History 371
HON
Devine
Kevin Boyle, Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil
Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age
We will
discuss Boyle’s book on Monday, October 11th.
There will be a twenty question short answer quiz on the reading. If you have not done either the Option A or
Option B paper assignment, you will need to do Option C on Arc of Justice.
The
following study questions should help guide your reading of the book. The numbers following the questions
correspond to the respective chapters.
1.
During
the 1920s, why did the native white population in the large Northern cities see
immigrants and blacks as such threats?
Why did African Americans move north during the 1910s and 1920s? (Prologue)
2.
What
factors led to the emergence of racialized ghettos in
large Northern cities? Did racism or
economic fears seems to play a larger part? (Prologue)
3.
How
would you describe the white people who lived on
4.
What
kind of a reception did Ossian Sweet anticipate when he moved into his new
home? How do we know this? (1)
5.
How
would you assess the police response on the night of the incident at Sweet’s
bungalow? (1)
6.
Why
did the promise of Reconstruction prove hollow for southern freedman? How did the failure of Reconstruction affect
the lives of blacks who came of age in the south during the late nineteenth
century? (2)
7.
What
message did the AME church preach to the newly freed slaves? How did this message affect the choices that
Ossian and his family made? (2)
8.
What
was the underlying philosophy of “Jim Crow”?
In what ways did white society legalize officially this philosophy? (2)
9.
To
what extent did Fred Rochelle’s killing affect Ossian Sweet? (2)
10.
What
factors made
11.
Why,
by the end of Reconstruction, had Northerners largely lost interest in aiding
black education? (3)
12.
What
events triggered the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People (NAACP) in 1909? (3)
13.
What
was the “talented tenth?” In what ways
did many black leaders think that the American entry into the World War I would
benefit the “talented tenth?” (3)
14.
Why
did blacks seem to fare better in the violent racial confrontation that
occurred in
Summary of Chapter
Four: “Uplift Me, Pride”
In this chapter Boyle describes how white Detroiters in the
early 20s became increasingly xenophobic—fearful of “foreigners”—which in this
case included both immigrants (largely Jews and Catholics) and blacks. The population of each group swelled as the
city’s booming auto plants soaked up more and more workers. Local community leaders became increasingly
concerned that these workers were not sufficiently Americanized, which meant
they did not adequately conform to Protestant, Anglo-Saxon traditions or
expectations. Henry Ford, the greatest
auto tycoon of all and a virulent anti-Semite, mass produced millions of copies
of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which
purported to be a Jewish blueprint for a world wide conspiracy to undermine
Christian civilization. The document was
a fraud.
The Great Migration of southern blacks to northern cities
during World War I caused much of the racial stress in
Black Bottom was a horror.
The newcomers were packed into run down, dilapidated housing which,
ironically, was more expensive than surrounding areas. (Because local whites resisted allowing the
newcomers to “invade” their neighborhoods, landlords within Black Bottom could
charge higher rents knowing the migrants had nowhere else to go.) The area lacked proper sewage, electricity,
and water service. Street car lines were
scarce, crime festered, and police brutality was an everyday occurrence. Disease was rampant, particularly the
ailments of the poor and overcrowded: tuberculosis, pneumonia, diarrhea, and
malnutrition.
It was unthinkable for a young black doctor to attempt to
open a practice catering to whites, so, in 1921, Ossian Sweet came to Black
Bottom to live and practice medicine. He
opened his first office in the back room of a local pharmacy. And he did well. Like many educated and ambitious blacks, the
young doctor saw in the flood of southern peasants the chance to make his
fortune. Ossian quickly joined the
right black clubs and social organizations, including the local AME
church. Through his new connections he
secured a lucrative position as a medical examiner for an insurance company and
joined with other doctors in the area to found Dunbar Memorial, a modest
hospital, but the first to serve the population of Black Bottom. Ossian Sweet had certainly become a member of
The 20s also witnessed the emergence of a new model for
black behavior, the so-called “New Negro.”
Black leaders challenged their race to be far more militant. Many blacks had served in World War I only to
return to an
On the other hand, the “talented tenth” often blamed the
newly arrived blacks for holding back the race, demonstrating a fissure within
black society. Some black elites were convinced that
Ossian Sweet, however, had other concerns. He met Gladys Mitchell in 1922 and fell in
love. Gladys, a light skinned black, had grown up in a mixed middle class
Months later, Ossian and Gladys embarked on an ambitious
trip to
15. What was the stated purpose of the
Waterman Park Improvement Association?
What was its real purpose? To
what extent was it connected to the Tireman Avenue
Improvement Association? (5)
16.
What
kinds of people did Frank Murphy and Johnny Smith try to organize as a force
against the Ku Klux Klan? (5)
17.
In
what ways did banks, real estate agents, and the realities of the housing
market conspire against black (and white working class) homeowners? (5)
18.
Why
were white homeowners on
19.
Why
did the Waterman Park Improvement Association have such little success
convincing white homeowners to sign restrictive covenants? (5)
Summary of Chapter Six: “The Letter of Your Law”
A paddy wagon brought the eleven
defendants to police headquarters. As
they waited to be interrogated, Ossian and the others quickly and quietly
agreed on their story. When questioned
by the police, the young doctor claimed, unconvincingly, that he did not know
he had purchased a home in an all white neighborhood. He also stated falsely that he had not
invited the others to join him that night.
He claimed that they had instead come of their own volition, some on
business, others as friends. They had all been waiting to eat dinner when
the disturbance began.
Sweet also asserted, correctly, that
they fired their weapons only after the windows were broken by rocks and bricks
thrown by the crowd outside. He had a
more difficult time explaining why he had brought so many guns with him to his
home. Sweet confessed he had heard some
rumors of trouble that night, but he stuck with his contention that he had no
reason to believe the worst would occur when he moved in. When he was pressed by the police to explain
this inconsistency, Sweet simply claimed it was his house and he had a legal
right to live there, which was true.
The other participants largely stuck
to Ossian’s version. As agreed, they all
claimed that they had just happened to be visiting that evening. Although the details were often inconsistent,
the defendants independently affirmed two basic points. The bricks and rocks came first, and nobody
would admit they were upstairs when the shots were fired—nobody except Henry
Sweet, Ossian’s brother. In a notable
break with the others, Henry admitted he fired a shotgun from the upstairs
window, above the heads of the crowd, but he claimed it was only after rocks
had shattered the glass.
The defendants were able to contact
local black attorneys who set about to plan their defense. The
Unfortunately, they were blindsided
by the press which played up the incident as a blatant attack by blacks on
law-abiding whites. The Detroit Free Press interviewed police
inspector Norton Schuknecht who claimed there was no
mob, no crowd surrounding the house, and certainly no stones thrown through
windows. According to Schucknecht, the neighborhood was perfectly peaceful when
the Negroes opened fire. The story went
on to suggest that the Waterworks Park Improvement Association had tried to
persuade the previous owners not to sell the property to a black family, to no
avail. The paper reported that the
Sweets arrived fully armed and without any furniture, implying that they
intended to initiate a confrontation.
The article suggested that the deceased, Leon Breiner,
had simply been strolling down the street when he was cut down by bullets from
the Sweet’s house.
The afternoon papers, usually fierce
competitors of the Detroit Free Press, confirmed
the story—the police had been in control, there was calm, no crowd had
assembled before the shots were fired.
In addition, it was reported that Henry Sweet had confessed. With pressure mounting, Judge Murphy, the
progressive jurist that the lawyers had assumed was on their side, signed the
warrants and ordered a hearing.
Prosecutor Robert Toms prepared the
case, which he knew was a political necessity, given the inflammatory nature of
the coverage in the press. He
understood, however, that centuries of legal precedent supported the Sweets’
right to protect their property if threatened.
In fact, it had long been held that an actual threat need not be
present; simply the perception of a threat was sufficient to warrant self
defensive action on the part of a property owner. The defendants would have to say only that
they were threatened by a mob.
Therein lay the rub.
Johnny Smith dealt the final blow to
the Sweet’s cause with his comments on this case. The mayor accused the KKK of setting up the
conflict. According to Smith, the Klan
had been trying to induce blacks all summer to move into white districts just
to stir up trouble. But Smith also
blamed blacks for supposedly taking the bait.
Said Smith, “I believe that any colored person who
endangers life and property, simply to gratify his personal pride, is an enemy
of his race as well as an incitant of riot and murder.” By all measures, the prospects for Ossian,
Gladys and their companions were dimming by the day.
Summary of Chapter
Seven: “Freedmen, Sons of God, Americans”
This chapter begins with a description of the rise of the
remarkable black scholar, journalist, composer, and diplomat James Weldon
Johnson to prominence within the NAACP and chronicles his attempts to fight
urban residential segregation, like that of
To fight such housing discrimination the NAACP hoped to form
a coalition of blacks and white ethnics (Jews and Catholics) who were also
often targeted by the Ku Klux Klan and other nativist
groups. Indeed, a Jew, Leo Frank, was
lynched in
This chapter also details the fascinating story of Walter
White, a brilliant NAACP official with decidedly Anglo-Saxon features—white
skin, blue eyes, and blonde hair.
Although his black heritage was impossible to detect, White proudly
insisted he was a Negro. His appearance
proved to be of great value to the NAACP in that he could infiltrate and
investigate scenes of racial mayhem—lynchings, race
riots, pogroms (the complete destruction of towns)—without local whites ever
suspecting that he was not one of them.
White was also an elitist, a man who inhabited the most rarified
artistic and intellectual circles of
Of course, the local black lawyers in
Once in charge, White and Johnson decided that it would be
far more advantageous to employ a powerful white lawyer to defend the eleven
blacks in front of what was sure to be an all white jury. But when they contacted candidates from the
NAACP’s list, they found no takers.
Everyone had an excuse of some sort.
Although some may have been legitimate, in all likelihood the rising
popularity of the Klan convinced many of the lawyers to steer clear of the
case. A huge Klan rally took place in
Just when things looked darkest a letter landed on Johnson’s
desk from a man who served as the legal counsel to the Chicago Defender, one of the nation’s most prestigious and most
widely read black newspapers. The
lawyer, N. K. McGill, expressed an interest in helping out with the case. He suggested he had access to several
prominent attorneys in
For a quarter of a century Darrow had been the most
celebrated defense attorney in the country.
Most recently he had defended a school teacher in
20.
What
kinds of people did Clarence Darrow build his reputation defending? What do his cases tell you about his values?
(8)
21.
Who
and what were the targets of Darrow’s scorn?
How do you think Darrow would have defined an ideal
22.
How
accurately did the Negro Press depict Ossian Sweet and his actions on the night
of the murder? How did this attention
affect Ossian? (8)
23.
What
group did W. E. B. Dubois target as the real culprits of urban racial segregation? Did he blame primarily racism or greed? (8)
24. When Clarence Darrow put together a
jury, what types of people was he looking for?
How much importance did he place on jury selection? (9)
25.
To
what extent was Darrow able to puncture the testimony of the key prosecution
witnesses? (9)
26.
What
was the point of having Ossian Sweet tell his life story on the stand? How relevant do you think it was to the case
against him? (9)
27.
In
his closing argument, how did Darrow build his case that it was the Negro and
not the Nordic who should be considered the superior race? (9)
28.
On
page 301 Boyle writes, “no one had gone into this case simply to win it.” What do you think he means by this? (10)
29.
What
effect did Ossian’s triumphant tour between trials have on the NAACP, the black
community at large, and the Sweets themselves?
How, specifically, had Ossian changed in the six months since the
fateful night on
30.
Why
was the NAACP aghast that Darrow wanted Thomas Chawke
to join the case for the second trial?
(10)
31.
Why
was the testimony of Edward Miller and Alf Andrews so pivotal in the second
trial? (10)
32.
Throughout
the 30s and 40s, white liberals condemned the mobs that kept blacks out of
white neighborhoods. According to Boyle,
what point were the liberals missing?
Who was equally to blame for housing discrimination? (Requiescam)
33.
What
ultimately happened to Ossian Sweet? To
what extent is this story heroic, ironic, or tragic? (Requiescam)