Was Blind, But Now I See: White Race Consciousness and the Law

205 Pages·1998·23.916 MB·English

by  Barbara J. Flagg

Was Blind, But Now I See

Critical America
GENERAL EDITORS:
RICHARD DELGAD O AND JEAN STEFANCIC
White by Law: The Legal Construction of Race
IAN F . HANE Y LOPE Z
Cultivating Intelligence: Power, Law, and the Politics of Teaching
LOUISE HARMO N AN D DEBORA H W . POS T
Privilege Revealed: How Invisible Preference Undermines America
STEPHANIE M . WILDMA N
WITH MARGALYNN E ARMSTRONG, ADRIENNE D . DAVIS ,
AND TRIN A GRILL O
Does the Law Morally Bind the Poor?
or What Good's the Constitution When You Can't Afford a Loaf
of Bread?
R. GEORG E WRIGHT
Hybrid:
Bisexuals, Multiracials, and Other Misfits under American Law
RUTH COLKE R
Critical Race Feminism: A Reader
EDITED B Y ADRIEN KATHERIN E WING
Immigrants Out!
The New Nativism and the Anti-Immigrant Impulse in the
United States
EDITED B Y JUAN F . PERE A
Taxing America
EDITED B Y KARE N B . BROW N AN D MAR Y LOUIS E FELLOW S
Notes of a Racial Caste Baby:
Color Blindness and the End of Affirmative Action
BRYAN K . FAI R
Please Don't Wish Me a Merry Christmas:
A Critical History of the Separation of Church and State
STEPHEN M . FELDMA N
To Be an American:
Cultural Pluralism and the Rhetoric of Assimilation
BILL ON G HIN G
Negrophobia and Reasonable Racism:
The Hidden Costs of Being Black in America
JODY DAVI D ARMOU R
Black and Brown in America:
The Case for Cooperation
BILL PIAT T
Black Rage Confronts the Law
PAUL HARRI S
Selling Words: Free Speech in a Commercial Culture
R. GEORG E WRIGH T
The Color of Crime:
Racial Hoaxes, White Fear, Black Protectionism, Police
Harassment, and Other Macroaggressions
KATHERYN K . RUSSEL L
The Smart Culture: Society, Intelligence, and Law
ROBERT L . HAYMAN , JR .
Was Blind, But Now I See: White Race Consciousness and the Law
BARBARA J . FLAG G
Was Blind,
But Now I See
White Race Consciousness & the Law
BARBARA J . FLAG G
NEW YOR K UNIVERSIT Y PRES S
New York and London
NEW YOR K UNIVERSIT Y PRES S
New York and London
Copyright © 1998 by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Flagg, Barbara J., 1947-
Was blind, but now I see : white race consciousness and the law /
Barbara J. Flagg.
p. cm .
Includes index.
ISBN 0-8147-2643-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Afro-Americans—Legal status, laws, etc. 2 . Rac e
discrimination—Law and legislation—United States. 3 . United
States—Race relations. I . Title.
KF4757.F59 199 8
346.7301'3—dc21 97-2116 2
CIP
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my mentors
Ruth Bade r Ginsbur g
Herma Hil l Kay

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like mel
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see,
—John Newton
John Newton (1725-1807 ) was captain of a slave ship fro m
1750 t o 1754 , but a religious conversion gradually led hi m
to repudiat e hi s former occupatio n an d eventuall y to writ e
an antislaver y pamphlet title d "Thought s upo n th e Africa n
Slave Trade." Newton's account of the realities of the slave
trade wa s perhaps th e most detaile d the n i n circulation. I t
contributed greatl y to the success of the English Abolitionist
movement.