CHAPTER X
NEGRO IN COURT ROOM
The Negro goes into a court room in one or more of
six capacities, namely: as spectator, witness, juror, party
to a suit, attorney, or judge. It is in each of these capacities
that the Negro in the court room is to be considered,
but some of them permit of only brief mention.
How the Negro actually fares in the court room—whether
he gets justice as often as the white person does, whether
his testimony has as much weight with the jury and court
as that of the white witness, whether the Negro attorney
or judge is accorded as much courtesy as the white man
in a similar position—would make an interesting and
profitable study, but such a study is largely outside the
field of this investigation. It should be kept in mind now,
as in the previous chapters, that only those distinctions
are considered which have come within the pale of the
law since 1865, either in the form of statutory enactment
or judicial decision. Where mention is made of some of
the actual extralegal race distinctions in the court room,
it is only for illustration.
AS SPECTATOR
The court room, while the court is in session, is open to all citizens, regardless of race or color. No instance has
