Whispered Consolations: Law and Narrative in African American Life PDF
Preview Whispered Consolations: Law and Narrative in African American Life
www .press .umich .edu michigan Whispered Consolations Whispered Consolations Law and Narrative in African American Life Jon-Christian Suggs Ann Arbor Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2000 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America cPrinted on acid-free paper 2003 2002 2001 2000 4 3 2 1 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Suggs, Jon Christian, 1940– Whispered consolations : law and narrative in African American life / Jon-Christian Suggs. p. cm. — (Law, meaning, and violence) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-472-10651-1 (cloth : acid-free paper) 1. Afro-Americans—Legal status, laws, etc. 2. Race discrimination—Law and legislation—United States. 3. Justice. I. Title. II. Series. kf4757 .s84 1999 346.7301'3—dc21 99-006889 ISBN13 978-0-472-10651-6 (cloth) ISBN13 978-0-472-02282-3 (electronic) For Seana, Heather, Joshua, and Quin As a rule, a race writes its history in its laws and in its records. Not so the Afro-American: he could make no law; deprived of the opportunity to write, he could leave no written word; he could only protest against the injustice of his oppressors in his heart, in his song, and in his whispered consolations to the suffering and dying. Mrs. N. F. Mossell, The Work of the Afro-American Woman,1894 Contents Preface xi Introduction Signifying, Epistemology, and Ontology in Law and African American Narrative; or, A House of Laws on Fire 1 Chapter 1 In Search of Justice and Jurisprudence 19 Chapter 2 Romance and Resistance 43 Chapter 3 The Romance of Desire and Identity 77 Chapter 4 Privacy, Property, and Self 111 Chapter 5 Law and the Urbanization of Narrative in “Postproperty” African American Life 145 Chapter 6 Lynchings and Passing 171 Chapter 7 Resistance in Renascence 203 Chapter 8 At the End of Histories 235
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