In Quest of a Color-Blind America: The Life and Times of Albion Tourgée

FAIN: FB-52466-06

Mark Emory Elliott
Wagner College (Staten Island, NY 10301-4495)

This book project examines the life and thought of Albion Tourgée who was one of the most committed proponents of “color blind citizenship” in post-Civil War America and who played a crucial role in bringing this phrase into the legal and political discourse. Using Tourgée as a lens into the nineteenth-century debates over the relationship of race to citizenship, I argue that the concept of civic “color-blindness” derived from a larger set of cultural beliefs about the nature of the self, and civic identity, that were rooted in the most individualistic strains of nineteenth-century evangelical Protestantism that, for radicals like Tourgée, did not conflict with activist government policies for racial justice.

Associated Products

Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgee and the Quest for Racial Equality from the Civil War to Plessy v. Ferguson (Book)
Title: Color-Blind Justice: Albion Tourgee and the Quest for Racial Equality from the Civil War to Plessy v. Ferguson
Author: Mark Elliott
Abstract: Civil War officer, Reconstruction "carpetbagger," best-selling novelist, and relentless champion of equal rights--Albion Tourgee battled his entire life for racial justice. Now, in this engaging biography, Mark Elliott offers an insightful portrait of a fearless lawyer, jurist, and writer, who fought for equality long after most Americans had abandoned the ideals of Reconstruction. Elliott provides a fascinating account of Tourgee's life, from his childhood in the Western Reserve region of Ohio (then a hotbed of abolitionism), to his years as a North Carolina judge during Reconstruction, to his memorable role as lead plaintiff's counsel in the landmark Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson. Tourgee's brief coined the phrase that justice should be "color-blind," and his career was one long campaign to make good on that belief. A redoubtable lawyer and an accomplished jurist, Tourgee's writings represent a mountain of dissent against the prevailing tide of racial oppression. A poignant and inspiring study in courage and conviction, Color-Blind Justice offers us an unforgettable portrayal of Albion Tourgee and the principles to which he dedicated his life
Year: 2006
Primary URL: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/color-blind-justice-9780195181395?cc=us&lang=en&
Primary URL Description: Oxford Press site
Secondary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/color-blind-justice-albion-tourgee-and-the-quest-for-racial-equality-from-the-civil-war-to-plessy-v-ferguson/oclc/433319280?referer=br&ht=edition
Secondary URL Description: worldcat
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9780195181395
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

---