The Strange Career of Jim Crow by C. Vann Woodward

I actually finished this book on March 25 or 26.

In The Strange Career of Jim Crow, Woodward traces the history of Jim Crow laws, segregation, and the Civil Rights movement from Reconstruction through (in this edition) the early 1970s. It's an ambitious undertaking for a slim volume. However, rightfully so, the book is considered a classic. Woodward's writing is clear and direct. He addresses the subtleties of the historical themes and situations without drifting off into nebulous academic tangents. This is, indeed, one of the best examples of historical writing that I've ever read (and given my several years in grad school for U.S. history, I've read a lot of them).

Woodward, starts, rather naturally, with the Reconstruction Era. He demonstrates that while freedmen didn't have it great, things were certainly better than they had been in slavery and better than they would become in the Jim Crow era. African-Americans were participating in government, working alongside whites, and yes, even riding in the same train cars. This, was, unfortunately, to change. The future of the South was determined by a disputed presidential contest between a New Yorker, Samuel Tilden, and an Ohioan, Rutherford Hayes. Tilden, the Democrat, led in the popular vote and apparently the electoral college. However there were disputes about the electoral votes of several Southern states. In what was often called "the Corrupt Bargain," Hayes was awarded all of the contested electoral votes and the presidency in exchange for declaring an end to Reconstruction and withdrawing all Union troops from the south. The negative consequences of this Corrupt Bargain for African-Americans were enormous.

Woodward then takes us through the history of how the segregationist Jim Crow laws evolved from the white supremacist thoughts of the power structures in the south. Further, and perhaps more importantly, Woodward elaborates on viable alternatives to Jim Crow that while not ideal, were certainly superior. He explains how these other options gained prominence but were ultimately co-opted or outright defeated by the Jim Crow supporters. For me, this was probably the best section of the book. I think we all need to be reminded that nothing in history was inevitable. The Union didn't have to win the Civil war, the Allies didn't have to win WWII, and on and on. There are always political, military, social, and other forces at work that influence events. There is no "march of history." Oftentimes, things could have been very different. In this instance, if it hadn't been for political deal making in Washington, a real Reconstruction of the South might have happened, almost surely improving race relations and certainly would have been a better situation for African-Americans. Also, the other alternatives to the Jim Crow system may well have been better for America. We'll never know, but we should know that people had the ability to prevent this horrible system from coming into law.

The next section deals with Jim Crow laws at length. I don't see any reason to expound upon them here, but suffice it to say that these segregationist and racist laws were an abomination, especially in what is supposed to be a democratic and freedom-loving nation. Woodward also details the "great migration" of African-Americans out of the south and into northern urban centers. He demonstrates here that while segregation and racism weren't codified in the north, they certainly existed. Woodward makes a very cogent point in this section by linking Jim Crow to U.S. imperialism. Jim Crow laws at home expanded and took root as the U.S. gained in empire overseas. Woodward draws a clear connection in the attitudes that informed Jim Crow also informed the U.S. taking up the "white man's burden."

Next is the Civil Rights Movement that came about as a result of African-Americans being denied these basic rights due to Jim Crow laws and general societal racism. Woodward details the major players and events, from Brown v. the Board of Education, to MLK, SNCC, CORE, the NAACP, and seemingly all of the big actors and events. For Woodward, the success of the Civil Rights Movement culminated in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Of course, there was still more work to do, but the Voting Rights Act was certainly landmark legislation that ended Jim Crow in law, if not in "real life."

Finally, the book concludes by talking about the race riots that occurred later in the 1960s. He writes about how despite the end of Jim Crow, America was, in the words of the President's Commission on Racial Disorders in 1968, "moving toward two societies, one black, one white - separate and unequal." So despite the successes of the Civil Rights Movement and the end of Jim Crow, race problems still abounded and these American wounds have still not healed.