Rare Work on Condition of Rights of African Americans in the South
A wide-ranging study covering the condition of civil rights in the South focusing on the experiences of African Americans. Includes numerous case studies of lynching and police brutality against African Americans. Sections cover: voting rights ("devices to keep Negroes from voting" are described, such as poll taxes, violence and intimidation, activities of the Ku Klux Klan), the right to freedom of conscience and expression, the right to equality of opportunity, including employment and education, the right to housing, the right to health services. Other topics covered: discrimination in Federal Services, including brief summaries of "Incidents of Discrimination in Public Services and Accommodations."
The Southern Regional Council was based in Atlanta, created in 1944, evolving out of the Commission on Interracial Cooperation. Its mission was to promote racial equality in the Southern United States, mainly through educational publications advocating for racial justice. It also conducted voter registration campaigns. According to the foreword:
...the great need is for all of us in the Region to recognize fully and frankly how far we have fallen short of the ideals of democracy...It should be pointed out that THE CONDITION OF OUR RIGHTS attempts to illustrate only those failings which grow out of conditions at the state and local levels.
Attribution from printed notice inside back wrapper: "The Condition of Our Rights was prepared by Margaret Price, research assistant for the Southern Regional Council."
Margaret Price also wrote The Negro and the Ballot in the South (1959), which was also published by the Southern Regional Council.
A valuable source containing a detailed snapshot of the status of civil rights in the Jim Crow-era South.
Rarity
Although well represented in institutional confines, this work is quite rare in the market, and we cannot find any other copies currently for sale.