Book Reviews : Toward Equal Opportunity: A Study of State and Local Antidiscrimination Laws. By DUANE LOCKARD. (New York: The Macmillan Co., 1968. Pp. vii, 150. $1.75.)

• Author: William C. Spragens
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296802100323
• Published date: 01 September 1968
• Date: 01 September 1968
• Subject Matter: Articles

525

Toward

Equal

Opportunity:

A

Study

of

State

and

Local

Antidiscrimination

Laws.

By

DUANE

LOCKARD.

(New

York:

The

Macmillan

Co.,

1968.

Pp.

vii,

150.

$1.75.)

Lockard

has

produced

a

readable,

well-researched

account

of

American

state

and

local

governments’

experience

since

1945

with

those

types

of

antidis-

crimination

statutes

commonly

referred

to

as

civil

rights

laws.

After

describing

the

problem

as

presenting

&dquo;a

new

kind

of

dilemma&dquo;

for

Americans

on

the

order

of

Gunnar

Myrdal’s

original

&dquo;American

dilemma,&dquo;

Lockard

analyzes

the

politics

of

enacting

antidiscrimination

laws.

He

then

deals

substantively

with

three

policy

areas

given

most

attention

by

state

legislatures

and

local

governing

bodies - fair

employment

practice,

fair

housing,

and

public

accommodations

laws.

He

examines

administrative

problems

in

enforcing

these

laws,

then

states

some

general

conclu-

sions

about

their

effectiveness

to

date

(limited,

but

with

considerable

unrealized

potential) .

Lockard

has

focused

primary

attention

on

nine

states

and

four

cities.

The

states

are

California,

Connecticut,

Massachusetts,

Minnesota,

New

Jersey,

New

York,

Ohio,

Oregon,

and

Pennsylvania;

the

cities

are

New

York

City,

Cleveland,

Berkeley,

and

Philadelphia.

One

may

suggest

that

he

might

have

included

states

like

Michigan

(with

a

constitutionally

established

state

Civil

Rights

Commission)

and

important

cities

like

Washington,

but

the

experience

of

the

thirteen

govern-

mental

units

studied

most

intensively

is

probably

fairly

typical.

A

discussion

of

historical

background

and

social

and

political

conditions

relating

to

discrimination

is

followed

by

a

look

at

special

problems

of

advocates

and

opponents

of

civil

rights

legislation.

Advocates

examined

include

Negro

activists,

organized

labor,

religious

leaders,

ad

hoc

groups,

party

organizations,

chief

executives,

citizen

groups

like

the

League

of

Women

Voters,

and

the

press.

Among

opposition

groups

are

real

estate

organizations,

banks

and

insurance

companies,

newspapers,

and

even

civil

libertarians

concerned

with

due

process

and

fair

proce-

dures

for

the

accused.

Special

attention

is

paid

to

the

referendum

device

for

opposing

antidiscrimination

laws;

the

Rumford

Act

and

Proposition

14

controversy

in

California

is

dealt

with

in

considerable

detail.

Examining

enforcement

data

for

all

three

types

of

legislation,

Lockard

con-

cludes,

&dquo;It

is

probably

accurate

to

say ...

that

public

accommodations

laws

have

been

more

successful

than

those

on

employment

and

housing....

The

law

has

been

easier

to

enforce

than

housing

laws

probably

because

antagonism

toward

Negroes

as

patrons

is

far

less

severe

than

toward

Negroes

as

neighbors,

and

easier

to

enforce

than

employment

laws

because

the

subjective

factors

of

the

complaint

situation

are

not

as

vague....&dquo;

Administrative

problems

of

enforcement

of these

statutes

considered

by

Lockard

include

over-all

administrative

structure,

the

commissioner’s

role,

means

of

reaching

clientele,

enforcement

tactics,

agency

initiative

and

follow-up,

and

speed

of

action.

Lockard

says

there

is

reason

to

believe

that

the

agencies

should

place

more

emphasis

on

pattern-centered

programs

rather

than

on

individual

complaints,

the

object

of

most

enforcement

activity

up

to

the

present.