Racism has a long history in the United States. For generations, people of color have been systematically oppressed, whereas White people have benefitted from unearned privilege. Despite major advances in civil rights, the ongoing presence and legacy of racism and White privilege result in pervasive inequities. Social work education prepares…

Introduces special issue (with same title) designed to demonstrate how Blacks and whites, as allies, used 'tongue, pen, and participation' (social, political, religious, economic, judicial) to protest conditions such as discrimination, inequality, and segregation. Also gives broad overview of Black involvement in the antislavery movement. (CMG)

The current Supreme Court, usually opposing civil liberties, is far more conservative than the Warren Court of the 1960s, but is primarily concerned with maintaining the internal stability of the court. While Warren decisions have been narowed, outright reversals are unlikely, although replacement of justices may alter this trend. (KH)

Presents a biographical profile of Robert Lloyd Smith, a black Texas legislator of the 1890's. Discusses Smith's philosophy of self-improvement and economic self-sufficiency; his relationship with Booker T. Washington; his involvement in legislation regarding black education, civil rights, and agriculture; and the problems he faced in being a…

Describes the philosophical and political underpinnings of the Freedmen's Bureau, a Federal agency created after the Civil War to assist and protect freed Southern slaves. Argues that, despite some positive results, it exemplified the nation's ambivalence toward a free black community and only contributed to the further entrenchment of racial…

Presents an overview of the Highlander Folk School, a nontraditional educational setting in which participants learned how to challenge the racial problems of the South (such as segregation, discrimination, and racism). Describes the school's role in preparing black leaders for the Civil Rights movement and in promoting the participation of white…

Argues that the Commission on Interracial Cooperation, the most extensive civil rights organization in the South in the 1920s and '30s, gained its authority and longevity through networking with external elites, not through developing a broad indigenous constituency. Presents an overview of the organization's history and leadership. (KH)

The U. S. Constitution's treatment of women and blacks is generating heated controversy among historians, with some scholars charging that its framers ignored those groups and that subsequent reformers have gained too little for them, too late. (MSE)

Reports on an examination of 14 American history texts for their content on the Southern Civil Rights Movement prior to the mid-1960s. Cites elitism, factual inaccuracy, and superficiality as common failings in many of these works. (Author/GC)

Discusses changes that took place in the South during the 1970s and early 1980s. Explores the distribution of benefits and negative side effects associated with rapid economic development, industrial expansion, and business growth. However, a sizeable share of the black community was untouched by the region's growth and prosperity. (PS)

According to some historians, many scholars studying the 1960s have ignored key aspects of the decade, including the conservative movement in American politics, the contributions of women, continuity in a time of social change, and the economic results of activism. (MSE)

Examines the historical development of the Black protest movement in the United States and analyzes how the Black press responded to developments and changes in the movement, from the founding of the first Black newspaper in 1827 until the end of World War II. (Author/MJL)

The Brown decision of 1954 was the product of a planned program of litigation begun in the late 1920s and the early 1930s by a group of Black lawyers. Their work would not have succeeded if the ethos of the United States had not been changing simultaneously. The growth of a climate more conducive to civil rights is reflected in the presidential…

Considers school desegregation in light of: (1) its relationship to the structure of American racism; (2) its status as a form of racial public policy; and (3) the shift in public policy toward narrower views of the proper government role. Outlines an interpretation of school desegregation in relationship to broader dynamics of American social…

For a short period after the Civil War, Southern Blacks used their newfound political influence first to build schools and then to establish free and universal public education. Though White supremacists eventually overthrew Reconstruction governments, the Blacks' brief political involvement left an educational legacy vital to the survival and…