Unfinished Business: Racial Equality in American History

by Michael J. Klarman

Michael J. Klarman, author of From Jim Crow to Civil Rights , which won the prestigious Bancroft Prize in American History, is one of the leading authorities on the history of civil rights law in the United States. In Unfinished Business , he illuminates the course of racial equality in America, revealing that we have made less progress than we like to think. Indeed, African Americans have had to fight for everything they have achieved.

Klarman highlights a variety of social and political factors that have influenced the path of racial progress--wars, migrations, urbanization, shifting political coalitions--and he looks in particular at the contributions of law and of court decisions to American equality. The author argues that court decisions tend to reflect the racial mores of the times, which is why the Supreme Court has not been a heroic defender of the rights of racial minorities. And even when the Court has promoted progressive racial change, its decisions have often been unenforced, in part because severely oppressed groups rarely have the resources necessary to force the issue. Klarman also sheds light on the North/South dynamic and how it has influenced racial progress, arguing that as southerners have become more anxious about outside challenges to their system of white supremacy, they have acted in ways that eventually undermined that system. For example, as southern slave owners demanded greater
guarantees for slavery from the federal government, they alienated northerners, who came to fear a slave power conspiracy that would interfere with their liberties.

Unfinished Business offers an invaluable, succinct account of racial equality and civil rights throughout American history.

Genres: Nonfiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

An American legal historian, and constitutional law scholar, Michael Klarman is the Kirkland & Ellis Professor at Harvard Law School.

Reviews

[YHC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book while US is facing " Black Lives matter" with the incident that George Floyd(#blacklivesmatter #georgefloyd) was killed mercilessly by a white police man. This book pointed out how the evolution of black american fight for their basic human right and how they were treated under northern and southern governments. There are parts talking about anti-Chinese and anti-Japanese which i think fundamentally racism is not easily to be removed.
Even though a black president has been elected still this kind of white supremacy dominates the whole country.

sadly that US has launched rocket back to the ISS, technologically advance doesn't mean mentally mature with empathy. There is still a long way to go.

[Jessica Torvik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong and readable academic summary of the history of race relations in the United States. Recommended for any student on the subject.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong and readable text on the history of race relations in America. Lots of emphasis placed on important court decisions. Recommended for any student on the subject of civil rights.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Klarmen writes well. He explains his themes clearly and concisely. He also gives a fantastic analysis of how politics, popular opinion, and the courts interact with race. This is a must-read.