Donald G. Nieman's Books

Promises to Keep

African Americans and the Constitutional Order, 1776 to the Present

By: Donald G. Nieman

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Promises to Keep

African Americans and the Constitutional Order, 1776 to the Present

By: Donald G. Nieman

This book examines the influence of race in the development of the U.S. Constitution and argues that African Americans have had a powerful influence creating constitutional rights. It examines the debate over slavery in the Revolutionary Era and at the Constitutional Convention, how antislavery advocates, black and white, created constitutional ideas that promoted equality, and their role in ending slavery, securing adoption of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, and establishing civil rights protections during Reconstruction. By 1900, southern whites had reversed most of these changes through disfranchisement, segregation, and sharecropping, but African Americans continued to resist. Through organizations like the National Association for the Advancement for Colored People, they challenged segregation, discriminatory criminal justice, lynching, and disfranchisement. After World War II, the civil rights movement triumphed through legal victories (e.g., Brown v. Board of Education), legislation (the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act), and mass protest. Civil rights advocates won victories in the 1970s and 1980s challenging institutionalized racism, even though conservative political strength grew. However, from the 1980s to the 2010s, a conservative Supreme Court invoked color-blind constitutional principles to weaken civil rights protections. Continued economic disparities between blacks and whites as well as the war of drugs and mass incarceration undermined gains made by the civil rights movement, although new social movements like Black Lives Matter continued the quest for equal justice"--

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Page Count

368

Publisher

Oxford University Press, USA

Published Date

ISBN 10

0190071648

ISBN 13

9780190071646

Promises to Keep

African Americans and the Constitutional Order, 1776 to the Present

By: Donald G. Nieman

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Promises to Keep

African Americans and the Constitutional Order, 1776 to the Present

By: Donald G. Nieman

Widely considered the first history of US Constitutionalism that places African Americans at the center, Promises to Keep is a compelling overview of how conflict over African Americans' place in American society has shaped the Constitution, law, and our understanding of citizenship andrights. Both authoritative and accessible, this revised and expanded second edition incorporates key insights from the last three decades of scholarship and makes sense of recent developments in civil rights, from the War on Drugs to the rise of Black Lives Matter. Promises to Keep shows how AfricanAmericans have played a critical role in transforming the Constitution from a bulwark of slavery to a document that is truer to the nation's promise of equality.The book begins by examining debates about race from the Revolutionary Era at the Constitutional Convention and covers the establishment of civil rights protections during Reconstruction, the Jim Crow backlash, and the evolution of the civil rights movement, from the formation of the NationalAssociation for the Advancement for Colored People to legal victories and massive organized protests. Comprehensive in scope, this book moves from debates over slavery at the nation's founding to contemporary discussions of affirmative action, voting rights, mass incarceration, and police brutality.In the process, it provides readers with a historical perspective critical to understanding some of today's most important social and political issues.

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369

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Oxford University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

019007163X

ISBN 13

9780190071639

The Path to Paralysis

How American Politics Became Nasty, Dysfunctional, and a Threat to the Republic

By: Donald G. Nieman

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The Path to Paralysis

How American Politics Became Nasty, Dysfunctional, and a Threat to the Republic

By: Donald G. Nieman

How did the world’s oldest democracy lose its mojo? How did we get to a point where we face existential crises like climate change yet leaders can’t agree that there’s a problem let alone develop solutions? Political leaders bear some of the responsibility. Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and Donald Trump, to name a few, have shattered political norms and transformed our politics into a free-for-all in which personal attacks, appeals to bigotry and fear, disregard for truth, and disdain for governing have become the norm. But they are more a symptom than the cause. The Path to Paralysis examines changes in political culture during the past 60 years – conflict over race, religion and gender; wrenching economic changes and growing concentration of wealth; the end of the Cold War; hardening regional divisions; and dramatic changes in communications – that made Donald Trump possible, if not inevitable. Long in the making, these cross-currents came together in the early 21st century – as the United States experienced the deepest recession since the 1930s and elected its first Black president – to create the perfect storm. The result was toxic and deeply polarised politics that threatened the existence of constitutional government.

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Page Count

329

Publisher

Anthem Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1839992778

ISBN 13

9781839992773

Book's by Donald G. Nieman

Promises to Keep

Promises to Keep

Promises to Keep

Promises to Keep

The Path to Paralysis

The Path to Paralysis

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