Classical Liberalism and the Fight for Civil Rights

Over at Reason.com, Damon Root has a review of my new book Race and Liberty in America: The Essential Reader (University Press of Kentucky, in association with the Independent Institute).

It is available here and here (Amazon is currently discounting).

The softcover is priced for classroom adoption and general readership, and as blurb-writer Juan Williams said, the book is “full of revelations.”

This is one area (classical liberalism and race) that historians ignore (or besmirsch) and classical liberals focus on other things (economics, war). But, I argue, through commentary and nearly 100 primary source selections, classical liberals played a crucial role in the civil rights struggles of not only blacks but also white ethnic immigrants, those of Chinese or Japanese descent, and immigration in general.

Hopefully, teachers will right the lop-sided Ship of History by balancing current readings with this “neither Left nor Right” way of viewing our history.