Answering the Call: An Autobiography of the Modern Struggle to End Racial Discrimination in America

by Nathaniel R. Jones, Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (Foreword by)

Overview

“Jones, a trailblazing African American judge, delivers an urgently needed perspective on American history . . . [A] passionate and informative account” (Booklist, starred review).
 
Answering the Call is an extraordinary eyewitness account from an unsung hero of the battle for racial equality in America—a battle that, far from ending with the great victories of the civil rights era, saw some of its signal achievements in the desegregation fights of the 1970s and its most notable setbacks in the affirmative action debates that continue into the present in Ferguson, Baltimore, and beyond.
 
Judge Nathaniel R. Jones’s groundbreaking career was forged in the 1960s: As the first African American assistant US attorney in Ohio; as assistant general counsel of the Kerner Commission; and, beginning in 1969, as general counsel of the NAACP. In that latter role, Jones coordinated attacks against Northern school segregation—a vital, divisive, and poorly understood chapter in the movement for equality—twice arguing in the pivotal US Supreme Court case Bradley v. Milliken, which addressed school desegregation in Detroit. He also led the national response to the attacks against affirmative action, spearheading and arguing many of the signal legal cases of that effort.
 
Answering the Call is “a stunning, inside story of the contemporary struggle for civil rights . . . Essential reading for understanding where we are today—underscoring just how much work is left to be done” (Vernon E. Jordan Jr., civil rights activist).
 
“A forthright testimony by a witness to history.” —Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620970751
Publisher:	New Press, The
Publication date:	05/17/2016
Pages:	416
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Judge Nathaniel R. Jones was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, from which he retired in 2002. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio. Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of History and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. She lives in Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Foreword Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham vii

Preface: Why This Book? xiii

1 The Call 1

2 My Early Life 7

3 Becoming a Civil Rights Activist 33

4 Family Marriages, and Faith 67

5 Political Solutions to Racial Tensions 77

6 Cutting My Teeth as NAACP General Counsel 97

7 Desegregation and the Road to the North: Shifting Legal Strategies-from Plessy to Sweatt to Brown 127

8 Beyond De Facto/De Jure: The Northern School Desegregation Cases 152

9 The Road to the Court 207

10 Continuing the Struggle, on the Bench 247

11 Beyond the United States 264

12 Beyond the Bench 287

13 Life After the Bench 310

14 Justice Clarence Thomas and the Supreme Double Cross 319

15 Obama: Election Reflections 345

Acknowledgments 375

Appendix 377

Notes 391

Index 397

Editorial Reviews

03/21/2016
Jones, who retired from the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, in 2002, offers a forthright and revealing memoir of serving as a judge and lawyer on the front lines of the civil rights era. In the 1960s, he served as deputy general counsel on the Kerner Commission, formed by President Johnson to study civil disorder, and argued for greater compassion for protesters condemned as “rioters.” In his role as NAACP general counsel, he coordinated the defense of school desegregation initiatives during the 1970s, and as a judge on the Court of Appeals, he insisted on hiring African-American law clerks. In a work rich in context and analysis, he covers a variety of topics, including Obama’s election and the myth of a post-racial America, serving in the segregated WWII-era military, the Scottsboro Boys, and the appointment of Clarence Thomas, whom he considers one of history’s “most colossal double-crossers.” He also writes that the champions of states’ rights have managed to “reinstate a variety of once-outlawed Jim Crow tactics” to disqualify minorities and suppress their votes. This careful, considered debut highlights a life committed to justice and to the principle that the law is the “inescapable route” to attaining equality. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Answering the Call:
"Jones, a trailblazing African American judge, delivers an urgently needed perspective on American history… [Jones] convincingly argues throughout this passionate and informative account that the rule and force of law achieved through Brown v. Board of Education must be upheld, or we face a return to the racial injustices of the past.”
—Booklist Starred Review

"This careful, considered debut highlights a life committed to justice and to the principle that the law is the 'inescapable route' to attaining equality."
—Publishers Weekly

"A forthright testimony by a witness to history."
—Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Judge Nathaniel R. Jones:
"Jones, a trailblazing African American judge, delivers an urgently needed perspective on American history… [Jones] convincingly argues throughout this passionate and informative account that the rule and force of law achieved through Brown v. Board of Education must be upheld, or we face a return to the racial injustices of the past.”
—Booklist Starred Review

"Nathaniel Jones was called to justice work the way others are called into ministry and we are all the better for it. An end to racial discrimination, abuse and bigotry is not inevitable. Racial justice is achieved when dedicated people do difficult and at times daunting work with little support or acknowledgment. No one understands that better than the legendary Judge Jones and this important book gives life to the idea that one person can make an enormous difference in the world."
—Bryan Stevenson, professor of clinical law, New York UniversitySchool of Law, and author of Just Money

"Nathaniel R. Jones, one of the unsung heroes of the struggle for civil rights, has lived his life in the struggle for civil rights. Federal appellate judge, general counsel for the NAACP, leading lawyer in the private and public sectors, he has left an indelible mark on our nation. In a time of great cynicism and despair, his story, told with candor and grace, is a reminder of the call to service and higher ground. Answering the Call is that story, and we need to know it now."
—Theodore M. Shaw, Julius L. Chambers Distinguished Professor of Law, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law

"Answering the Call is a richly drawn and revealing account of a brave lawyer and judge's fight for racial equality in America's schools and society. Judge Jones presents a story almost like a movie; you feel that you are there with him, facing the challenges and savoring the hard-won victories. It is an inspirational story that informs the present as we witness the power of personal relationships and the irreplaceable role of courage and stamina in achieving the racial equality that we and our nation still seek."
—John E. Pepper, chief executive officer of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and former chairman of the board of the Walt Disney Company

"This is the beautifully written story of an amazing life—a man who has been a civil rights activist, a federal prosecutor, NAACP general counsel, a federal court of appeals judge, and a prominent attorney. But it also is the story of race in the United States over the 90 years of Nathaniel Jones's life, of the struggles, of how far our society has come, and how much is left to be done. It is a magnificent book that kept me enthralled and that is a reminder of how much one man can accomplish."
—Erwin Chemerinsky, dean and distinguished professor of law, University of California, Irvine School of Law

"[Jones] has blazed trails, opened doors, created opportunity, destroyed myths, and made America a better place for himself and for 'the least of these, our brothers and sisters.'"
—Vernon E. Jordan Jr.

"Judge Jones's entire adult life is distinguished by one transcendent theme—an overwhelming sense of duty to work for equality of opportunity through the rule of law…Judge Jones's commitment to his ideals made him a national leader for civil liberties and human rights and for promoting the ideal of justice."
—Gilbert S. Merritt, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

"Even in their youth, some individuals seem destined for greatness. They possess a keen intellect, a fierce determination, and insightful leadership qualities. That was the impression Nathaniel R. Jones made on me when I first me him in the fall of 1946…[He] exemplifies the highest wisdom as a judge, a lawyer, and a caring citizen."
—Leon Higginbotham Jr., Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

From the Publisher

2016-02-25
Triumphs and frustrations mark the author's long legal career. In his candid, informative debut memoir, Jones, who in 2002 retired from the U.S. Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit, recounts his work as a lawyer and judge, including serving as general counsel for the NAACP. His nomination to the 6th Circuit by President Jimmy Carter, he writes, was "the pinnacle" of a career that began "at a time when the profession practiced its own form of racial apartheid." Jones was born in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1926, 17 years after the founding of the NAACP and the publication of The Call, a document "imploring Americans to discuss and protest the racial problem and to renew the struggle for civil and political rights." That document deeply influenced him, as did his mentor, J. Maynard Dickerson, who guided and often goaded him throughout their long relationship. After growing up in an integrated neighborhood, Jones learned a hard lesson in "deeply entrenched and pervasive" segregation when he joined the Army in 1945. Attending college on the GI Bill, he enrolled in a pre-law course, continued with law school at night, and became involved in civil rights issues, increasingly conscious of the ways that racism was built into voting, housing, health benefits, jobs, and education. His work for the NAACP focused on desegregation, notably in the North, where judges were not convinced that the Brown v. Board of Education decision applied, and on landmark affirmative action cases. Jones praises civil rights lawyers for tirelessly establishing legal standards and fighting federal efforts to thwart them, and he is edifying in his reasons for opposing Clarence Thomas for Supreme Court Justice. Although thrilled at Barack Obama's "amazing election," in the discourse surrounding it, Jones was reminded of the need to keep civil rights history alive for the media, Congress, and the judiciary. A forthright testimony by a witness to history.

Kirkus Reviews