DISMANTLING THE HOUSE OF PLESSY: A PRIVATE LAW STUDY OF RACE IN CULTURAL AND LEGAL HISTORY WITH CONTEMPORARY RESONANCES

Abstract

In this article Professor Perry argues that Plessy v. Ferguson and the de jure segregation it heralded has overdetermined the discourse on Jim Crow. She demonstrates through a historical analysis of activist movements, popular literature, and case law that private law, specifically property and contract, were significant aspects of Jim Crow law and culture. The failure to understand the significance of private law has limited the breadth of juridical analyses of how to respond to racial divisions and injustices. Perry therefore contends that a paradigmatic shift is necessary in scholarly analyses of the Jim Crow era, to include private law, and moreover that this shift will enrich our understandings of both historic and current inequalities.

Citation

Perry, I. (2004), "DISMANTLING THE HOUSE OF PLESSY: A PRIVATE LAW STUDY OF RACE IN CULTURAL AND LEGAL HISTORY WITH CONTEMPORARY RESONANCES", Studies in Law, Politics and Society (Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 33), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 91-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1059-4337(04)33004-8