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Iowa State University

History

2004

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in African American Studies

Review Of Only One Place Of Redress: African Americans, Labor Regulations, And The Courts From Reconstruction To The New Deal, Brian D. Behnken Oct 2004

Review Of Only One Place Of Redress: African Americans, Labor Regulations, And The Courts From Reconstruction To The New Deal, Brian D. Behnken

Brian D. Behnken

In Only One Place of Redress, David Bernstein contends that between 1890 and 1937 American courts aided black workers in labor disputes. The court did this by upholding the freedom of contract doctrine enshrined in Lochner v. New York, the 1905 case that invalidated legislation limiting the hours a baker could work. "Lochnerism" or "Lochnerian jurisprudence," as Bernstein calls it, benefited blacks by voiding discriminatory labor laws, and he illuminates how these labor regulations harmed African Americans. "The Supreme Court," he writes, "was relatively sympathetic to plaintiffs who challenged government regulations, especially occupational regulations, as violations of the implicit constitutional …


Review Of A Stone Of Hope: Prophetic Religion And The Death Of Jim Crow By David L. Chappell, Brian D. Behnken Apr 2004

Review Of A Stone Of Hope: Prophetic Religion And The Death Of Jim Crow By David L. Chappell, Brian D. Behnken

Brian D. Behnken

In this provocative new book, David Chappell examines the role of religion and religious thought in the Civil Rights movement. By focusing on the intellectual and religious underpinnings of both the activists and their segregationist rivals, he makes a persuasive argument that the struggle should best be understood as a prophetic religious movement, rather than as a social movement or as the triumph of a liberal consensus. Scrutinizing religion allows Chappell to shift the historiographical debate away from protests and violence to the role of ideas, principles, and faith.