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We as Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson. By Keith Weldon Medley. (Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing Company, 2003. Pp. 252. $23.00, ISBN 1-58980-120-2.)
This absorbing narrative makes an important contribution to the literature on that notorious 1896 United States Supreme Court case, Plessy v. Ferguson. Primarily a work of local and popular history, We as Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson neither engages in debates with existing literature nor attempts to assess the complex legal and constitutional issues involved. But this book does provide something that was heretofore absent from the literature: a detailed account of the spirited grassroots campaign against Jim Crow led by a committed group of New Orleans activists who styled themselves the Comité des Citoyens. We as Freemen brings to life their dramatic story and effectively situates...