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In 2013, the United States Supreme Court decided Shelby County v. Holder, which invalidated Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The ruling is part of longstanding efforts to maintain American institutions that have provided wide-ranging benefits to White citizens, including disproportionate political power. Over time, such efforts are likely to fail to prevent significant increases in political gains for African Americans, Latinos, and other minority citizens. But they threaten to foster severe conflicts in American politics for years to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the decades between 1896 and the mid-1960's it was unusual for the federal government to act to defend or advance Black Americans' interests. In this article two such rare instances are analysed. Both occurred in the 1920's, a decade with a distinctive political complexion. In 1923 Black Americans called upon the federal government's Veterans Bureau [VB] to make good its assurance that African Americans would staff a newly opened hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama, for blacks. At the end of the decade, the Superintendent of Prisons was petitioned to abrogate the new practice at the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia, of leasing out exclusively Black American prisoners to local governments for contract work. Each case was formulated and justified within the prejudicial framework of segregated race relations, but Black Americans sought fair treatment within its unsalubrious confines. The cases demonstrate the capacity of the federal government to act on racial issues when political circumstances permitted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the significance of segregated race relations in the Federal government in the decades after the election of Woodrow Wilson in 1912. It is argued that the role of the Federal government in introducing and maintaining segregation is an overlooked feature of the American state with implications for its character and for its relationship with Black Americans. Section II explains the judicial and partisan support for segregation. Section III deploys archival records to provide a detailed account of the dissemination of segregation in Federal government departments after 1913. Setion IV explains why Republican presidents and congresses in the 1920s failed to erode segregation in government departments, emphasising the growth of racism amongst white voters in Northeastern and Midwestern cities. Section V concludes the study by identifying some of the legacies of Federal support for segregated race relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]