Black Resistance/White Law: A History of Constitutional Racism in America

by Mary Frances Berry

How the government has used the Constitution to deny black Americans their legal rights

From the arrival of the first twenty slaves in Jamestown to the Howard Beach Incident of 1986, Yusef Hawkins, and Rodney King, federal law enforcement has pleaded lack of authority against white violence while endorsing surveillance of black rebels and using “constitutional” military force against them. In this groundbreaking study, constitutional scholar Mark Frances Berry analyzes the reasons why millions of African Americans whose lives have improved enormously, both socially and economically, are still at risk of police abuse and largely unprotected from bias crimes.

Genres: Race, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Law, Anti Racist

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Holden Roy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deep and relatively unbiased look at the literal legal history of how the government and army played their part in the general tone of racism over the last couple hundo years.
Worth reading, but prolly not the first one I would jump on.
Unleessss you are a "I hate stories, give me facts" type of person. Then start here.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, since Dr. Berry wrote this particular book in the 1970s, it is obviously a bit dated; however, it remains relevant. She does a wonderful job of objectively showing the difference in the manner that the US constitution and American laws have been used and applied towards Black and White forms of resistance and violence.

At times, the book can be a little dry as Dr. Berry keeps very close to the historical evidence and provides this history without embellishment. There is very little story-telling and a lot of stating the facts.

That said, I am very glad to have read this important text. I often avoid reading older scholarly books as there are so many new ones being produced. This one is well worth the read. It is extremely informative and helps anyone to understand our present context.

[Juan Pablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Where to begin? This book paints a clear picture of the history of racism and the constitution used to support it & the reluctance of society to accept black people as human beings, citizens & equals. It goes into events from the time black people were brought here as slaves, to the Civil War, Reconstruction, Civil Rights era & events as RECENT as 20 years ago. It demonstrates why laws & amendments do nothing to change social & institutional racism because they do not address changing & affecting the culture. That was made clear in the Reconstruction era immediately after the Civil War where despite the fact that some in major Government offices apparently may have wanted to improve this situation & race relations, the lack of solutions to addressing the culture made that impossible. The outright oppression of black people & defense of citizens only if they were white by local & state governments, who would also declare every incident involving race a state issue where state's rights were not to be infringed upon, makes one of many problems clear, how is one to expect justice when they are told to seek it from the very people who are giving them the opposite? Those in high offices in the National Government are not without fault. Either due to lack of desire to deal with bureaucratic red tape or outright racism on their own part, examples of Presidents that followed also shows a poor track record & the need to address things from a cultural & social standpoint. The disconnect between seeing the problems & not understanding the cultural & social factors led those that were otherwise sympathetic to said issues to "feel betrayed" & allow J. Edgar Hoover, FBI & Cointelpro to exist & run amok. In the era of these people & institutions saw a return to methods & an atmosphere of the Civil War Era. It also touches on the disillusionment of black people when it came to voting due to tokenism & just general apathy towards their plight. Fast forward to the 80's & 90's of Reagan, Bush & Clinton & you a mix of all of the issues of the previous 100 years. The lack of opportunities, poverty, viewing of black people as subhuman, complete disregard of their lives when they are beaten or murdered even to this very day demonstrate why laws are not enough.

This book is a MUST READ for everyone, regardless of race, if they are to understand the history of racism in this country, why being aware of it & eradicating it is STILL an important issue.

[Bob Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 1995 update of a book originally published in 1971. Berry fills the history of the US with the parts most surveys leave out: the various ways in which violence from whites against black people has been, in effect, legalized. It’s full of bone-chilling stories and rage inducing decisions, and has the decency to not end with false hope for the future. Great argument material here.

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Amazing: the stuff we, as people of color, don't know, that affects us EVERY day in America.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative and very dry.

[Vanessa Holloway · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite legal scholars. Highly recommend.

[Megan Bodily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! I also want to note that the abstract for this book in Goodreads misspells the author’s first name as “Mark” instead of “Mary”. No idea how to get this changed.