The Strange Career of Jim Crow (Galaxy Books)

Woodward first provides a detailed analysis of the state of the races following the War. He demonstrates: that Slavery had required the proximity and interaction of Blacks and Whites, which could not be reversed overnight; that Northern Republicans, Southern Conservatives and Southern Radicals all had reasons to court black citizens; and reminds us that with the North virtually running the South for a period of years, segregation would not have been allowed immediately after the war.

He then makes a compelling case that the true rise of Jim Crow came about, in the 1890's, due to a confluence of factors: 1) Northern withdrawal from Southern affairs; 2) the changes in Northern attitudes towards colored peoples as America became an Imperialist power; 3) the crushing depression of the 80's, which added fuel to racial animus; 4) the concurrent rise of the Populists who were more than willing to play the race card; and 5) the series of Supreme Court rulings which sanctioned separation.

Finally, he turns to the demise of segregation, which was going on even as he wrote the several editions of his book. Here again, he identifies a number of factors, besides the Civil Rights movement, which contributed to Jim Crow's fall: Northern migration; changing, but this time improving, attitudes towards colored peoples, as exemplified at the UN; the reversal of course by the Supreme Court; and the improved economic condition of the Nation generally.

In chronicling this rise and fall of Jim Crow, demonstrating that segregation was a gradual rather than an immediate & natural response to the end of slavery and showing that many factors besides race lead to the adoption of segregation policies, Woodward makes an inestimable contribution to our understanding of the horrific legal repression of Southern Blacks.

GRADE: B


Important introduction to an important topic   July 8, 2000
 16 out of 16 found this review helpful

One of the central problems in American history is that of race relations, and one of the central problems of race relations in America has been that of segregation. Woodward intends for this book to be an overview of the rise and fall of de jure segregation in the American South, and, for the most part, he succeeds admirably.

There is much to commend this book and its author for. Woodward debunks the notion, especially popular among the defenders of segregation during the Civil Rights era, that segregation had been part of the Southern way of life for time immemorial; instead, he convincingly argues, a considerable amount of integration existed from before the Civil War up until the turn of the Twentieth Century. He provides a nuanced analysis of the course of white Southern resistance to desegregation decisions by the Supreme Court -- it was not monolithic, nor was it immediately virulent; rather, "massive resistance" developed over the course of several years, not reaching its peak until the early 1960s. Finally, his analysis of the internal tensions in the Civil Rights movement between the integrationists and the nationalists and between the black middle class and the mass of black poor, while frustratingly incomplete, nevertheless rings true.

This is a short book, and the author's literary style makes it seem even shorter. His prose is engaging and precise, and this book is a quick read in spite of the depth and importance of the ideas that it contains.

The only criticisms that I can offer are fairly minor. Foremost is the lack of citations in the book. This is understandable, especially in light of the fact that the book originated as a series of lectures given at the University of Virginia in 1954. Still, Woodward could have included footnotes if he had wanted to when he was assembling the book for publication. Second is the virtual lack of analysis for why the Jim Crow laws seemed attractive to white Southerners in the first place, especially in light of the absence of a segregationist heritage in the South.

Neither of these two comlaints should detract from the book very much. It is a fine introduction to the Jim Crow era, and it ought to be required reading for any serious student of American history.


Outstanding   March 6, 1999
 8 out of 17 found this review helpful

Concise but scholarly, Professor Woodward's work is the definitive history of this aspect of the American South. The only criticism this reviewer can throw Prof. Woodward's way is that he doesn't really explain WHY southern whites instituted Jim Crow. Otherwise, this is an outstanding book.


Probably the best concise view of race relations available   March 19, 1998
 2 out of 2 found this review helpful

For the college level U.S. History student or any interested reader with reasonable background, this book is probably the best, most concise and incisive look at race relations in the American South. Woodward explores the economic and political underpinnings of Jim Crow in a manner that does not fit modernist notions of inherent and intractable racism, but rather shows the real life situations which lead to the Jim Crow laws. A must read for any student of the period. A should read for anyone who smugly accepts the conventional wisdom.
Post Script 2002: I've delved much, much further into Southern thought and intellectual history in the four years since I first reviewed this book. I no longer think that Jim Crow was or is as transient as Woodward makes him out to be. De Jure segregation is dead, but de facto segregation is more alive than when Strange Career was written. Strange Career served its purpose when it convinced a wavering Supreme Ct. that Jim Crow could be overcome since he was a transitory phenomena. Time has proven that he wasn't. At the time of Strange Career, the Whites had a monopoly on hate. Since Brown v. The Board, Blacks have acquired the right to hate as well.