Promises to Keep

African-Americans and the Constitutional Order, 1776 to the Present

Author: Donald G. Nieman
ISBN: 9780195055610

African-Americans have had an ambivalent relationship with the Constitution for more than two hundred years. Throughout most of American history, racist interpretations of the Constitution have sanctioned a legal system supportive of slavery, marked blacks as inferiors, rendered them politically powerless, and denied them justice and access to society's resources. Yet both black and white opponents of slavery and racial subordination--from antebellum abolitionists to twentieth-century civil rights leaders--have found principles in the Constitution that support their demands for freedom, citizenship, and equality. In Promises to Keep, Donald G. Nieman tells the story of this paradoxical relationship, tracing it from the birth of the Republic to current battles over school segregation, voting rights, and affirmative action. While Nieman examines the devastating effects of constitutionally sanctioned racism on the lives of African-Americans, he also shows how blacks and their white allies

Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publish Date: 1991-01

Subjects: Law / Constitutional

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Cross-Cultural Center (Location: Black/African American (BLCK))