Reconsidering Roosevelt on race [[electronic resource] ] : how the presidency paved the road to Brown / / Kevin J. McMahon

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910455585203321
• Autore: McMahon Kevin J
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Chicago, : University of Chicago Press, 2004
• ISBN: 1-282-53787-3; 9786612537875; 0-226-56112-7
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (310 p.)
• Disciplina: 323.1/196073/009043
• Soggetti: African Americans - Civil rights - History - 20th century; African Americans - Legal status, laws, etc - History - 20th century; Segregation in education - Law and legislation - United States - History - 20th century; Electronic books.; United States Race relations Political aspects; United States Politics and government 1933-1945
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-285) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: The day they drove old Dixie down -- The incongruities of reform : rights-centered liberalism and legal realism in the early New Deal years -- FDR's constitutional vision and the defeat of the court-packing plan : the modern presidency and the enemies of institutional reform -- Approving legislation for the people, preserving liberties--almost rewriting laws : the politics of creating the Roosevelt court -- A constitutional purge : Southern democracy, lynch law, and the Roosevelt Justice Department -- The commitment continues : Truman, Eisenhower, and the civil rights decisions -- The road the court trod.
• Sommario/riassunto: Many have questioned FDR's record on race, suggesting that he had the opportunity but not the will to advance the civil rights of African Americans. Kevin J. McMahon challenges this view, arguing instead that Roosevelt's administration played a crucial role in the Supreme Court's increasing commitment to racial equality-which culminated in its landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education. McMahon shows how ; FDR's attempt to strengthen the presidency and undermine the power of conservative Southern Democrats dovetailed with his efforts to seek racial equality through the federal courts. By appointing a majority of rights-based liberals deferential to presidential power, Roosevelt ensured that the Supreme Court would be receptive to civil rights claims, especially when those claims had the support of the executive branch.