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Woodrow Wilson and race

Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) was the prominent American scholar who served as president of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, as governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913, and as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. He was a Democrat. While Wilson's tenure is often noted for progressive achievement, his time in office was one of unprecedented regression in racial equality, with his presidency serving as the lowest point of the Nadir of American race relations.[1]

Several historians have spotlighted examples in the public record of Wilson's racist policies and political appointments, such as the segregationists in his Cabinet.[2][3][4] Other sources note Wilson defended segregation on "scientific" grounds in private, and describe him as a man who "loved to tell racist 'darky' jokes about black Americans."[5][6]: 103 

Family and early life[edit]

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born and raised in the American South by parents who supported the Confederacy. His father, Joseph Wilson, supported slavery and served as a chaplain with the Confederate States Army.[7] Wilson's father was one of the founders of the Southern Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) after it split from the Northern Presbyterians in 1861 over the issue of secession. Joseph became a minister of the First Presbyterian Church in Augusta, and the family lived there until 1870.[8]


While it is unclear whether the Wilsons ever owned slaves, the Presbyterian Church, as part of the compensation for his father's services as a pastor, provided slaves to attend to the Wilson family. According to Wilson, his earliest memory was of playing in his front yard as a three year old, hearing a passerby announce with disgust that Abraham Lincoln had been elected president, and that a war was coming.[9][10]

Views on European immigrants and other minorities[edit]

Wilson briefly succumbed to the widespread prejudice expressed against some Eastern European and Southern European immigrants.[127][128][129] In the last volume of A History of the American People, he wrote of them as coming out "of the lower class from the south of Italy and men of the meaner sort of Hungary and Poland, men out of the ranks where there was neither skill nor intelligence" and described the situation "as if the countries of the south of Europe were disburdening themselves of the more sordid and hapless elements of their population; and they came in numbers which increased from year to year".[128] Nevertheless, neither Wilson the academic nor Wilson the politician seems to have harbored any genuine animus against these groups.[129] Later on, after Wilson became president, his speeches revealed appreciation for the contributions of all European immigrants had made to the United States, as well as his belief that their arrival had invigorated American democracy and freedom.[128][129] Wilson vetoed immigration restriction bills twice, saying that "some of the best stuff of America has come out of foreign lands, and some of the best stuff in America is in the men who are naturalized citizens of the United States".[128][129] He consistently expressed the belief that all members of the white race could and should be integrated into American society as equals regardless of heritage.[129] This was a recognition that Wilson never extended to black Americans.[6]: 103 


Wilson inherited the dilemma of how to best handle the colonies the United States had acquired after the Spanish–American War. Wilson granted Filipinos greater self-government and in 1916 signed the Jones Act, promising the Philippines independence in thirty years.[130] In 1917, Wilson signed the Jones–Shafroth Act, granting greater self-government to Puerto Rico and granting statutory citizenship to Puerto Ricans.[131]


Despite his disposition against a racial equality amendment binding on all conference participants, Wilson did insist that Poland and other eastern European countries (whose borders were carved out of the defeated empires of the Central Powers following the outcome of the war) ratify binding treaties obligating them to protect the rights of minorities, mainly Jews, within their own borders.[132]


Further dispelling claims he harbored anti-Semitic prejudices, Wilson appointed the first Jewish American to the Supreme Court, Louis Brandeis.[133] Wilson did so knowing that as both a Jew and a staunch progressive, Brandeis would be a divisive nominee who would face an uphill confirmation.[134][135][136] Brandeis vividly contrasted with Wilson's first appointment, the openly racist and personally belligerent James McReynolds, who, prior to joining the court, had served as Wilson's first attorney general.[137][138][139] On a personal level, McReynolds was widely seen by his peers as a mean-spirited bigot, whose disrespect was so extreme he was known to at times turn his chair around to face the wall when prominent African-American attorneys addressed the court during oral arguments.[140][141] A fervent anti-Semite, McReynolds refused to sign opinions by any of his Jewish colleagues on the court.[142][143]


Although Wilson appointed easily the most overtly intolerant judge in modern times (if not ever) in the form of McReynolds, his legacy to the Supreme Court was overall more favorable towards racial equality than not. While Brandeis and McReynolds were appointees who cancelled each other out ideologically, Wilson's third appointment to the bench, John Hessin Clarke, was a progressive who aligned himself closely with Brandeis and the Court's liberal wing. This point also requires context, however; whereas Brandeis and McReynolds served until 1939 and 1941 respectively, Clarke resigned from his lifetime appointment in 1922, after barely five years on the bench. Among his reasons for quitting, Clarke cited bullying from McReynolds as at least partial motivation.[144][140] Though the Supreme Court handed down several major civil rights decisions during Wilson's presidency, it was rare for any of these rulings to be made by a narrow or vulnerable majority of the court; many, in fact, were unanimous, and it may have never been the case that the support of either or even both Brandeis and Clarke swung the verdict. In several instances, however, McReynolds was the leading and often lone dissenting opinion.[140] Ultimately, McReynolds sat on the Court longer than any other Wilson appointee, being both the first and last Wilson nominee on the U.S. Supreme Court. Unlike his other prominent racist appointments, Wilson purportedly expressed remorse over McReynolds, allegedly calling his appointment his "greatest regret".[145]

Aftermath[edit]

Assessment[edit]

Ross Kennedy writes that Wilson's support of segregation complied with predominant public opinion.[146] A. Scott Berg argues Wilson accepted segregation as part of a policy to "promote racial progress by shocking the social system as little as possible."[147] The ultimate result of this policy would be an unprecedented expansion of segregation within the federal bureaucracy; with fewer opportunities for employment and promotion open to African Americans than before.[148] Historian Kendrick Clements argues that "Wilson had none of the crude, vicious racism of James K. Vardaman or Benjamin R. Tillman, but he was insensitive to African-American feelings and aspirations."[149]


In an op-ed for The New York Times, historian David Greenberg defended Wilson's legacy. He commented that while Wilson harbored racist sentiments, he never "endorsed or admired" the KKK, as has been claimed.[150] According to Greenberg, the quotes used for Birth of a Nation lack context and in actuality Wilson publicly decried the Klan as "lawless," "reckless" and "malicious".[150] Wilson also wrote of the Klan's actions as "brutal crimes" where "the innocent suffered with the guilty; a reign of terror was brought on, and society was infinitely more disturbed than defended."[150]


Wilson's presidency took place decades before the federal government took an active role in promoting civil rights. Since many historian consider Wilson's time in office to be within the decades-long nadir of American race relations, disagreement exists as to his exact role in perpetrating racial discrimination.[151]

Legacy[edit]

In some areas, it can be definitively said that it would be decades before black Americans recovered from Wilson's racist policies. Wilson's successor, Warren Harding, has been called by historians an incredibly rare example for the time period of a man devoid of racial prejudice.[152] However, Harding found it impossible to turn back much of the adverse racial policies instituted under his predecessor. Harding did appoint African Americans to high-level positions in the Department of Labor and Department of the Interior, and numerous blacks were hired in other federal agencies and departments.[153] Harding proved both politically reluctant and unable to return African Americans to several positions they had traditionally held prior to Wilson's tenure.[154] Though some improvements took place, Harding did not abolish segregation in federal offices, very much to the disappointment of his black supporters.[155]


Steps towards a desegregated military did not commence until the late 1940s under Harry Truman,[156] and the Wilsonian policy of barring black servicemen from combat remained mostly in place through World War II.[157] Though African American employment in the federal government rebounded under Herbert Hoover,[158] segregation of workspaces and "whites only" hiring did not begin to see serious reversal until the administration of John F. Kennedy in the early 1960s.[159][160][161]

Nadir of American race relations

Civil rights movement (1896–1954)

W.E.B. DuBois

Racism in the United States

Progressive Era

Andrew Johnson and slavery

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