One Man's Castle: Clarence Darrow in Defense of the American Dream

ONE MAN'S CASTLE describes the experience of an individual who became part of what historians term the "Great Migration" or "Southern Exodus". During the early 1900s, hundreds of thousands of Southerners left the land of their birth and traveled north in search of more prosperous lives and, in the case of the main characters in this book, personal safety. Specifically, the book is about Florida-born, African-American Ossian Sweet (1895-1960) after he migrated to Detroit in the early 1920s and of a tragic incident that happened in late summer 1925 while Sweet was living in the so-called Promised Land. Ossian Sweet, a Howard University-trained medical doctor, married Gladys Atkinson from Pittsburgh, and together they had a daughter. Desiring to acquire a nice home for his family, Dr. Sweet bought a bungalow and attempted to move into a primarily European immigrant neighborhood on Detroit's east side. This was a 1920s Detroit where Ku Klux Klan members were likely to be members of the Police Department and where a KKK-backed candidate had nearly been elected mayor of the city the year before. Amidst incidents in the city involving blacks moving into previously all-white neighborhoods (protected by so-called restrictive covenants), Dr. Sweet not only purchased a house in such a neighborhood but prepared, with family members and friends, to defend his home (10 weapons, 400 rounds) against those who might try to prevent this. On the evening of September 9, 1925 a group of whites gathered across the street, and some began pelting the Sweet house with stones and rocks. Police stationed in the area did not intervene, and shots rang out from the Sweet house resulting in one person across the street dead and another wounded. The police next arrested all eleven persons in the Sweet house; prosecutors charged them with conspiring to commit murder. The NAACP secured prominent attorney Clarence Darrow to defend the accused, who were all eventually cleared of charges (and life in prison) after two trials. What is the significance of this case? For the Sweets, it could not have been much of a victory. Shortly after this, the baby daughter and then Gladys died from tuberculosis. Dr. Sweet was unsuccessful later in both marriage and political career and committed suicide in his sixties. Restricitve covenants remained legal until a Supreme Court decision in the late 1940s. Later, redlining and other real estate devices assisted in continuing residential segregation. Indeed, as this review is written, the Detroit area is one of the most segregated in the entire country. This book was overshadowed by publication (in the same year) of another book on the Sweet case, Kevin Boyle's ARC OF JUSTICE, which won a National Book Award, an honor richly deserved. While slightly different in approach, this book is superb too, and even more readable than the Boyle book. Read both books if you can. Tim Koerner January 2009

A rose by any other name ONE MAN'S CASTLE is an all too familiar story about victimization simply because of the color of someone's skin. Phyllis Vines reconstructs a suspenseful detective story that heralds a collision between a Black physician and the Ku Klux Klan. Dr. Ossian Sweet journeyed to Paris, France to study medicine under the supervision of Madame Curie. At that stage of his life, Sweet has reached all of his goals; attended the right schools, received a medical degree that would guarantee him financial and social prominence, and had married well. But when he and his wife arrive at the American hospital in Paris to deliver their first child, they are turned away. And seemingly for the first time Sweet realizes he is not protected from the opprobrium of racism. Racism is not new to Sweet, he is a son of the south, but his previous racial encounters were impersonal to him. However, after hearing the words of the American Ambassador, that 'the hospital is operating in the spirit of America', things change for Sweet. This time racism carries a personal tag, as if Jim Crow had searched for him and targeted his sense of masculinity. The Sweets return to the states and acquire lodging in a fairly affluent section of Detroit, Michigan. But this is an America still wallowing in the bowels of racial disparity. The Sweets become victims of racial slurs, physical attacks on their home, and blatant indifference from the local police authorities. Amid the volatile confrontations between the racial groups someone is killed and all of the occupants of Sweet's home are jailed. This extensively researched and tartly presented tragedy of Dr. Ossian Sweet's efforts to reside in a home he purchased in an all-white Detroitneighborhood introduces a colorful cast of characters and a wide range of social history. Because Detroit's population described their city as one of the most metropolitan cities in the world, the tension between Blacks and whites was supposedly manageable, but the events in 1925 changed that perception. The NAACP was compelled to hire famed lawyer Clarence Darrow, which led to one of the most incendiary courtroom dramas in the history of the United States. This is a remarkable book about our obsession with race. It reads like a thriller, except this story is true. Reviewed by aNN of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

This story motivated more than one judge to begin their study of law in the hope that they too could combat racism and ignorance. While this is the beginning of one of many victories, the problem of race continues and the courts remain a viable means of change. Schools remain segregated, public funds remain unbalanced, and inequality before the courts for minorities is yet not eliminated. But Vine gives us hope that one day, with lawyers and judges who care this much will create such a world.

A great read; I can't wait for the movie!