Race, Place, and the Law 1836-1948 [Hardcover]

David Delaney (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 029271596X | ISBN-13: 978-0292715967 | Publication Date: May 1998

"Delaney's argument is original, provocative, and very creative." --Nicholas K. Blomley, author of Law, Space, and the Geographies of Power Black and white Americans have occupied separate spaces since the days of "the big house" and "the quarters." But the segregation and racialization of American society was not a natural phenomenon that "just happened." The decisions, enacted into laws, that kept the races apart and restricted blacks to less desirable places sprang from legal reasoning which argued that segregated spaces were right, reasonable, and preferable to other arrangements. In this book, David Delaney explores the historical intersections of race, place, and the law. Drawing on court cases spanning more than a century, he examines the moves and countermoves of attorneys and judges who participated in the geopolitics of slavery and emancipation; in the development of Jim Crow segregation, which effectively created apartheid laws in many cities; and in debates over the "doctrine of changed conditions," which challenged the legality of restrictive covenants and private contracts designed to exclude people of color from white neighborhoods. This historical investigation yields new insights into the patterns of segregation that persist in American society today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Delaney's argument is original, provocative, and very creative." Nicholas K. Blomley, author of Law, Space, and the Geographies of Power --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

Delaney's argument is original, provocative, and very creative. (Nicholas K. Blomley, author of Law, Space, and the Geographies of Power ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 229 pages
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 029271596X
• ISBN-13: 978-0292715967
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,004,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars American apartheid, February 2, 2006

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Race, Place, and the Law, 1836-1948 (Paperback)

Strictly speaking, apartheid in its literal legal form in South Africa, had no counterpart in post-Civil War United States. Or did it? This is the disturbing question raised by Delaney. He studies the legal apparatus in various American states, from before the Civil War to 1948. The largely successful attempts by segregationists to codify segregation into statutes is a disturbing echo of what the South African apartheid government was to do between 1948 and 1994.

The book shows struggles by different parties in the US, spanning decades, on how physical racial segregation in neighbourhoods was mostly achieved. While many books on Jim Crow have talked about other aspects, Delaney focuses on the court struggles, and brings alive the tensions of those times.