The Perpetual Dilemma?

Writing in 1970, Pierre van den Berghe said of racism that it is “the theory that there is a causal link between physical traits on the one hand, and social behavior, character traits, and intelligence on the other hand.” He went on to add that what makes a society multiracial was “not the presence of physical differences between groups, but the attribution of social significance to such physical differences as may exist.” Gunnar Myrdal put it more simply when he wrote about racism in the United States: “The ‘Negro race’ is defined in America by white people.” ¹

Race has remained no less prominent in American society since the publication of these books by van den Berghe and Myrdal, but African Americans are no longer defined only by white America. As much of the extensive literature on race and the civil rights movement has made clear in the past two decades, African Americans have redefined the place of race and civil rights in American society. Indeed, segregation is no longer the defining marker in race relations; full equality and opportunity are the ways by which scholars now judge racial progress.

In the three books under examination, the role of African Americans in redefining American society and their place in it are examined from historical, legal, and sociological perspectives. If there is a theme that runs through the three, it is that, despite the prominence of African American agency in the era since World War II, race remains as Myrdal described it fifty years ago — a fundamental dilemma for this nation. It is the issue upon which the nation’s commitments to democracy and equality are ultimately tested and still found wanting.

Jack Greenberg’s study of the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) provides a personal and highly insightful, narrative history of the legal struggle against racism in the United States. It is a dramatic and wonderfully told story of the men and women involved in the legal effort to dismantle Jim Crow, to remove other economic and social barriers, and to ensure opportunities in all areas of life that had long been denied black Americans.

From its earliest days, the standards at LDF, according to Greenberg, were rigorously set by Charles Houston, who conceived of the idea of the litigation campaign and insisted that staff members commit to the highest standards of professionalism. His successor, Thurgood Marshall, gave Houston much of the credit for the direction and achievements of LDF, but Marshall’s contribution was no less significant in Greenberg’s view. Greenberg writes admiringly of Marshall, “Thurgood’s way of presiding [at staff meetings] was to listen a lot and challenge virtually everything everyone said, often fiercely. If someone suggested that a certain course of action had to be taken, he’d often respond: ‘There’s only two things I have to do: stay black and die’ “(p. 163). According to Greenberg, both Houston and Marshall understood the stakes involved in the legal campaign against racial injustice and realized that their preparation had to be much more thorough than their opponents if they hoped to succeed.

There is very little new in Greenberg’s recounting of the various cases that LDF pursued in the heyday of the desegregation battle. Most historians know the history of these cases and the issues that LDF raised that were ultimately confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court. This in no way lessens, however, the drama of the events or the legal ingenuity of the LDF staff as they sought and developed new approaches to persuade judges of the inequities of segregation in...