The Black Laws: Race and the Legal Process in Early Ohio (review)

During a three-day period in April 2001, the City of Cincinnati was gripped by racial unrest that resulted from the shooting death of Timothy Thomas, a young African American male, by a white police officer. A subsequent investigation revelaed an ongoing pattern of racial hatred and violence in a city in which fourteen black males had been killed by police officers over the previous six years. Yet as the work under review indicates, a problematic relationship between black and white is not new in the annals of Ohio history. Barely a year after admission into the union, the State of Ohio passed legislation endorsing the so-called "Black Laws." Labeled as "an act to regulate black and mulatto persons," the Black Laws in essence institutionalized racism in the state. Stephen Middleton's The Black Laws: Race and the Legal Process in Early Ohio is an important study on this subject. Based on extensive primary sources, Middleton's book chronicles the origins, impact, and eventual repeal of the Black Laws. These notorious laws contained residency requirements designed to restrict the immigration of blacks into Ohio. In order to take up residence in the state, blacks were required to show proof of their freedom and also pay a bond to ensure "proper behavior." The language used to describe blacks was consistent with the new laws: blacks were "worse than drones to society, "and a few of them will multiply "like locusts" (50). Black Laws excluded African Americans from voting, owning firearms and property, participating on juries and militia, attending public schools, and testifying in court against a white person. The implications of the laws were far reaching: they justified anti-black violence and established the bedrock foundation of the state's contemporary de facto segregation. Black Laws, Middleton persuasively argues, mirrored Southern slave codes.

Despite laws regulating racial behavior, the construction of racial identity remained a thorny issue. Beyond physical attributes and other social constructs, it was unclear how to determine who qualified as black. To resolve the problem, the court, Middleton argues, added its own interpretation to what it means to be black. Progressive judges relied more on "fairness in the court room" and as a result began to undermine aspects of the black (4). For example, the court considered as white "a mixed-race individual with more than 50 percent Caucasian blood" (57). Such a person was accorded all the rights and privileges that came with whiteness. The court, Middleton concludes, was at the forefront of the emerging challenge to the Black Laws.

Perhaps the most significant contribution of this book is Middleton's discussion of how ordinary citizens, both black and white, student and nonstudent, joined the anti-racist, antislavery, and anti–Black Laws crusade. They had witnessed, observed, and read about abolitionist activities in other states. They petitioned, demonstrated, and protested against racial injustice. They joined the struggle against the fugitive slave laws. Colleges such as Oberlin and Ohio University opened their doors to blacks, who in turn provided leadership to the emerging civil rights movement. The Ohio Anti-Slavery Society was forceful in its anti–Black Laws arguments. The laws, the Society argued, were vicious and psychologically harmful to blacks. Pro–civil rights activities and petitions from the various groups soon paid off. By the end of 1849, aspects of the Black Laws had been repealed. However, portions of the Black Laws would remain in place until the passage of the Arnett Bill of 1877, which repealed the final remnants.

Middelton's book is thorough, well-researched, and makes a significant contribution to the literature on race relations. But there are some shortcomings. The author should have included data on the population of African Americans at different points in the narrative. Did the African American population increase or decrease at different times in the nineteenth century...