Raymond Pace Alexander
Subtitle: a new Negro lawyer fights for civil rights in Philadelphia
By: David A. Canton
Series: Margaret Walker Alexander Series in African American Studies; Margaret Walker Alexander series in African American studies
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Jackson, Miss
Language: eng
Number of pages: 238
ISBN-13: 9781604734256; 9781604734263
Description: Raymond Pace Alexander (1897-1974) was a prominent black attorney in Philadelphia and a distinguished member of the National Bar Association, the oldest and largest association of African American lawyers and judges. A contemporary of such nationally known black attorneys as Charles Hamilton Houston, William Hastie, and Thurgood Marshall, Alexander litigated civil rights cases and became well known in Philadelphia. Yet his legacy to the civil rights struggle has received little national recognition. As a New Negro lawyer during the 1930s, Alexander worked with left-wing organizations to desegregate an all-white elementary school in Berwin, Pennsylvania. After World War II, he became an anti-communist liberal and formed coalitions with like-minded whites. In the sixties, Alexander criticized Black Power rhetoric, but shared some philosophies with the movement such as black political empowerment and studying Africian American history. By the late sixties, he focused on economic justice by advocating a Marshall Plan for poor Americans and supporting affirmative action. Alexander was a major contributor to the northern civil rights struggle and was committed to improving the status of black lawyers. He was representative of a generation who created opportunities for African Americans but was later often ignored or castigated by younger leaders who did not support the tactics of the old guard's pioneers.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-226) and index.
Table of contents: title: The origin of a new Negro lawyer, 1898-1924; title: Using the left to fight for what is right : civil rights law and radicalism, 1925-1935; title: Making a national movement local : the civil rights struggle in Philadelphia, 1936-1948; title: The Cold War, northern Scottsboro, and the politics of civil rights, 1949-1953; title: Participating in the civil rights movement from the bench, 1954-1964; title: A new Negro judge in black power America, 1965-1974.