Abstract: Desmond King argues that the US federal government was inherently unequal in their treatment of Black Americans both in its own ranks as well as through federal programmes, especially before the 1960s; instead of thwarting segregated race relations, he maintains, the federal government participated in their maintenance and diffusion. Using extensive and original archival sources, King documents how Black American employees were segregated in federal government departments, the US Armed Forces, federal penitentiaries, and within housing and service programmes. In addition, King argues that the federal government played a role in sustaining and fostering segregated race relations to an extent little acknowledged by scholars. Finally, he argues and demonstrates that the universality of segregated race relations in the Federal government is often overlooked by a disproportionate emphasis upon their presence in the South. The book concludes with an analysis of the consequences of these trends for understanding the US federal government and race relations as well as data documenting the relative improvements for Black Americans employed by the government.

Keywords: Armed Forces, Black Americans, federal employment, federal government, housing programmes, inequality, penitentiaries, race relations, segregation, USA