Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader

The history of civil rights in the United States is usually analyzed and interpreted through the lenses of modern conservatism and progressive liberalism. This book argues that the historical record does not conveniently fit into either of these categories and that knowledge of the American classical liberal tradition is required to gain a more accurate understanding of the past, present, and future of civil liberties in the nation. By assembling and contextualizing classic documents—from the Declaration of Independence to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to the 2007 U.S. Supreme Court decision banning school assignment by race—the book demonstrates that classical liberalism differs from progressive liberalism in emphasizing individual freedom, Christianity, the racial neutrality of the Constitution, complete color-blindness, and free-market capitalism.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_african_american_studies/1049/thumbnail.jp