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ix Acknowledgments Throughout the 1990s, amid the swirling discourse regarding affirmative action , I was a regular audience member at the guest-lecturer-of-the-month talk on the history of equal employment opportunity programs. During most of these talks, lecturers began with some general comments regarding African American employment realities prior to 1965, the role of Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in responding to these realities, and the role the courts and the EEOC both played in mobilizing the employment law. Almost without failure , the Supreme Court decision each lecturer referred to as the seminal case that stimulated more assertive challenges to continued employment discrimination was Griggs v. Duke Power (1971). In many respects, my first round of acknowledgments goes out to the many lecturers who emphasized Griggs’s placement in the affirmative action discourse. However, again almost without failure, these lecturers disregarded Griggs’s direct connection to the legal activism of the civil rights era and failed to uncover the personal histories of the plaintiffs and their contributions to the black freedom movement, particularly in the South. Instead, as goes the recorded history of equal employment programs, most lecturers moved directly into the political debate over affirmative action and offered their own interpretations of Title 7 and affirmative action case law, commenting on issues of preferential treatment and reverse-discrimination during the Reagan era. These omissions left the door open for this work on Griggs. As is the case with many “first books” by scholars, such projects often have their genesis as dissertations. Thus, I have to offer a reverent “thank you” to my eternal advisor Donald Nieman, who has been a shining example of what a mentor ought to be. A comparable “thank you” goes out to Rachel Buff, who has always encouraged me to remember the importance of telling history “from the x Acknowledgments bottom up,” giving voice to the true originators of social change. And a “thank you” goes out to “Mama” Lillian Ashcraft-Eason, who has always dared me, as a young legal scholar, to broaden my antennas to consider the ways in which law andpublicpolicyhaveimpactedvariouspopulationsacrosstheAfricandiaspora. David Goldfield, editor of the Making the Modern South series, and the folks at LSU Press deserve a huge “thank you” for providing the intellectual space necessary to complete the book. The reviewers of the book were critical, yet helpful, and while we did not always agree on points, they certainly helped me to hone in on those issues most relevant to my approach to Griggs. Much respect goes out to Heather Thompson, Gregory Mixon, and Jeffrey Leak. These colleagues read part or all of the manuscript and provided invaluable comments and critiques. And, the collegial support from my fellow members of the Africana Cultures and Policy Studies Institute continues to fuel my intellectual curiosity; keep up the good work people! Research support for the book came from the History Department at Bowling Green State University and the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Equally as useful was the advice and expertise from librarians and archivists at both universities and that from the archivists at the Library of Congress and the National Archives. Carole Singer from BGSU’s Jerome Library always helped me locate hard to find research leads and in many cases kept the research ball rolling in its early stages. Bridgette Sanders and her fellow librarians at Atkins Library at UNC-Charlotte are owed comparable praise for their assistance with leads during the latter stages. This book could not have been completed without the emotional and intellectual support of my wife Dr. Nakia Sherron Gordon. “Nikki” has been a steady source of encouragement and creativity despite having to attend to her own research agenda. While on the research trail, “Nikki” was with me every step of the way. By phone, email and luckily, sometimes in person, Nakia Gordon has in many ways shared this process with me, making it an even more enjoyable and wonderful experience. Finally, I have to thank Mr. Willie Boyd for taking time out for repeated conversations and phone calls. Mr. Boyd and the many other agitators for social change, who often fly beneath our scholarly radars, are treasures uncovered by oral history projects. Extended explorations into what is being framed as the “long civil rights movement” will undoubtedly continue to emphasize the importance of such individuals well into the post-1965, post–civil rights era. Oh, and a well-deserved “good...

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