Collection of works looks at race and freedom

"Race and Liberty in America," Jonathan Bean, editor. The University of Kentucky Press. 2009.By Arthur Steinberg

For the Salisbury Post

Jonathan Bean, a research fellow at the Independent Institute, teaches at Southern Illinois University. He has compiled "Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader" using numerous sources.

He discusses the origins and development of the racial conflict burdening America. His work includes references to rare documents showing the destruction and loss of respect for the law through political correctness. He is concerned that responsible individualism has given way to group rationalization, justifying the current lack of discipline and work ethic.

Bean refers to Justice Clarence Thomas and others who oppose the use of diversity to justify repeated violations of the Constitution.

Bean begins with early anti-slavery movements in New York and other colonies. Race riots occurred early in the nation's history.

Differences in moral indignation were regionally and economically based. In the 1857 case, Dred Scott v. Sanford, Justice Taney said the Constitution could prevent slavery in the territories. The Republican North challenged the Democratic South as economic conditions changed.

Frederick Douglass, a former slave, recognized the need for self-reliance to attain personal independence and sought to transcend race as an element in the struggle for equality. He fought for new election laws and opposed lynching and the denial of due process.

The Supreme Court declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 exceeded the bounds of the 14th amendment, declaring police power was a state matter, that the conduct of private conveyances and organizations was not within the jurisdiction of the act.

The 1880s saw immigration from Eastern Europe and racial prejudice had new victims. Established "Americans" were offended by the newcomers and tried to limit immigration.

Asians were later persecuted through the Chinese Exclusion Acts. This legislation fostered misguided beliefs about immigrants coming into the West. In a situation similar to today, Asians were accused of taking jobs from "real Americans."

After the Spanish-American War, the U.S. controlled large areas overseas. Race again came into play as entrepreneurs, missionaries and racists labeled the new people barbarians, unfit or unable to be civilized.

Native Americas were vilified for wanting to maintain their traditional beliefs. The government took their lands, forced them into reservations and built schools for assimilation.

President Warren G. Harding recognized changing attitudes after World War I. He called for racial unity and equal education for all.

President Calvin Coolidge condemned white racists in 1924. He opposed national quotas and preached religious tolerance.

Schools such as Harvard and Dartmouth established quotas for Jewish students, supported by Franklin D. Roosevelt. When he later became president, his actions prompted concern about state-sponsored discrimination.

After Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans were forced into camps.

Later, Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Hurston emphasized individual power, not power based on race. She attacked victimization and group rationalizations.

When Brown v. Board of Education came about, it stressed individual freedom, natural rights, psychological and emotional needs.

In the 1964 Civil Rights Act, political considerations and group interests replaced individual rights. Lyndon Johnson's executive order calling for Affirmative Action stressed group politics, not individual rights.

Editor Bean laments that because of Affirmative Action, diversity has replaced the term quota. In Anne Wortham's essay, "A Decision Against Meritorious Achievement," she argues that "these achievements were gifts from the state rather than the result of individual merit."

Columnist Walter Williams asked then-President Ronald Reagan to abandon "number- based privileges and benefits and help blacks by removing government regulations that hamper minorities from advancing in life."

Stephen Carter's 1991 essay argues Affirmative Action is a group obsession that rejects the best and most capable candidate for a job.

Author Shelby Steele abhors the "culture of preference," believing it negatively affects individual freedom and responsibility.

Thomas Sowell's essays go beyond historic narratives in explaining and interpreting contemporary racial problems.

The editor compels the reader to think about our society's evolution as he provides the materials necessary to consider its direction. This volume is well worth reading.