Race Distinctions in American Law

A race distinction in the law is a requirement imposed by statute, constitutional enactment, or judicial decision, prescribing for a person of one race a rule of conduct differe...

“I had not been long engaged in the study of the race problem when I found myself face to face with a curious and seemingly absurd question: ‘What is a Negro?’” said Mr. Baker.[8]

There are certain words which are so universally considered injurious to a person in his social or business relations if spoken of him that the courts have held that the speaker...

One set of race distinctions deserves to be treated by itself. They have long since become obsolete and were, during their existence, in a sense, anomalous; yet they are, perhap...

One of the perplexing problems that arose out of Emancipation was the fixing of the marital relations among Negroes. It is generally known that the marriage ties between slaves...

One race distinction, which has not been confined to the South, and which has, in a large measure, escaped the adverse criticism heaped upon other race distinctions is the prohi...

The Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal Constitution, prohibiting slavery or involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, was proposed to the legislatures of the thi...

Three incidents, occurring during the past six years under widely varying circumstances and in far separated localities, have brought the question of the separation of the white...

There is perhaps no phase of the American race problem which has been discussed so much within the last decade as the so-called “Jim Crow” laws, the statutes requiring separate...

The Negro goes into a court room in one or more of six capacities, namely: as spectator, witness, juror, party to a suit, attorney, or judge. It is in each of these capacities t...

The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, ratified on March 30, 1870, reads: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or a...

Heretofore, the writer has let the legislatures and courts speak for themselves, withholding personal opinions and refraining from making deductions from the facts revealed. Now...