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Toward an Equalitarian Legal Order, 1930-1950

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  • William H. Hastie

Abstract

Though the post-Civil War amendments to the Constitution promised black Americans that thereafter their rights and opportunities would not be demeaned because of race, the ensuing fifty years witnessed the comprehensive institutionalization of racial segregation and subordination by force of law. During the first quarter of this century the racist legal order was so firmly established, with the support or acquiescence of most whites, that struggle against it seemed futile. But beginning about 1930, under the leadership of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a nationwide legal campaign was planned and undertaken with an equalitarian legal order as its goal. Early lawsuits served to arouse public interest and support as well as to win significant peripheral changes in the segregated legal order. Social scientists and educators were persuaded to re-examine the segregated order critically. The federal government moved from a posture of neutrality to forthright assertion that laws requiring racial segregation could not be squared with the Constitution. Responding case by case, the Supreme Court progressively eroded antecedent constitutional doctrine that sanctioned American apartheid until, by 1950, the Court appeared ready to strike down all statutes and all other governmental action that imposed racial segregation or discrimination.

Suggested Citation

  • William H. Hastie, 1973. "Toward an Equalitarian Legal Order, 1930-1950," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 407(1), pages 18-31, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:anname:v:407:y:1973:i:1:p:18-31
    DOI: 10.1177/000271627340700103
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