A country founded upon tolerance and freedoms, America is saddled with the shame of centuries of racially inspired murders against its African American citizens. This ugly truth, exposed repeatedly through lynchings, hate crimes, and statistically biased death penalties, has been the focus of the highest court in the land.

An examination of the historical experience of African Americans as a case study of America's legacy of racial violence.

In this comprehensive overview of how the law has been used to combat racism, author Christopher Waldrep points out that the U.S. government has often promoted discrimination. A veritable history of civil rights, the story is told primarily through a discussion of key legal cases.

Racial Violence on Trial also presents 11 key documents gathered together for the first time, from the Supreme court's opinion in Brown v. Mississippi to a 1941 newspaper account entitled The South Kills Another Negro, to a 1947 New Yorker piece, Opera in Greenville, about a crowd of taxi drivers who killed a black man. Also included are a listing of key people, laws, and concepts; a chronology; a table of cases; and an annotated bibliography.

• Four narrative chapters examine the history of black–white relations since America was founded
• A–Z entries cover important people, laws, events, and concepts and a special documents section includes court decisions, magazine stories, and personal accounts