Black Police in America (Blacks in the Diaspora) [Hardcover]

W. Marvin Dulaney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1996 | Series: Blacks in the Diaspora

"Clear, concise, and filled with new materials, the book sets a high standard... Scholars in African American, police, and urban history will all be grateful for what is certain to become a fundamental work in their fields." —The Alabama Review

"A balanced, perceptive, and readable study." —Kirkus Reviews

"... easily read and interesting text... " —The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)

"[This] readable book is bound to explode plenty of myths.... This is an important book that is long overdue." —Our Texas, The Spirit of African-American Heritage

"There is no better time than now for this electrifying, clear, and much needed volume." —Robert B. Ingram, President, National Conference of Black Mayors

"Black Police in America is the most comprehensive and best documented study that I have read on African Americans in law enforcement." —Nudie Eugene Williams, University of Arkansas

"Full of fascinating stories and accounts of racism and heroism, as well as photos and charts, this volume fills a void in the study of the African-American experience." —South Carolina Historical Magazine

"... a fresh and original study and an important contribution to the fields of African American and urban history and criminal justice." —The Journal of American History

"... an accomplished and wide-ranging comparative analysis of the role of race in the development and operation of police departments in America's nineteenth- and twentieth-century cities." —The Journal of Southern History

African Americans demanded "colored police for colored people" for over two centuries. Black Police in America traces the history of African Americans in policing, from the appointment of the first "free men of color" as slave patrollers in 19th-century New Orleans to the advent of black police chiefs in urban centers—and explains the impact of black police officers on race relations, law enforcement, and crime.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Enrollment in the police forces is an accurate barometer of black advancement, and Dulaney takes the measurements since police departments were organized in the mid-nineteenth century. The number of officers followed the pulse of history--up during Reconstruction, down in the Jim Crow backlash, back up after the civil rights movement--and Dulaney recounts the fluctuations as contemporary black newspapers reported them. Dulaney's working thesis correlates black political power with representation on police forces, which in the defeated South reached a 0:0 ratio; blacks in the North had some influence on the political machines of the day and consequently a few jobs in blue. Because the statistics are scattered around in case studies of individual departments, according to the foreword by Reuben Greenberg, the Charleston chief whom 60 Minutes once profiled, Dulaney's book usefully unifies the strands for students. A person researching present problems of racism in police departments won't find the material here directly relevant, but might rely on this work for historical analogies and exemplars of individual officers (especially from New Orleans, St. Louis, and Chicago). Gilbert Taylor

Review

This represents the first complete history of blacks in policing, examining black experiences in and influences upon American police departments from Civil War to modern times. From the early black pioneers to the rise of black unionism in the ranks, this presents an excellent social commentary. -- Midwest Book Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 193 pages
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253330068
• ISBN-13: 978-0253330062
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,865,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Detail-oriented and extremely informative, December 29, 1997

By 

EarlRandy "earlrandy" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Police in America (Blacks in the Diaspora) (Hardcover)

If I have a complaint about this book, it is this: While I fully understand this is a historical recounting of Black police in America, I dearly wish the author would have spent more time on atmospheric historical verbal snapshots and anecdotes.

I first read this book last summer while doing research for my novel. I stumbled across it at a library and assumed I would just skim through it and pick out a few highlights. I ended up reading it cover-to-cover, then lamenting that it was over. For a non-fiction, non-exploitive book, this book is surprisingly enrapturing.

I bought this book as a Christmas gift for my girlfriend's father (who, I might add, is a Black policeman) and his eyes lit up like a child's when he saw the title. Already halfway through it, he absolutely loves it. Anyone who enjoys reading books on police history or African-American history should read this book. The complaint mentioned in my first sentence is the only thing that kept it from being a "ten".

It is amazing how recent most of these events are. Amazing and sad that it took so long for justice to begin to be carried out in this country. Some of the reasoning behind a lot of this history is so ostensibly sensible I'm surprised I never thought of it before.

Mr Dulaney, if you're reading this, please please finish the next book in this series. I guarantee you I'll buy at least three copies: one for me, one for my girlfriend's father, and the third for a detective I know.