Summary: Lewis, Earl, and Heidi Ardizzone. “A Modern Cinderella: Race, Sexuality, and Social Class in the Rhinelander Case.” International Labor and Working-Class History 51 (1997): 129–147. JSTOR. Web. 12 June 2013.
by Joseph Riviera
In 1924, the marriage case of Leonard Rhinelander to Alice Jones was dispersed throughout the news. This news was followed by an annulment suit which lasted until 1930. The case was based on Leonard’s attempt to declare he had no knowledge of Alice’s racial ancestry. The case was muddied with race issues, class boundary crossing, and sexually explicit material. During this time it was illegal for an individual of “mixed” ancestry to pretend to be that of the “white” race and thus the marriage became a big legal case within the press because of the combined sociological issues foretold. The article “A Modern Cinderella: Race, Sexuality, and Social Class in the Rhinelander Case” by Heidi Ardizzone et al, attempts to capture the views of the parties involved, especially on Alice’s side and also that of the press.
The authors of this article present statements gathered from the legal case and that of newspapers to argue the case was popularized by the “rags to riches” trope similar to that of Cinderella stories. Furthermore, the Cinderella story trope helps promote the examining of the class crossing issues involved within the case. The authors quote both popular black and white newspapers and use articles from the north and south to shape their argument and depiction from a historical standpoint.
The authors begin by giving an introduction to the subject matter and stress that class, sexuality, and race are the major areas of impact for the case. Furthermore, through a class lens the authors state, “by the 1920s many white American scholars and politicians had long lamented the “decline” of the Anglo-Saxon race and feared for the future of America in intermixing continued between blacks and whites – and between native-born white Americans and the “new” Asian or East and Southern European immigrants” (131). In turn, this case effectively publicized this fear of miscegenation. This became evident to the authors through their research of newspaper articles with headlining such as “Society Shocked by Marriage of Rhinelander to Daughter of Cabman” in the Detroit Free Press and other newspapers which projected similar views (132). The article continues by providing information detailing the presses’ need to remind the public about Rhinelander’s high class heritage and the views of Alice’s lower class family while introducing the limitations within her lower class position. The authors also accounted for the presses’ attack on Alice’s father for owning a cab stand by stating, “he found himself consistently reduced to the status of a handyman and “cabdriver” in public portrayals, despite his protests to the contrary” which reduced his class standing (qtd in Ardizzone et al 134).
Secondly the authors look at the race issues involved within the case. Through their research, the knowledge of Alice’s race pretrial was inconclusive to the masses. However, they established that Alice’s attorney remarked at the beginning of the trial, “She had some colored blood,” which in turn fueled the aggressor, Leonard’s attorney, Isaac Mills (134). Information regarding her race was established at the beginning, and Mills attempted to use it to his advantage. The text establishes Mills as “having the duel task of maintaining that Alice’s race was not obvious in her body, her family, or her actions, and of depending on her blackness to justify their client’s suit and their own depictions of Alice” (qtd in Ardizzone et al 134). Mills is frequently depicted as having used blatant racism to appeal to the jurors and the press had a similar sentiment regarding miscegenation. The authors include Mills’s attempt to blend together her race, socio-economic class, and sexual encounters as a strategy to win the case.
The third issue addressed is the sexual relationship the couple had. Due to Mills’s attempt to throw Alice completely under the bus by introducing vivid love letters accounting for the couples sexual relationship, Rhinelander found himself struggling to win the case. The authors describe stories told by Rhinelander involving the promiscuous appearance of Alice and her sister – while also introducing Alice’s mother as key conspirator for their sexual relationship and wanting her daughters to marry white men. This was the turning point in the case and Rhinelander’s further statements were recorded as contradictory and the combined information eventually led to Alice winning the case.
The authors believe her case and marriage “became closely identified with popular cultural themes of cross-class romance and upward mobility” (143). The text quotes “the “tragedy of color” as headlining an editorial referring to her inability to complete her rags-to-riches transformation due to her black ancestry” (qtd in Ardizzone et al 143). The authors conclude with “as much as anything, this “modern Cinderella” tale reminds us of the importance of viewing class, race, and sexuality as historically relational” (144).
This article is exceedingly well written and the sources of which the authors used are vast and documented. Through the use of well-crafted transitions and the introduction of personal statements, sentiments, and the public/presses view of the case, a clear argument for this story’s importance as a “rags to riches” Cinderella story within contemporary culture is created.
by Joseph Riviera
In 1924, the marriage case of Leonard Rhinelander to Alice Jones was dispersed throughout the news. This news was followed by an annulment suit which lasted until 1930. The case was based on Leonard’s attempt to declare he had no knowledge of Alice’s racial ancestry. The case was muddied with race issues, class boundary crossing, and sexually explicit material. During this time it was illegal for an individual of “mixed” ancestry to pretend to be that of the “white” race and thus the marriage became a big legal case within the press because of the combined sociological issues foretold. The article “A Modern Cinderella: Race, Sexuality, and Social Class in the Rhinelander Case” by Heidi Ardizzone et al, attempts to capture the views of the parties involved, especially on Alice’s side and also that of the press.
The authors of this article present statements gathered from the legal case and that of newspapers to argue the case was popularized by the “rags to riches” trope similar to that of Cinderella stories. Furthermore, the Cinderella story trope helps promote the examining of the class crossing issues involved within the case. The authors quote both popular black and white newspapers and use articles from the north and south to shape their argument and depiction from a historical standpoint.
The authors begin by giving an introduction to the subject matter and stress that class, sexuality, and race are the major areas of impact for the case. Furthermore, through a class lens the authors state, “by the 1920s many white American scholars and politicians had long lamented the “decline” of the Anglo-Saxon race and feared for the future of America in intermixing continued between blacks and whites – and between native-born white Americans and the “new” Asian or East and Southern European immigrants” (131). In turn, this case effectively publicized this fear of miscegenation. This became evident to the authors through their research of newspaper articles with headlining such as “Society Shocked by Marriage of Rhinelander to Daughter of Cabman” in the Detroit Free Press and other newspapers which projected similar views (132). The article continues by providing information detailing the presses’ need to remind the public about Rhinelander’s high class heritage and the views of Alice’s lower class family while introducing the limitations within her lower class position. The authors also accounted for the presses’ attack on Alice’s father for owning a cab stand by stating, “he found himself consistently reduced to the status of a handyman and “cabdriver” in public portrayals, despite his protests to the contrary” which reduced his class standing (qtd in Ardizzone et al 134).
Secondly the authors look at the race issues involved within the case. Through their research, the knowledge of Alice’s race pretrial was inconclusive to the masses. However, they established that Alice’s attorney remarked at the beginning of the trial, “She had some colored blood,” which in turn fueled the aggressor, Leonard’s attorney, Isaac Mills (134). Information regarding her race was established at the beginning, and Mills attempted to use it to his advantage. The text establishes Mills as “having the duel task of maintaining that Alice’s race was not obvious in her body, her family, or her actions, and of depending on her blackness to justify their client’s suit and their own depictions of Alice” (qtd in Ardizzone et al 134). Mills is frequently depicted as having used blatant racism to appeal to the jurors and the press had a similar sentiment regarding miscegenation. The authors include Mills’s attempt to blend together her race, socio-economic class, and sexual encounters as a strategy to win the case.
The third issue addressed is the sexual relationship the couple had. Due to Mills’s attempt to throw Alice completely under the bus by introducing vivid love letters accounting for the couples sexual relationship, Rhinelander found himself struggling to win the case. The authors describe stories told by Rhinelander involving the promiscuous appearance of Alice and her sister – while also introducing Alice’s mother as key conspirator for their sexual relationship and wanting her daughters to marry white men. This was the turning point in the case and Rhinelander’s further statements were recorded as contradictory and the combined information eventually led to Alice winning the case.
The authors believe her case and marriage “became closely identified with popular cultural themes of cross-class romance and upward mobility” (143). The text quotes “the “tragedy of color” as headlining an editorial referring to her inability to complete her rags-to-riches transformation due to her black ancestry” (qtd in Ardizzone et al 143). The authors conclude with “as much as anything, this “modern Cinderella” tale reminds us of the importance of viewing class, race, and sexuality as historically relational” (144).
This article is exceedingly well written and the sources of which the authors used are vast and documented. Through the use of well-crafted transitions and the introduction of personal statements, sentiments, and the public/presses view of the case, a clear argument for this story’s importance as a “rags to riches” Cinderella story within contemporary culture is created.