Earl Lewis

To Make Our World Anew: A History of African Americans

PREFACE 1. The First Passage: 1502-1617 2. Strange New Land:1617-1776 3. Revolutionary Citizens:1776-1804 4. Let My People Go:1804-1860 5. Breaking The Chains:1860-1880 6. Though Justice Sleeps:1880-1900 7. A Chance To Make Good: 1900-1929 8. A New Deal?: 1929-1945 9. We Changed The World:1945-1970 10. Into The Fire:1970 to Present CHRONOLOGY FURTHER READING INDEX

Our Compelling Interests: The Value of Diversity for Democracy and a Prosperous Society

Stephanie, Cyarah, Sam, Adedoke, Gifty, Ola, Justin, Christian, and Lovanie are a small sample of the students who entered college in the fall of 2015. Their names refl ect the currents and cross currents of migration, history, aspirations, and dreams. Some came from families with deep roots in the United States; others proudly proclaimed themselves fi rst generation. In statements composed to introduce themselves to others in their university’s social justice learning community, a few made note of their communities of faith, while others paid homage to family and friends who inspired their life choices. In moving prose, they spoke of premature births, early deaths, and personal strug gles. Passionately, they talked of what they wanted to become, the dreams they had for themselves, their families, and their communities. Lovanie Pomplilus echoed many of her classmates when she wrote:

A Modern Cinderella: Race, Sexuality, and Social Class in the Rhinelander Case

On November 13, 1924, the first public announcements of white scion Leonard Kip Rhinelanders secret marriage to a working-class “colored” woman, Alice Jones, exploded across the front pages of New York newspapers. Although Rhinelander, a wealthy white socialite, ignored family orders and stayed with his wife through the first week or so of the scandal, few were surprised when he ultimately left her and filed an annulment suit. While New York did not outlaw interracial marriages, Leonards suit reflected the extent of public sentiment against such marriages. Claiming he had not known Alice was black and would not have married her if he had, Leonard, acutely aware of his class station, nonetheless based his request to dissolve the marriage on prohibitions against interracial unions. It is perhaps surprising, therefore, that the jury of twelve white married men refused the Rhinelander heir his annulment and upheld the marriage, there-by accepting Alices version of events and actions.

The “Diversity Explosion” Is America’s Twenty- first- Century Baby Boom

1. The sweep of diversity that has just begun to affect the nation became obvious from my examination of the 2010 U.S. census, census projections, and the results of the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections. As a demographer who has followed U.S. population trends for decades, even I was surprised by the sheer scope of this change. This is not just more of the same. I am convinced that the United States is in the midst of a pivotal period ushering in extraordinary shifts in the nation’s racial demographic makeup. If planned for properly, these demographic changes will allow the country to face the future with growth and vitality as it reinvents the classic American melting pot for a new era.

Introduction Connecting African American Urban History, Social Science Research, and Policy Debates

Open any newspaper, listen to most news reports, catch the words of many politicians bemoaning the decline of the central city, and for years the images used to accompany the message pictured a black face. Since the 1960s, against the backdrop of race riots and general despair, the words black, inner city, ghetto and problems became connected and at times interchangeable. Oftentimes the stories produced appear as if blacks inhabit the inner cities alone. In this world there are no Asians, Latinos and Latinas, Native Americans, or whites. In this world the central cities are divided from power structures, businesses, labor unions, politics, and adjacent suburbs. In this world race and racism exist within a tightly bound space divorced from the larger society. Why is this? And just as important, how do we add a historical perspective to the long list of policy recommendations that have captivated public discourse for more than four decades? This books attempts to answer these and other questions. It also seeks to uncover the multiple histories of urban life in America. It centers on the history and lived conditions of African Americans, and places them in proximity and interactions with the broad spectrum of others who peopled this nation.