberts, plurality opinion, Parents Involved inCommunity Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007)

E. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) that statecourts cannot enforce racially restrictive housing covenants. To do so violatesthe 14th Amendment; however, standing alone, racially restrictive covenantsviolate no rights. Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Fair HousingAct), signed by President Lyndon Johnson, prohibits discrimination in thesale, rental and financing of dwellings based on race, color, religion, sex ornational origin.

Discussion Questions

1. How does the quote from Charles Hamilton Houston support and ex-pand on Klarman’s argument that the Supreme Court’s contributions toracial equality have been “ambiguous”? Do agree with Klarman and/orHouston? Why?

2. According to Klarman, even when litigation achieved few real practi-cal gains in racial equality, it was valuable in other ways that fur-thered racial equality. What might be the indirect but notable positiveconsequences of litigation?

3. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court held that the 14th

Amendment was not intended to “enforce social, as distinguishedfrom political, equality.” Brown v. Board of Education (1954), stepsinto the realm of social equality. Does the change reflect or refuteKlarman’s emphasis on the importance of public opinion in judicial in-terpretation? In your opinion, does the Court’s recent decision in Par-ents v. Seattle School reflect public opinion?

4. Klarman writes, “Housing segregation has increased dramaticallyover the past fifty years …” (p. 199) and that spatial segregation hassignificant social and economic impact on minority populations. To whatextent do you think spatial segregation today affects equality of accessto education, healthcare and social services? Is this impact evident inyour community?

CONVERSATIONS ON RACIAL EQUALITY IN AMERICA

Lyndon B. Johnson signing Civil Rights Bill (1968) Library of Congress, Prints & Photo-graphs Division, Reproduction Number: LC-USZ62-95480 (9-12).

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