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FREEDOMWAYS        THIRD QUARTER 1996

equal doctrine that obtained until the historic 1954 Supreme Court Decision outlawing discrimination in education.

The other discussions throw much light on the various interpretations of the law, the origin of moral arguments for segregation as an outgrowth of the high court rulings in the Civil Rights Cases, which held there was no constitutionally protected right to equal treatment outside of state action.

One glaring fallacy, however, is the first time of Harvard Law School Dean Erwin N. Griswold's foreword which declares, "Discrimination in Employment" paper, William R. Ming points out that prior to 1865 free Negroes had access to public places. It was not until the infamous Black Codes of the former slave states that discrimination took root. And, while the Fourteenth Amendment abrogated these laws, the segregation and discrimination they established persist until today by licensing and other measures designed to carry out the intent of these racist laws. 

On the whole this little book is crammed full of documentation; has an excellent bibliography; a section on relevant cases; and a comprehensive index. It is a fine reference for the student of this subject; a handy frame of reference for civil rights activists; and a succinct contribution to the precise understanding of the struggle for Negro rights.

John Henry Jones
SENSATIONALISM
OFAY. By Earl Shorris. Delacorte Press, New York. 240 pages. $4.50.

HERE IS A FIRST NOVEL with good intentions, but its road is paved with one dimensional characters, undelineated actions in an unexplained milieu. And though the burden of the journey through these pages is lightened by a flowing narrative technique that produces one or two solid characterizations, the overall destination is a hell of a tasteless book.

Joshua Mordin is a young white reporter who quits his job, leaves Chicago, and goes to live among Negroes in the slums of East St, Louis. 

"He has wished for blackness and all the wonders that came with

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