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The Color Line: Legacy for the Twenty-First Century (The Paul Anthony Brick Lectures)
Nearly twenty years after his book Racial Equality in America , Franklin addressed the issue of racial inequality. In the Paul Anthony Brick Lectures given at the University of Missouri-Columbia, just one day after the "not guilty" verdict was returned in the trial of Los Angeles police officers for the beating of Rodney King, Franklin delivered a piercing depiction of the color line that persists in America. A scathing portrait of how discrimination has been allowed to flourish and a poignantly despairing prognosis for its end, The Color Legacy for the Twenty-First Century is a perfect companion to the earlier volume. Together these books powerfully define and describe the long-held, but still unrealized, goal of equal rights for all Americans.
104 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1993
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About the author
John Hope Franklin
134 books78 followersJohn Hope Franklin, Ph.D. (History, Harvard University, 1941; M.A., History, Harvard U., 1936; B.A., Fisk University, 1935), was the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of History at Duke University. He also had served as President of Phi Beta Kappa, the Organization of American Historians, the American Historical Association, and the Southern Historical Association.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 18, 2018
Footnotes led to the discovery of this volume of the 1992 Paul Anthony Brick lectures given at the University of Missouri. The Brick lectureship was designed to help 'develop the science of ethics' and in this instance, argued that the problem of the color line, first advanced by Du Bois, persists. These lectures were delivered during the last decade of the twentieth century and they offer a stark critique of what lay behind certain Reagan administration policies towards civil rights. While advancements have been made in changing some of the civil rights policies of the Reagan era, particularly through the Obama administration, Franklin's argument still remains sound unfortunately.
July 6, 2008
[Review written by my younger self]
Franklin's The Color Line is the chronicle of US racial struggles from the 17th century onwards. The color line, that subtle racial strain that separates society in schools, housing, government, and employment, is covered in great detail. Focusing on the oppression of the African American race in the US, Franklin covers President Carter's attempts at recruiting more women and black people into his administration and goes on to criticize President Reagan's attempts at removing any office appointment that contradicted his values. The various incidents of racial tension and outright persecution become the framework for Franklin's stand against the color line.
As first suggested by the distinguished writer, sociologist, and co-founder of the NAACP, William Edward Bughardt Do Bois, the racism that divides American will keep on growing and alienating persons. In carrying on this premonition, Franklin admonishes, just as Du Bois, that the world in general cannot function properly if color continues to be a fact in all aspects of life and in considerations of rank and leadership.
Franklin denounces those who claim the United States is color-blind and accuses them of being noncommittal, not interested in changing their country for the better. He refers to the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, stating that the Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan and Plessy's attorney Albion Tourgee figured prominently in the dissent of civil rights, adamantly believing the law and Constitution, like justice herself, is color-blind. Not acknowledging racial tension, Franklin believes, allows others to abuse racial discrimination.
The various claims Franklin makes are supported with a plethora of evidence and instances. This should be expected with the gravity of the accusations he makes. State governments, he writes, would not be color-blind while the national government executes non-racist laws purely on the reluctant need and superficial responsibility of pleasing the people.
He reveals the government's extensive role in the color line going as far back as Virginia's explicit definitions of a "Negro" in 1879 (with the main requirement of having one-fourth or more of "Negro" blood). Franklin infers that such precise, authorized forms of discrimination can occur again if the color line is not recognized and eliminated.
At first glance, Franklin's work appears far from an objective historical reference. While his accounts of the pivotal events of the civil rights movement are seemingly accurate, Franklin's acrid attitude and condescending tone may make the reader dubious. Across the pages, his script has a tone of anger and frustration at the silence of the African American race and the people who invoke this silence. He takes on a certain sarcasm in speaking of the unappreciated achievements of the African American.
It is possible, though, that the biased demeanor of his prose is purposeful, meant to inspire people to further investigate the implications of the color line. Franklin spews forth his information without mercy or sensitivity. In his aggression for the color line, Franklin is not suggesting the elimination of aspects of culture and the total disregard of color. Franklin advises his readers to sway the government away from the color line, and to look to themselves as individuals not to keep lengthening the color line's divisions. The solution, he says, is in looking at America's past without dismissing it or flinching at it, without closing eyes or minds to the brutal events of racial inhumanity. In doing so, Franklin endeavors all Americans to look at each other, not in terms of color, but as human beings.
Franklin's The Color Line is the chronicle of US racial struggles from the 17th century onwards. The color line, that subtle racial strain that separates society in schools, housing, government, and employment, is covered in great detail. Focusing on the oppression of the African American race in the US, Franklin covers President Carter's attempts at recruiting more women and black people into his administration and goes on to criticize President Reagan's attempts at removing any office appointment that contradicted his values. The various incidents of racial tension and outright persecution become the framework for Franklin's stand against the color line.
As first suggested by the distinguished writer, sociologist, and co-founder of the NAACP, William Edward Bughardt Do Bois, the racism that divides American will keep on growing and alienating persons. In carrying on this premonition, Franklin admonishes, just as Du Bois, that the world in general cannot function properly if color continues to be a fact in all aspects of life and in considerations of rank and leadership.
Franklin denounces those who claim the United States is color-blind and accuses them of being noncommittal, not interested in changing their country for the better. He refers to the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, stating that the Supreme Court Justice John Marshall Harlan and Plessy's attorney Albion Tourgee figured prominently in the dissent of civil rights, adamantly believing the law and Constitution, like justice herself, is color-blind. Not acknowledging racial tension, Franklin believes, allows others to abuse racial discrimination.
The various claims Franklin makes are supported with a plethora of evidence and instances. This should be expected with the gravity of the accusations he makes. State governments, he writes, would not be color-blind while the national government executes non-racist laws purely on the reluctant need and superficial responsibility of pleasing the people.
He reveals the government's extensive role in the color line going as far back as Virginia's explicit definitions of a "Negro" in 1879 (with the main requirement of having one-fourth or more of "Negro" blood). Franklin infers that such precise, authorized forms of discrimination can occur again if the color line is not recognized and eliminated.
At first glance, Franklin's work appears far from an objective historical reference. While his accounts of the pivotal events of the civil rights movement are seemingly accurate, Franklin's acrid attitude and condescending tone may make the reader dubious. Across the pages, his script has a tone of anger and frustration at the silence of the African American race and the people who invoke this silence. He takes on a certain sarcasm in speaking of the unappreciated achievements of the African American.
It is possible, though, that the biased demeanor of his prose is purposeful, meant to inspire people to further investigate the implications of the color line. Franklin spews forth his information without mercy or sensitivity. In his aggression for the color line, Franklin is not suggesting the elimination of aspects of culture and the total disregard of color. Franklin advises his readers to sway the government away from the color line, and to look to themselves as individuals not to keep lengthening the color line's divisions. The solution, he says, is in looking at America's past without dismissing it or flinching at it, without closing eyes or minds to the brutal events of racial inhumanity. In doing so, Franklin endeavors all Americans to look at each other, not in terms of color, but as human beings.
November 6, 2010
This book consists of three lectures that Dr. Franklin gave as the Paul Anthony Brick lecturer on ethics in 1992 at the University of Missouri. Exploring the statement by W.E.B. Dubois (1903) that the color line would be the dominant issue affecting blacks in America in the 20th c., Dr. Franklin comes to the conclusion that, though there have been changes, the net change has been little, and that this issue will likely continue as the dominant issue for blacks in the 21st c. The essays, delivered to a general audience are easy enough for the general reader, while being thought-provoking.
August 12, 2016
A short book of essays on race and reconciliation in America in the 1980s, with some retrospective passages. Franklin's style is concise almost to a fault; yet his stark reporting of ugly historical realities is done with such a graceful hand and easy manner that you feel like you're reading a novel, while learning only the substantial and important details that you need to know to understand.
This, like his other works, are must-reads.
This, like his other works, are must-reads.
December 29, 2010
A thoughtful lecture from the venerable African American historian in which he takes dead aim on the Reagan administration and the neoconservative backlash against the Civil Rights movement.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews