Anyone have a copy & can doublecheck quote?

[Victoria]

I borrowed a copy from the library, which has, at any given time, a waiting list of 100 people, so can't easily check this. I'm typing my reading notes and wanted to doublecheck one which doesn't seem to make sense: "Until 1960, no black person had ever sat on a jury in the U.S. Not til Reconstruction era did blacks begin to serve on juries in the South." (page 119)

I'm not sure if I miscopied the year because, put together, those 2 statements seem to contradict each other. If someone who has a copy handy can let me know if the year is, indeed, 1960, that would be much appreciated.

[Jeni]

According to a quick Google search, the first two black jurors sat in a jury in 1860 in Worchester, MA.

(Sorry that isn't from your book, but it's from a historical book called The American Jury System. If this book stated 1960, the information was false on the author's part.)

[Victoria]

Thanks!

[Donna]

The quote you wanted checked is on page 117 in the hard cover copy, and it says exactly what you said, except 1860 instead of 1960. However, be careful not to take her quotation out of context. She then goes on to state that from 1880 forward (so after the collapse of Reconstruction), although the Supreme Court ruled that all-white juries were illegal, no steps were taken to ensure that Blacks sat on the juries of the south, and they didn't for a very long time.

[Victoria]

Thank you!!!

[John]

I have learned more from this book than I have from any other in several years. It's incredible.

[Jim]

John wrote: "I have learned more from this book than I have from any other in several years. It's incredible."

I have to say the same and am embarrassed that I failed to see the big picture. Ms. Alexander made her case. I think this is the most important and disturbing book I've read in years.

[Priscilla]

Jim and John - I agree! I had seen most of the bits and pieces, but Alexander connected the dots. She also researched and cited so carefully that her material can (and is being) used to make the necessary changes. I think this book should be required reading for all high school students for many reasons!

[Vincent]

For me, Alexander's work confirmed what many of us have intuitively known -- that the criminal justice system (driven by the War on Drugs and the expansion of the prison industrial complex) is biased toward black, brown and, to some extent, poor white people.