Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age | 
 enlarge | Author: Kevin Boyle
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Category: Book
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Rating:  33 reviews
Sales Rank: 8311
Media: Paperback
Pages: 448
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1
ISBN: 0805079335
Dewey Decimal Number: 345.73025230977434
EAN: 9780805079333
ASIN: 0805079335
Publication Date: May 1, 2005
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Condition: Brand new, may have remainder mark or slight shelfware
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Product Description
An electrifying story of the sensational murder trial that divided a city and ignited the civil rights struggle
In 1925, Detroit was a smoky swirl of jazz and speakeasies, assembly lines and fistfights. The advent of automobiles had brought workers from around the globe to compete for manufacturing jobs, and tensions often flared with the KKK in ascendance and violence rising. Ossian Sweet, a proud Negro doctor-grandson of a slave-had made the long climb from the ghetto to a home of his own in a previously all-white neighborhood. Yet just after his arrival, a mob gathered outside his house; suddenly, shots rang out: Sweet, or one of his defenders, had accidentally killed one of the whites threatening their lives and homes.
And so it began-a chain of events that brought America's greatest attorney, Clarence Darrow, into the fray and transformed Sweet into a controversial symbol of equality. Historian Kevin Boyle weaves the police investigation and courtroom drama of Sweet's murder trial into an unforgettable tapestry of narrative history that documents the volatile America of the 1920s and movingly re-creates the Sweet family's journey from slavery through the Great Migration to the middle class. Ossian Sweet's story, so richly and poignantly captured here, is an epic tale of one man trapped by the battles of his era's changing times.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
Clarence Darrow, Race, and Justice January 5, 2009
Philip W. Henry (Rialto, CA)
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age
Arc of Justice
Between World War I and the Great Depression, over seven million southern blacks migrated north. The causes of this great migration were several: the lingering effects of Jim Crow and discrimination; the lessening of the importance of agricultural crops like cotton, but mostly, opportunity - real or perceived. The lure of five-dollar-a-day jobs in Henry Ford's automotive plants was an alluring, if unrealistic, hope for many...most of whom found themselves consigned to menial jobs. One of these hopeful migrants was Ossian Sweet, a medical doctor who moved his family from northern Florida to Detroit in hopes of a better life. What he found was old fashioned bigotry and prejudice. When he had the temerity to move into an all-white neighborhood, the battle was joined.
On a hot summer night in 1925, Sweet and his wife were in their new home in the segregated neighborhood when a crowd began to form, hearing rumors of the move. Sweet assembled some trusted friends and prepared to wait out the inevitable riot, but things got worse. The Detroit police weren't able, or inclined, to control the violence. Shots rang out: two white protesters lay dead. Sweet, his wife, brother Henry, and friends were arrested and booked for murder. It looked like prison or worse until the NAACP persuaded Clarence Darrow, one of the century's most celebrated lawyers, to take their case.
Darrow had gained prominence in the cases of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, two wealthy Chicago college students who killed a boy for the thrill of it. Darrow prevailed on the judge to sentence them to life, rather than execution, based on expert and groundbreaking testimony on their mental condition. He had also defended Tennessee school teacher John Scopes on charges of teaching evolution in violation of state law. Even though Scopes was convicted of a misdemeanor, Darrow had a heavyweight showdown with William Jennings Bryan over the merits of evolution vs creationism. (The fight isn't over yet)
The trial of Henry and Dr. Sweet featured two key elements: the mental state of the defendants, and the right of self-defense. The jury in the first trial was unable to reach a verdict and it ended in mistrial. A second trial resulted in acquittal.
But it was a bittersweet victory: a parallel lawsuit brought before the Supreme Court by the NAACP challenged restrictive racial covenants in housing.
That suit failed, opening the door to continued, legal discrimination. And Dr. Ossian Sweet, beset by personal and financial troubles, took his own life in 1960, just as the civil rights movement got underway. Kevin Boyle has done an excellent job in researching and presenting this important piece of U.S. history.
 Great story, great read December 16, 2008
Chris (Chicago, IL)
Kevin Boyle's "Arc of Justice" is a riveting account of the Ossian Sweet case and subsequent trials, which were major events in the very early stages of the civil rights movement, long before Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC rose to prominence. Boyle recounts the events of the couple of days after the Sweets moved into a white Detroit neighborhood; Ossian Sweet's life to that point; the NAACP's involvement in preparing for the trials; and the brilliant performance of Clarence Darrow in both trials.
For the most part, this book reads like a novel, which would have had a happy ending if not for the epilogue reminding us that lives of African Americans very rarely ended happily for much of our history. Boyle's descriptions of the Sweets and their friends defending the house, as well as the goings-on outside the house, was edge-of-your-seat intense. He provided plenty of background on everyone involved, which helps the reader get into the story and care about the outcome.
Boyle also did a wonderful job of telling the racial history of Detroit, something students are unlikely to learn in the classroom. And he succeeded in bringing Darrow to life and explaining why the Great Defender wanted to be a part of the Sweet case. In so many ways, this book is a gem.
I have a couple of small complaints that only slightly, if at all, detract from the overall quality of the book. First, I did feel at times that Boyle strayed from the topic. I realize the Sweets were not the sole focus of the book, that the bigger picture of race and the impact of the NAACP were important as well. Still, I thought he occasionally drifted. And the other issue I had was that I thought Boyle fell into a trap that catches many historians -- hyperbole and assumption. I cringe when historians claim to know what someone was thinking at a certain moment some decades ago, and I believe a good story tells itself and doesn't need flowery language to make it interesting. In some instances, I wish Boyle had simply stuck to the known facts.
But these criticisms are insignificant, and the truth is, I loved the book. I learned a great deal from it and whenever I had to put it down, I was always eager to pick it back up. I'd recommend it to anyone.
A seven. December 11, 2008
J Alvi (San Diego)
Masterfully written. If it were possible to rate this book as 6 stars, I would rate it 7. Not only are you enjoying this vividly written novel, but you are also learning in a great way some of the history of our country at a time when racial tensions in some parts of the country were spreading and rising in the North. Simply put, if you want to learn and don't mind wanting to stay up late at night just so you can see what happens next, buy this book. Bravo Professor Boyle. Highly recommended.
Ossian Sweet December 8, 2008
Breanna Holm (San Diego, Ca USA)
Boyle has written profound novel about the trials of Ossian Sweet. It was a suspensful read and Boyle really connects with the reader, so I didn't want to put it down. This is a great book, bringing up many historical events like the development and rise of the NAACP, the "white mob", the Great Migration, and the spread of "black" violence from the south to the north. Its a sad story but very well written and I would definetly recommend it!
You won't be dissappointed December 4, 2008
Elizabeth E. (SDSU)
This book will not disappoint! It was an easy and awesome read. The story of the Ossian Sweet trial is provocative and interesting. Kevin Boyle did a great job with this book, along with the emotional look into the life of Dr. Ossian Sweet but he also touches the themes of the beginning of the formation of the NAACP and the beginning of the push for civil rights. This might be the best historical novel i have read! Make sure you read the end!!! Its mind-blowingly good!!!
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