Table Of ContentTHE DYNAMICS OF
RACIAL PROGRESS
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THE DYNAMICS OF
RACIAL PROGRESS
ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND RACE RELATIONS SINCE RECONSTRUCTION
ANTOINE L. JOSEPH
Q Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2005 by M.E. Sharpe
Published 2015 by Routledge
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Copyright © 2005, Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Joseph, Antoine L., 1951—
The dynamics of racial progress : economic inequality and race relations since
Reconstruction / Antoine L. Joseph,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7656-1271-2 (hardcover : alk. paper)
1. United States—Race relations. 2. United States—Race relations—Economic aspects.
3. United States—History—1865- 4. United States—Economic conditions. I. Title.
E184.A1J66 2005
323.173' 09 "04—dc22 2004027363
ISBN 13: 9780765612717 (hbk)
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
1. The Resurgence of Racial Conflict 3
2. Racial Politics and Stable Majorities 27
3. The Decline of Racial Democratization 69
4. Resurgent Democratization and the End of
White Supremacy 94
5. The Changing Dynamics of Class and Labor 137
6. Inequality and Popular Sovereignty 161
7. Rising Economic Inequality, Racial Polarization, and
the Prospects for the Future 180
Notes 195
Bibliography 211
Index 225
About the Author 331
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Acknowledgments
I wish to thank Zachary Schiffman, Michael Hobart, and the members of the
1994 NEH seminar Cultural Pluralism and the Nation-State directed by
M. Crawford Young for reading and commenting on early portions of the
manuscript. Jack Bloom also generously read and commented extensively
on an early version of the manuscript. My greatest debt is to three individu
als who were essential in the development of the manuscript. First, the late
C. Eric Lincoln sparked my interest in writing a book on American race
relations. Second, my colleague Judy McDonnell painstakingly read and
commented on several versions of the manuscript in its entirety. She was
especially helpful in recommending revisions essential to the final version of
the manuscript. Finally, my friend and mentor William Julius Wilson, who
happens to be the leading race relations analyst and scholar of the last half
century, took the time to read and discuss several versions of the manuscript,
going far beyond what would ordinarily be expected of a former graduate
advisor. I would also like to thank Andrew Gyory, PhD, and Niels Aaboe, the
former and current senior social science editors respectively at M.E. Sharpe;
Esther Clarke, M.E. Sharpe editorial assistant; and the anonymous reviewers
for M.E. Sharpe. Most importantly, I would like to dedicate this book to the
memory of my late mother, Lorraine F. Joseph, who was herself a writer and
teacher. Her encouragement and support were essential in my becoming a
writer and teacher as well.
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Introduction
A recent national election was marred by political violence and efforts to
disfranchise opposition supporters through intimidation, changes in election
laws, and shifts in the distribution of polling places. Western observers had
no trouble recognizing the deficiencies of the election held in Zimbabwe on
March 13, 2002.1 This election has been roundly and rightfully condemned
by international observers as fraudulent. But consider that on November 7,
2000, more than 100 million Americans went to the polls to cast their votes.
Most notably in Florida, but in other states as well, serious questions have
emerged concerning whether some Americans—especially black and brown
Americans—were able to vote without intimidation.
Is it possible that in 2000, thousands of Americans might have been pre
vented from exercising their right to vote? Ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court,
slightly more than a month after the election, cast the decisive vote, ruling 5
to 4 that recounts of the Florida vote were violations of the Fourteenth
Amendment’s equal protection clause, thereby awarding victory to George W.
Bush, the Republican candidate. Yet the Supreme Court’s declaration only
increased the speculation—did George W. Bush really win the vote among
the electorate, or did he merely win the vote in the Court? As legal scholar
Ronald Dworkin points out, “it is therefore difficult to find a respectable
explanation of why all and only the conservatives voted to end the election in
this way, and the troubling question is being asked among scholars and com
mentators whether the Court’s decision would have been different if it was
Bush, not Gore, who needed the recount to win—whether, that is, the deci
sion reflected not ideological division, which is inevitable, but professional
self-interest.”2
Certainly the differences between the American presidential election of
2000 and the Zimbabwean of 2002 outweigh the similarities. But the will
ingness of the winners to use means that many find to be questionable is
similar. The commitment to win at almost any cost is clear in each case.
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