Book Review ‑ by Dr. Sanjukta Banerji (author – Deferred Hopes: Blacks in Contemporary America)
Slavery and the Civil War ‑ one would think that every nook and corner in this area has been examined ad nauseam. Yet there is another book which examines the subject from yet another point of view, and what is refreshing about Paul Kalra’s From Slave to Separate but Equal is that it has the rational and objective touch which only a complete outsider could bring to this much trampled ‑ over surface. The author is an Indian by birth and is not a social scientist ‑ he is a professional engineer who also has a Master’s degree in Business Administration. His experiences in the United States where he did higher studies and later worked in the subway control systems area for major American companies, raised questions in his mind regarding the relatively poor conditions of a section of the population which appeared to be based on color. The book was a product of his attempt to find answers to these questions.
Being an outsider, Kalra is not shackled by any preconceived notions regarding slavery. On the other hand, coming from India he is obviously quite aware of caste and class problems and that class when it becomes hereditary, develops into a rigid caste system over time and that is how he came about his title ‑ From Slave to Separate but Equal (Supreme Court, Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896). It is quite evident to him that the system of slavery as it existed in the United States had, of necessity to lead to a rigid class system and the rigidities of the class system ultimately led to the Civil War. To Kalra, the Civil War was unavoidable because slavery had become entrenched and although slaves were losing their utility, there was no way that the slaves could be freed without a war.
In this context Kalra also talks about American Slavery as Protestant Slavery. This is in stark contrast to Catholic Slavery, which existed in Louisiana prior to the Louisiana Purchase. The unique thing about Protestant Slavery was that it denied the blacks their humanity and a system was created where the status of the slaves was fixed for ever. Catholic Slavery, however, was a much easier system, which allowed for the ultimate absorption of the blacks into the general society because they were always recognized as human beings. The logical end to Protestant Slavery could only come through violence, because no loophole had been left open for giving freedom to the slaves even after they had become redundant.
Another interesting concept that has been elucidated by Kalra is the idea of the control pyramid of white slaveholders who were in a minority, but who controlled the government at the Center as well as in many individual states and who were instrumental in writing the Constitution itself. Their economic self interest and need to control power led to an imbalance which made the Civil War inevitable.
The book is very well written, informative and factual. In his introduction, Kalra claims that the book has been written for the layman ‑ “Historians tend to write for each other and to meet requirements for academic goals and objectives. In an analysis such as this one, which is free from formal constraints, paths can be taken and views expressed which are known to historians but remain unsaid.” This perhaps is the best assessment of this book. With his engineering background, he has been able to tread on paths which historians would rather avoid and logically work out conclusions in a way that appears rather unique to social scientists.