1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910818757803321

Autore

McMahon Kevin J

Titolo

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

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Chicago, : University of Chicago Press, 2004

ISBN

1-282-53787-3

9786612537875

0-226-56112-7

Edizione

[1st ed.]

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

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.