Forceful Federalism against American Racial Inequality
Why, many Americans rightly ask, can material racial inequality and widespread segregation still persist fifty years after the enactment of key civil rights legislation and eight years after the election of an African American to the nation’s highest office? Many from outside the United States pose...
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Cambridge University Press
2017
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| _version_ | 1797076201629548544 |
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| author | King, D |
| author_facet | King, D |
| author_sort | King, D |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Why, many Americans rightly ask, can material racial inequality and widespread segregation still persist fifty years after the enactment of key civil rights legislation and eight years after the election of an African American to the nation’s highest office? Many from outside the United States pose similar questions about modern America. The explanation, I argue lies with inconsistent and fluctuating levels of federal engagement to building material racial equality. National engagement fluctuates because it is energetically resisted and challenged, by opponents of racial progress. This vulnerability to disruption is exposed by varying strategies of resistance, some fiscal, some violent, some judicial, some desultory and some combining violent protest against change with local electoral triumphs for anti-reformers. Public resistance to employing national resources to reduce inequality encouraged a de-racialization strategy amongst many African American candidates for elected office who opt to de-emphasise issues of racial inequality in campaigns and in office. Whatever the means, the effect is uniform: the slowing down or outright death of federal civil rights activism. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:00:46Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:75dc99ff-154f-4718-9b47-f9df089352a5 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:00:46Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:75dc99ff-154f-4718-9b47-f9df089352a52022-03-26T20:12:03ZForceful Federalism against American Racial InequalityJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:75dc99ff-154f-4718-9b47-f9df089352a5Symplectic Elements at OxfordCambridge University Press2017King, DWhy, many Americans rightly ask, can material racial inequality and widespread segregation still persist fifty years after the enactment of key civil rights legislation and eight years after the election of an African American to the nation’s highest office? Many from outside the United States pose similar questions about modern America. The explanation, I argue lies with inconsistent and fluctuating levels of federal engagement to building material racial equality. National engagement fluctuates because it is energetically resisted and challenged, by opponents of racial progress. This vulnerability to disruption is exposed by varying strategies of resistance, some fiscal, some violent, some judicial, some desultory and some combining violent protest against change with local electoral triumphs for anti-reformers. Public resistance to employing national resources to reduce inequality encouraged a de-racialization strategy amongst many African American candidates for elected office who opt to de-emphasise issues of racial inequality in campaigns and in office. Whatever the means, the effect is uniform: the slowing down or outright death of federal civil rights activism. |
| spellingShingle | King, D Forceful Federalism against American Racial Inequality |
| title | Forceful Federalism against American Racial Inequality |
| title_full | Forceful Federalism against American Racial Inequality |
| title_fullStr | Forceful Federalism against American Racial Inequality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Forceful Federalism against American Racial Inequality |
| title_short | Forceful Federalism against American Racial Inequality |
| title_sort | forceful federalism against american racial inequality |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kingd forcefulfederalismagainstamericanracialinequality |