Kevin Boyle
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age (2004)
Author: Kevin Boyle
Genre: Nonfiction (History)
Book Summary:
Ossian Sweet was a young, black doctor in Detroit in the 1920's. When he moved with his wife and young daughter to a new house in 1925 in a white neighborhood he faced discrimination and racism from the community. Afraid for his safety during a time when there was a growing atmosphere of racial violence and hatred in America, Ossian invited nine male friends and family members to stay with his family for the first few nights in the house. They were armed and ready to defend themselves against any violent actions. After a mob gathered outside the house and began pelting it with rocks and breaking windows someone in Ossian\rquote s house fired at the crowd to defend against the attack. A white man in the crowd was killed and another was injured. Ossian and his family and friends were arrested for murder. The famed attorney, Clarence Darrow successfully defended the group by illustrating the fear caused by the social injustice and racial tensions evolving in America. Ossian's brother who fired the gun was acquitted and the charges against the others were dropped. This book tells the story of Ossian's life from growing up poor in the South to his migration to the North and his struggle to become a doctor and his eventual tragic death. It also gives a vivid account on the incident at the house in 1925 and the courtroom battles that ensued. It explores racial tensions in America and changing cultural attitudes from the Civil War to 1925. Major events and social movements are chronicled in the context of racial inequality and injustice.
Geographical Setting: Detroit and various places across the East, Midwest and South of the United States of America
Time Period: 1865 - 1925
Appeal Characteristics:
The story unfolds at a measured pace and explores in detail many of the social movements and contexts that shaped America from the Civil War through the time of the Sweet trial in 1925. It explores issues of racism and civil rights across America with depictions of changing attitudes and racial tensions. The story is compelling and complex with descriptions of major events in the racial struggle and varrying views from around the country. It includes elements of a courtroom drama and broad issues of social injustice, intolerance, and life and culture in Detroit and the Jazz Age of America. It also has deeply personal elements of struggle, achievement, and dispair. The tone is often bleak but also inspirational and ultimately bitterwseet. This book is engrossing and written in a polished and dramatic style that often reads like a novel.
Read-alikes: For another look at the Ossian Sweet case, readers should try One Man's Castle: Clarence Darrow in Defense of the American Dream by Phyllis Vine. It is also told at a measured pace with a great deal of historic and contextual detail. Those who are interested in reading more about Clarence Darrow should try The Story of My Life by Clarence Darrow. This autobigraphy of Darrow describes his life and many of his courtroom trials and personal philosophies. Readers who enjoyed reading about Darrow and a courtroom drama centered around racial tensions in America might want to try Honor Killing: Race, Rape, and Clarence Darrow's Spectacular Last Case by David E. Stannard. This book also unfolds at a measured pace and includes a lot of historical detail. It describes the true story of a white woman in Hawaii who claims to have been raped by a goup of islanders and the courtroom trials that ensue including one argued by Clarence Darrow. Readers who want to read more about racia and economicl inequality in Detroit might want to try The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit by Thomas J. Sugrue. This book explores racial and economic inequality in Detroit and throughout the country with a lot of historic detail of these issues in Detroit beginning in the 1930's. For more information on the Jazz Age of Detroit readers might want to try Before Motown: A History of Jazz in Detriot, 1920-60 by Lars Bjorn and Jim Gallert. This book explores the Jazz Age of Detroit with descriptions of musicians, clubs, the city, and social issues of the time. Readers who were interested in the topic of the Talented Tenth and would like a more modern perspective on social justice in the African American community might want to try Transcending the Talented Tenth: Black Leaders and American Intellectuals by Joy James. This book details the historic and modern role of intellectual leadership in the African American community and its role in social justice movements. Readers who liked the historic detail and dramatic and compelling writing style and would like to read more about W.E.B. Dubois and his role in the movement for social justice should try W.E.B. Du Bois: Biography of a Race, 1868-1919 and W.E.B. Du Bois: The Fight for Equality and the American Century 1919-1963 by David Levering Lewis. These Pulitzer Prize winning books detail the life of W.E.B. Dubois and his struggle for social equality and justice.
Red Flags: violence and racism
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