The Pig Farmer's Daughter and Other Tales of American Justice: Episodes of Racism and Sexism in the Courts from 1865 to the Present

by Mary Frances Berry

"Sweeping and important.... Provides a fascinating vision of justice and history." -- The Washington Post Book World

From the head of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission comes a landmark study of the ways in which prejudice has shaped American justice from the Civil War era to the present. With an ear tuned to the social subtext of every judicial decision, Mary Frances Berry examines a century's worth of appellate cases,  ranging from a nineteenth-century Alabama case in which a white woman was denied her divorce petition because an affair between a white man (her husband) and a black woman (his lover) was "of no consequence," to such recent, high-profile cases as the William Kennedy Smith and O.J. Simpson trials. By turns shocking, moving, ironic, and tragic, each tale ends in the laying down of law. And because the law perpetuates myths of race, gender, and class, they are stories that affect the lives of us all.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Social Justice, Social Science, Race, Law

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 1999

Reviews

[Micheal]

This book was really interesting, especially if you want to learn more about the American Judicial System.

[Deanna]

Interesting read about randomly selected court cases from 1865 to present (1999). The cases all involve racism and sexism. Most, if not all, of the cases have the winner being the white male. Blame is cast upon white women of lower classes, and black women who temptresses. Looking back at the book, it doesn't seem all that far that we've come regarding the law and how people are judged.

[Corin]

I would really love to see an updated edition covering the past 20 years!

[Melinda]

Great narrative potential, valid sociological and legal points, but delivered with all the nuance of a very subtle sledge hammer.