Del Mar author wins Lillian Smith Book Award

Author, constitutional law historian and resident of Del Mar, Lawrence Goldstone, recently received a Lillian Smith Book Award for “On Account of Race,” a book he published last year on white supremacy and its impact on voting rights.

Launched in 1968, the award recognizes books that deal with race, civil rights and related issues.

“One thing that runs through all of my work is that I’m always on the lookout for stories that haven’t been told, or stories that have only been partially told,” said Goldstone, who has wrote over 12 works of non-fiction and fiction, six of them with his wife Nancy, also an author.

“The other thing I always look for in history,” Goldstone continued, “is history that lights up the present, and ‘On Account of Race’ couldn’t be more timely.”

He added that history should be a mirror of the present.

“What this country has been through, which has resulted in the horrors of Jim Crow for decades and decades and decades, are precisely the same goals that the conservative minority, and now represented by the majority of Supreme Court justices, is trying to realize once again. “said Goldstone.

The book also highlights some of America’s first elections and the number of black Americans freed from slavery who were legally denied the right to vote, even though there were constitutional amendments that ostensibly granted them that right.

“One thing people really don’t recognize is that this country, the Constitution, was founded to ensure the dominance of the white minority,” Goldstone said. “The right to vote was never meant to belong to the majority. “

The book assesses the role of the Supreme Court in restricting voting rights in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

“What I wanted to do was take a step back and see the tribunal as a political body, and not just do a case analysis, and tell people that this was the story as it unfolded. that have been affected, ”Goldstone said. “They are government officials, that is to say the judges of the courts themselves, but above all the people to whom the right to vote had been guaranteed by two constitutional amendments which were effectively rewritten by the Supreme Court. “

He added that “On Account of Race” was not written for academics, but for people who want to learn more about these topics.

“You could do half of these stories like a novel and turn it into a page turner,” Goldstone said. “For me, the story is not only important and necessary, but fun.”

For more information, visit lawrencegoldstone.com. “On Account of Race” is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and more.