African Americans and the Color Line in Ohio, 1915–1930 by William W. Giffin (review)

BOOK REVIEWS William W. Giffin. A lican Americans and tbe Color Line in Obio, 19151930 . Columbus: 1Ihe Ohio State University Press, 2005. 210 pp. ISBN 0814210031 cloth), $ 49.95. A nyone who knows anything about 11African American history in Ohio knows that David Gerber' s Black Obio and tbe Color Line 18601915 ,published by University of Illinois Press in 1976,is the Inost comprehensive statewide study of the color line to date. However, that seminal work ends in 1915,leaving scholars wondering how the color line evolved after 1915. With the publication ofWilliarnW .Giffis African Americans and tbe Color Line in Obio,19151930 , we finally have the next chapter in the narrative. Giffin' s work not only picks up where Gerber' s left off but also bears the spirit, direction, and breadth of the earlier work, for which Giffin deserves praise. Giffin' s central argument is that the color line hardened in direct response to African American population growth during the Great Migration, and became progressively worse in the 19205. The influx ofAfrican Americans, Giffin asserts, bred a growing sense of anxiety, resentment ,as well as antiblack sentiments and deeds among white Ohioans. Increasing levels of discrimination in housing, employment , schools, newspapers,and court systems all threatened to limit the opportunities ofAfrican Americans in the state. But nowhere did the wall of segregation fall as firmly as it did in public schools. State legislation had provided for school desegregation in 1887,and by 1915,with a few exceptions, most of Ohio' s public schools were integrated. After the Great Migration, however, segregation slowly crept back into Ohio schools. African American students were increasingly placed in allblack classrooms and relegated to special education classes. School officials defended their actions by stating that scholastic ability, not race, sparked the creation of segregated classrooms. Giffin contends that the color line in Ohio was not static,but varied across the state. He argues that segregation and racism were harshest in southern and central Ohio,and less rigid to the north. Cincinnati , for example, capitulated to the color line more swiftly and thoroughly than northern cities like Cleveland or Akron. Cleveland, for its part, maintained integrated schools and public accommodations longer than any other city in Ohio, despite the fact it was home to the largest African American population in the state. lhe author correctly attributes the intrastate differences to the " localized demographic , spatial, and economic factors" 86 OHIO VALLEY HISTORY 3 that were largely rooted in nineteenthcentury racial politics. Northeastern Ohio had been a hotbed of abolitionism ,while southern cities historically had been aligned with the South in culture and economics. The southern Ohio spirit of racial intolerance,Giffin contends,was carried forward into the twentieth century and only intensified with the sudden influx of African Americans after World War I. Shaped by manuscript collections, institutional records, and newspapers, African Americans and the Color Line in Obio is an exhaustive survey of the evolution of racial restrictions and exclusions in Ohio. In an age when the field has moved toward local studies, Giffin does a good job justifying · a statewide study. He uses the state as a larger case study to prove that Ohio' s color line was an informal and unofficial racial caste in many respects comparable to the legal ones... in southern states possessing Jim Crow laws" ( 141). the strength of the book is that it goes beyond the typical narrative of African American oppression. The richest part of this text,in fact,is the discussion of African American resistance to the color line in Ohio. Giffin demonstrates that no 10cal institution was as vocal, tenacious, or persistent in its struggle against racisin and segregation than the NAACP. The local anecdotes and narratives of school boycotts and protests against racist movies and Ku Klux Klaninspired legislation greatly enrich our understanding and appreciation of how the organization , in measured ways, ameliorated oppression for Ohioans. African American welfare institutions also actively engaged in alleviating the effects of the color line, specifically by providing resources for employment, health care, child care,and housing. Giffin asserts that such organizations were more necessary and active in places where the color line was most impeiietrable , like southern Ohio...