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Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgée and the Quest for Racial Equality from the Civil War to Plessy V. Ferguson
Civil War officer, Reconstruction "carpetbagger," best-selling novelist, and relentless champion of equal rights--Albion Tourgée battled his entire life for racial justice. Now, in this engaging biography, Mark Elliott offers an insightful portrait of a fearless lawyer, jurist, and writer, who fought for equality long after most Americans had abandoned the ideals of Reconstruction. Elliott provides a fascinating account of Tourgée's life, from his childhood in the Western Reserve region of Ohio (then a hotbed of abolitionism), to his years as a North Carolina judge during Reconstruction, to his memorable role as lead plaintiff's counsel in the landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson . Tourgée's brief coined the phrase that justice should be "color-blind," and his career was one long campaign to make good on that belief. A redoubtable lawyer and an accomplished jurist, Tourgée's writings represent a mountain of dissent against the prevailing tide of racial oppression. A
poignant and inspiring study in courage and conviction, Color-Blind Justice offers us an unforgettable portrayal of Albion Tourgée and the principles to which he dedicated his life.
poignant and inspiring study in courage and conviction, Color-Blind Justice offers us an unforgettable portrayal of Albion Tourgée and the principles to which he dedicated his life.
388 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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59 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 11, 2024
Individualism, a predominant American trait … a contrifugal force in American culture that led each citizen away from public life and into the pursuit of individual and private enjoyment of material comforts.
--Alexis de Tocqueville
My review of Color-Blind Justice became unreasonable long so I decided to let the book speak for itself by taking excerpts from the book.
1) Tourgee was an outspoken proponent of the “color-blind” idea that all Americans must enjoy equality in the law, regardless of race or color.
2) Tourgee mobilized public opinion against lynching, disenfranchisement, and segregation.
3) Tourgee refuted doctrines of racial inequality.
4) Tourgee denounced the republican party leadership as traitors and hypocrites for failing to live up to long-stand promises to protect minority rights and promote equal citizenship.
5) Tourgee angered a few black leaders when he accused them of adopting a conciliatory tone toward racist whites and who objected to his uncompromising and confrontational politics.
6) Tourgee believed racial justice must be achieved in the results of the law, not merely in the abstract principles behind it.
7) Tourgee argued to the Supreme Court in Plessy that whiteness should be considered a special form of property that inherently advantaged some citizens, while disadvantaging others.
Why read Color-Blind Justice?
Those who don’t want to remain in ignorance will read Color-Blind Justice.
Those who want to choose their own destiny will read Color-Blind Justice.
Albion Tourgee is the perfect example of STAND FOR SOMETHING OR STAND FOR NOTHING.
Albion Tourgee fought for equal justice until his death.
My review of Color-Blind Justice became unreasonable long so I decided to let the book speak for itself by taking excerpts from the book.
1) Tourgee was an outspoken proponent of the “color-blind” idea that all Americans must enjoy equality in the law, regardless of race or color.
2) Tourgee mobilized public opinion against lynching, disenfranchisement, and segregation.
3) Tourgee refuted doctrines of racial inequality.
4) Tourgee denounced the republican party leadership as traitors and hypocrites for failing to live up to long-stand promises to protect minority rights and promote equal citizenship.
5) Tourgee angered a few black leaders when he accused them of adopting a conciliatory tone toward racist whites and who objected to his uncompromising and confrontational politics.
6) Tourgee believed racial justice must be achieved in the results of the law, not merely in the abstract principles behind it.
7) Tourgee argued to the Supreme Court in Plessy that whiteness should be considered a special form of property that inherently advantaged some citizens, while disadvantaging others.
Why read Color-Blind Justice?
Those who don’t want to remain in ignorance will read Color-Blind Justice.
Those who want to choose their own destiny will read Color-Blind Justice.
Albion Tourgee is the perfect example of STAND FOR SOMETHING OR STAND FOR NOTHING.
Albion Tourgee fought for equal justice until his death.
January 8, 2022
I only read half of the book. I just couldn’t force myself through the stiff academic prose anymore. I have other things to read.
It’s an important story, but maybe not THE most important story about the history of Civil Rights in the U.S.
It’s an important story, but maybe not THE most important story about the history of Civil Rights in the U.S.
March 26, 2020
Tourgee is one of the forgotten heroes of Reconstruction. Firmly committed to sustaining the rights African American, he courageously served as a judge in North Carolina at the risk of his livelihood and life. Later in life he became one of the country's first best-selling novelists. Elliott is a superb biographer.
September 4, 2025
alion tourgée what an enigma. simultaneously both one of the most badass and steadfast civil rights proponents in all of american history and also one of the most dramatic, self indulgent, messes of a human being. he did a lot for the progression of african american social standing and also somehow nothing. reconstruction was just kinda like that.
oh and i learned a new word: egalitarianism
oh and i learned a new word: egalitarianism
December 30, 2020
The biography of an idea through the biography of one of its chief proponents. Elliott does an admirable job of providing an immersive sense of the complexity of each without overwhelming readers with masses of details -- an achievement in itself.
December 22, 2014
Found this in our university book store...written by a faculty member in our (UNCG) history department...and really enjoyed it and learned a lot. Tourgee was a "carpetbagger" who came to North Carolina during Reconstruction and actually lived in Greensboro (as well as Raleigh) for a number of years. He was a very successful novelist, a lawyer and judge, and a tireless advocate of "color-blind justice" and racial equality in the post-Civil War South. While his novels were very successful at the time, when remembered at all today, he is mostly remembered as the lawyer who argued for the plaintiff in the Plessy v. Ferguson case in the Supreme Court (1896). Plessy v. Ferguson is of course the case that set the legal precedent for the Jim Crow era of "separate but equal" accommodations for whites and blacks in America.
Tourgee was a brave man who stood up to death threats to himself and his family from the emergent KKK in North Carolina in support of the ideal of complete (legal and social) racial equality for blacks. Far ahead of his time, especially in the late nineteenth century world of the American South, he was often frustrated by the racism and the resistance he encountered in his struggle for racial equality. As a history of the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction period, this book provides a focused and informative look at a single good man at the forefront of social and legal change with respect to the place of race in America.
Tourgee was a brave man who stood up to death threats to himself and his family from the emergent KKK in North Carolina in support of the ideal of complete (legal and social) racial equality for blacks. Far ahead of his time, especially in the late nineteenth century world of the American South, he was often frustrated by the racism and the resistance he encountered in his struggle for racial equality. As a history of the Reconstruction and post-Reconstruction period, this book provides a focused and informative look at a single good man at the forefront of social and legal change with respect to the place of race in America.
June 17, 2010
Through his book, “Color Blind Justice,” Mark Elliot retells the story of Albion Tourgée, a lawyer, author, and social activist, who helped pioneer the road to ending racial discrimination. This detailed biography describes Albion’s efforts in establishing racial equality from the beginning of the civil war to the decision in the monumental Supreme Court case Plessy v Ferguson. Elliot’s writings exhibit extensive research not only of the life of Albion Tourgée, but also in the social, political, and economic status of reconstruction era America.
March 6, 2013
Well written bio. I mainly picked this up to read about Tourgee's contributions to NC's reconstruction constitution. Professor Elliott's writing, though, was good enough to carry me through Tourgee's full bio.
December 15, 2010
wish we would have learned more about this era and the kid of citizen that Albion Tourgee was - when i was a kid in school
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews