| The Color of the Law: Race, Violence, and Justice in the Post-World War II South Contributor(s): O'Brien, Gail Williams (Author) |
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ISBN: 0807848026 ISBN-13: 9780807848029 Publisher: University of North Carolina Press OUR PRICE: $40.38 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: May 1999 Annotation: Exploring the famous 1956 race riot in Columbia, Tennessee, this book reveals the roots of black distrust and conflict with the criminal justice system. The Columbia events are viewed as emblematic of the nations postwar shift from mob violence against blacks to increased confrontations between blacks and the police and the courts. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Minority Studies - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - History | United States - 20th Century |
| Dewey: 364.089 |
| LCCN: 98-30827 |
| Series: The John Hope Franklin African American History and Culture |
| Physical Information: 0.9" H x 6.15" W x 9.24" (1.24 lbs) 352 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1940's - Cultural Region - Deep South - Cultural Region - Southeast U.S. - Cultural Region - South - Ethnic Orientation - African American - Geographic Orientation - Tennessee - Cultural Region - Mid-South |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: On February 25, 1946, African Americans in Columbia, Tennessee, averted the lynching of James Stephenson, a nineteen-year-old, black Navy veteran accused of attacking a white radio repairman at a local department store. That night, after Stephenson was safely out of town, four of Columbia's police officers were shot and wounded when they tried to enter the town's black business district. The next morning, the Tennessee Highway Patrol invaded the district, wrecking establishments and beating men as they arrested them. By day's end, more than one hundred African Americans had been jailed. Two days later, highway patrolmen killed two of the arrestees while they were awaiting release from jail. Drawing on oral interviews and a rich array of written sources, Gail Williams O'Brien tells the dramatic story of the Columbia "race riot," the national attention it drew, and its surprising legal aftermath. In the process, she illuminates the effects of World War II on race relations and the criminal justice system in the United States. O'Brien argues that the Columbia events are emblematic of a nationwide shift during the 1940s from mob violence against African Americans to increased confrontations between blacks and the police and courts. As such, they reveal the history behind such contemporary conflicts as the Rodney King and O. J. Simpson cases. |
Contributor Bio(s): O'Brien, Gail Williams: - Gail Williams O'Brien is professor of history and associate dean for graduate studies, planning, and faculty affairs in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. |