The Long Civil Rights Movement and the Political Uses of the Past

51085_10longcivilrights.pdf

The Long Civil Rights Movement

an d th e Politica l Use s o f th e Pas t

Jacquely

n Dow d Hal l Th e blac k revolutio n i s muc h mor e tha n a struggl e fo r th e right s o f Negroes . I t i s forcin g Americ a t o fac e al l it s interrelate d flaws - racism, poverty , militarism , an d materialism . I t i s exposin g evil s tha t ar e roote d deepl y i n th e whol e structur e o f ou r societ y . . . an d su^est s tha t radica l reconstructio n o f societ y i s th e rea l issu e t o b e faced . - Marti n Luthe r Kin g Jr .

Storie

s ar e wonderfu l things . An d the y ar e dangerous . - Thoma s Kin g Th e civi l right s movemen t circulate s throug h America n memor y i n form s an d throug h channel s tha t ar e a t onc e powerful , dangerous , an d hotl y contested . Givi l right s memorial s jostl e wit h th e South' s ubiquitou s monument s t o it s Confederat e past . Exemplar y scholarshi p an d documentarie s abound , an d participant s hav e pro - duce d wav e afte r wav e o f autobiographica l accounts , a t leas t tw o hundre d t o date . Image s o f th e movemen t appea r an d reappea r eac h yea r o n Marti n Luthe r Kin g Jr . Da y an d durin g Blac k Histor y Month . Ye t remembranc e i s alway s a for m o f forget - ting , an d th e dominan t narrativ e o f th e civi l right s movement - distille d fro m histor y an d memory , twiste d b y ideolog y an d politica l contestation , an d embedde d i n heri - tag e tours , museums , publi c rituals , textbooks , an d variou s artifact s o f mas s cul - ture - distort s an d suppresse s a s muc h a s i t reveals.

'Jacquelyn Dowd Hall is Julia Cherry Spruill Professor of History at the University of North Carolina and director

o f th e Souther n Ora l Histor y Program . Thi s articl e i s a revise d versio n o f th e presidcnria l addres s delivere d t o th e conventio n o f th e Organizatio n o f America n Historian s i n Bosto n o n Marc h 27
, 2004
.

Writin

g thi s essa y le d m e t o conversatio n wit h a far-flun g networ k o f friend s an d colleagues , an d 1 thank them fo r thei r encouragemen t an d generou s sharing o f ideas . Among them were Jefferson Cowie, Jane Dailey, Matthew

Lassiter

, Nelso n Lichtenstein , Eri c Lott , Nanc y MacLean , Bryan t Simon , an d Kare n Krus e Thomas . Laur a

Edwards

, Dre w Faust , Glend a Gilmore , Jeann e Grimm , Pamel a Grundy , Bethan y Johnson , Rober t Korstad , Joann e Meyerowitz , Timoth y McCarthy , Jo e Mosnier , Karhry n Nassrrom , Deli a Pollock , Jennife r Ritterhouse , an d Sara h Thuese n als o offere d astut e comment s o n th e manuscrip t i n it s variou s iterations . I benefite d especiall y fro m Bethan y Johnson' s researc h an d editoria l skills , an d Elizabet h Mor e provide d additiona l researc h assistance . A fellowshi p a t th e RadclifF e Institut e fo r Advance d Stud y provide d a n idea l communit y i n whic h t o thin k an d write . ' O n civi l right s autobiographie s an d histories , se e Kathry n L . Nasstrom , "Betwee n Memor y an d History :

Autobiographie

s o f th e Civi l Right s Movemen t an d th e Writin g o f a Ne w Civi l Right s History, " Nationa l Endow - men t fo r th e Humanitie s Lecture , Universit y o f Sa n Francisco , Apri l 29
, 200
2 (i n Jacquely n Dow d Hall' s posses

-sion); Steven F. Lawson, "Freedom Then, Freedom Now: The Historiography of the Civil Rights Movement,"

American

Historical Review, 96 (April 1991), 456-71; Adam Fairclough, "Historians and the Civil Rights Move- ment, " Joumal of American Studies, 24 (Dec. 1990), 387-98; Charles M. Payne, I've Got the Li^t of Freedom: The Th e Journa l o f America n Histor y Marc h 200
3 123
3

1234 The Journal of American History March 2005

Centerin

g o n wha t Bayar d Rusti n i n 196
5 calle d th e "classical " phas e o f th e strug - gle , the dominant narrative chronicles a short civil rights movement that begins with th e 195
4 Brown v. Board of Education decision, proceeds through public protests, and culminate s wit h th e passag e o f th e Civi l Right s Ac t o f 196
4 an d th e Votin g Right s Ac t o f 1965.
' The n come s th e decline . Afte r a seaso n o f mora l clarity , th e countr y i s hese t b y th e Vietna m War , urba n riots , an d reactio n agains t th e excesse s o f th e lat e 1960
s an d th e 1970s
, understoo d variousl y a s studen t rebellion , blac k militancy , feminism , busing , affirmativ e action , o r a n overweenin g welfar e state . A so-calle d whit e backlas h set s th e stag e fo r th e conservativ e interregnu m that , fo r goo d o r HI , dependin g o n one' s ideologica l persuasion , mark s th e beginnin g o f anothe r story , th e stor y tha t surround s u s now . Marti n Luthe r Kin g Jr . i s thi s narrative' s defmin g figure - froze n i n 1963
, pro - claimin g " I hav e a dream " durin g th e marc h o n th e Mall . Endlessl y reproduce d an d selectivel y quoted , hi s speeche s retai n thei r majesr y ye t los e thei r politica l bite . W e hea r little o f th e Kin g wh o believe d tha t "th e racia l issu e tha t w e confron t i n Americ a i s no t a sectiona l bu t a nationa l problem " an d wh o attacke d segregatio n i n th e urba n North . Erase d altogethe r i s th e Kin g wh o oppose d th e Vietna m Wa r an d linke d rac - is m a t hom e t o militaris m an d imperialis m abroad . Gon e i s Kin g th e democrati c socialis t wh o advocate d unionization , planne d th e Poo r People' s Campaign , an d wa s assassinate d i n 196
8 whil e supportin g a sanitatio n workers ' strike. ' B y confmin g th e civi l right s struggl e t o th e South , t o bowdlerize d heroes , t o a sin - gl e halcyo n decade , an d t o limited , noneconomi c objectives , th e maste r narrativ e simultaneousl y elevate s an d diminishe s th e movement . I t ensure s th e statu s o f th e classica l phas e a s a triumpha l momen t i n a large r America n progres s narrative , y^x i t undermine s it s gravitas. It prevents one of the most remarkable mass movements in

America

n histor y fro m speakin g effectivel y t o th e challenge s o f ou r time .

Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle (Berkeley, 1995), 413-41; Charles W, Eagles, "Toward

Ne w Historie s o f the Civil Rights En." foumal of Southern History, 66 {Nov. 2000), 815-48; and Kevin Gaines, "Th e Historiograph y o f th e Struggle for Black Equality since 1945," in A Companion to Post-19-45 America, ed.

Jean-CKristoph

c Agne w and Roy Rosenzweig (Maiden, Mass., 2002), 211-34. In contrast to the vast literature on wha

t the movement was and did, the scholarship on how it is remembered is scattered and chin. For examples, see

Davi

d A, Zotiderman, review of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site, Birtningham Civil Rights

Institute

, an d National Civil Rights M\ise.\im. Joumal of American History, 91 (June 2004), 174 - 83; Kathryn L.

Nassrrom

, "Dow n to Now: Memory, Narrative, and Wotnen's Leadership in the Civil Rights Movement in

Atlanta

, Georgia. " Gender and History. II (April 1999), 113-44; Terrie L. Epstein, "Tales from Two Textbooks: A

Compariso

n of the Civil Rights Movement in Two Secondary History Textbooks," Social Studies. 85 (May - June 1994)

, 121-26; William A. Link, review of the film The Road to Brown, by William A. Ellwood, Mykola Kulish,

an d Gar y Weimberg , History of Education Quarterly, 31 (Winter 1991), 523-26; and an anthology in progress: Leig h Raifor d an d Renee Romano, eds., "'Freedom Is a Constant Stru^le': The Civil Rights Movement in United State s Memory " (i n Leigh Raiford and Renee Romano's possession). ' ^ Bayar d Rusrin , Z)(J"' " fAfiiwf. - The Collected Writings of Bayard Rustin {C}iica:go, 1971), 111-22,esp. 111. • ' Marti n Luthe r Kin g Jr. , "The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness (I960)." in I Have a Dream: Writings and

Speeches

That Changed the World, ed. James Melvin Washington (San Francisco, 1992), 67. For early protests agains t th

e tendency to idolize King and to ignore his radicalism and that of the grass roots, see "A Round Table:

Marti n Luthe r King ]T." Journal of American History 74 (Sept. 1987), 436-81. For a call for attention to the later Kin g years , se e Michael Honey, "I^bor and Civil Rights Movements ar the Cross Roads: Martin Luther King, Blac k Workers , an d th e Memphis Sanitation Strike," paper delivered at the annual meeting of the Organization of

America

n Historians , Memphis , Tenn. , Apri l 200

3 (in Hall's possession).

Civil Rights and the Political Uses of the Past 1235 Whil e th e narrativ e I hav e recounte d ha s tnuitipl e sources , thi s essa y emphasize s ho w th e movement' s meanin g ha s bee n distorte d an d reifie d b y a Ne w Righ t ben t o n reversin g it s gains . 1 will then trace the contours of what I take to be a more robust, mor e progressive , an d truer story - th e stor y o f a "long civil rights movement" that too k roo t i n th e libera l an d radica l milie u o f th e lat e 1930s
, wa s intimatel y tie d t o th e "ris e an d fal l o f th e Ne w Dea l Order, " accelerate d durin g Worl d Wa r II , stretche d fa r beyon d th e South , wa s continuousl y an d ferociousl y contested , an d i n th e 1960
s an d 1970
s inspire d a "movemen t o f movements " cha t "def[ies ] an y narrativ e o f col - lapse."' *

Integra

l t o tha t mor e expansiv e stor y i s th e dialecti c betwee n th e movemen t an d th e so-calle d backlas h agains t it , a wal l o f resistanc e tha t di d no t appea r suddenl y i n th e much-maligne d 1970s
, bu t aros e i n tande m wit h th e civi l right s offensiv e i n th e aftermat h o f Worl d Wa r I I an d culminate d unde r th e aegi s o f th e Ne w Right . Th e economi c dimension s o f th e movemen t H e a t th e cor e o f m y concerns , an d through - ou t I wil l dra w attentio n t o th e interweaving s o f gender , class , an d race . I n thi s essay , however , racia l narrative s an d dilemma s wil l tak e cente r stage , for , a s Lan i Guinie r an d Geral d Torre s suggest , "Thos e wh o ar e raciall y marginalize d ar e lik e th e miner' s canary : thei r distres s i s th e first sig n o f a dange r tha t threaten s u s all." ^ A desir e t o understan d an d hono r th e movemen t lie s a t th e hear t o f th e ric h an d evolvin g literatur e o n th e 1950
s an d earl y 1960s
, an d tha t era s chronicler s hav e helpe d endo w th e struggl e wit h a n aur a o f cultura l legitimac y tha t bot h refiect s an d reinforce s it s profoun d legal , political , an d socia l effects . B y placin g th e world-shak - in g event s o f th e classica l phas e i n th e contex t o f a longe r story , I wan t t o buttres s tha t representationa l projec t an d reinforc e th e mora l authorit y o f thos e wh o fough t fo r chang e i n thos e years . A t th e sam e time , I wan t t o mak e civi l right s harder .

Harder

t o celebrat e a s a natura l progressio n o f America n values . Harde r t o cas t a s a satisfyin g moralit y tale . Mos t o f all , harder to simplify, appropriate, and contain.^ Th e Politica l Use s o f Racia l Narrative s Th e root s o f th e dominan t narrativ e li e i n th e danc e betwee n th e movement' s strate - gist s an d th e media' s response . I n on e dramati c protes t afte r another , civi l right s activ - ist s couche d thei r demand s i n th e languag e o f democrati c right s an d Christia n universalism ; demonstrate d thei r ow n respectabilit y an d courage ; an d pitte d coerciv e nonviolenc e agains t guns , nightsticks , an d fists. Playe d ou t i n th e courts , i n legislativ e chambers , i n workplaces , an d i n th e streets , thos e socia l drama s topple d th e South' s syste m o f disfranchisemen t an d d e jur e o r legalize d segregatio n b y forcin g th e han d •'Stev e Frase r an d Gar y Gerstle , eds. . The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order. 1930-1980 (Prmceion, 1989); Va n Gosse , " A Movemen t o f Movements ; Th e Definitio n ant t Periodizatio n o f th e Ne w Left, " i n Companion to

Post-1945

America, ed. Agnew and Rosenzweig, 277-302, esp. 282.

"" The meaning of race and racism in America has always been inflected by ethnic exclusions and identities, and

i t ha s bee n complicate d b y th e demographi c change s i n th e lat e twentiet h century . I n thi s essay , however , I limi t m y focu s t o th e black-whit e divide . Lan i Guinie r an d Geral d Torres , The Miner's Canary: Enlisting Race. Resisting Power, Transforming Democracy (Cambridge, Mass., 2002), 11. * Kevin Matrson, "Givil Rights Made Harder," Reviews in American History, 30 (Dec. 2002), 663-70.

1236 The Journal of American History March 2005

o f federa l official s an d bringin g loca l government s t o thei r knees . Th e mas s media , i n turn , mad e th e protest s "on e o f th e grea t new s storie s o f th e moder n era, " bu t the y di d s o ver y selectively . Journalists ' interes t waxe d an d wane d alon g wit h activists ' abil - it y t o generat e charismati c personalitie s (wh o wer e usuall y men ) an d telegeni c con - frontations , preferabl y thos e i n whic h whir e villain s raine d dow n terro r o n nonviolen t demonstrator s dresse d i n thei r Sunda y best . Brough t int o America n livin g room s b y th e seductiv e ne w mediu m o f televisio n an d replaye d eve r since , suc h scene s see m t o com e ou t o f nowhere , t o hav e n o precedents , n o historica l roots . T o compoun d tha t distortion , th e nationa l press' s overwhelmingl y sympathetic , i f mis - leading , coverag e change d abruptl y i n th e mid-1960 s wit h th e adven t o f blac k powe r an d blac k uprising s i n th e urba n North . Trainin g a hostil e ey e o n thos e develop - ments , th e camera s turne d awa y fro m th e South , ignorin g th e souther n campaign' s evolvin g goals , obscurin g interregiona l connection s an d similarities , an d creatin g a narrativ e breac h betwee n wha t peopl e thin k o f a s "th e movement " an d th e ongoin g popula r struggle s o f th e lat e 1960
s an d th e 1970s
7 Earl y studie s o f th e blac k freedo m movemen t ofte n hewe d closel y t o th e journalis - ti c "roug h draf t o f history, " replicating its judgments and trajectory. More recent his- tories , memoirs, and documentaries have struggled to loosen its hold.** Why, then, ha s th e dominan t narrativ e seeme d onl y t o consolidat e it s power ? Th e answe r lies , i n ' Julia n Bond , "TTi e Medi a an d th e Movement : Lookin g Bac k fro m th e Souther n Front, " i n Media, Culture, and the Modern African American Freedom Struggle, ed. Brian Ward (Gainesville, 2001), 16-40, esp. 32. See also Rober t J . Norrell , "On e Thin g W e Di d Right : Reflection s o n th e Movement, " i n New Directions in Civil Rights

Studies, ed. Armstead L. Robinson and Patricia Sullivan (Charlottesville, 1991), 72-73, 77; and Payne, I've Got the

Light of Freedom. 391-405. * Payne , fve Got the Light of Freedom, 391. For works that stress the events of the classical phase but also high- ligh t th e lon g trajector y o f th e movement , se e ibid.; Manning Marable, Race. Reform, and Rebellion: The Second

Reconstruction

in Black America, 1945-1990 (Jackson, 199!); Steven F. Lawson, Runningfor Freedom: Civil Rights

and Black Politics in America since 1941 (New York, 1997); Adam FairclougK, Race and Democracy: The Civil Rights

Struggle

in Louisiana. 1915-1972
(Athens , Ga. , 1995)
; an d Gret a D e Jong , A Different Day: African American

Struggles for Justice in Rural Louisiana. 1900-1970 (Chapel Hill, 2002). Community studies tend to blur the

boundarie s o f th e dominan t narrative , an d biographie s ofte n illuminat e North/Sout h linkage s an d th e fluidit y an d diversit y o f th e movement . See , for example , Georg e Lipsitz , A Life in the Struggle: Ivory Perry and the Culture of

Opposition

(Philadelphia , 1995)
. Fo r a growin g choru s o f call s fo r a broader scholarl y focus , se e Rober t Korsta d an d Nelso n Lichtenstein , "Opportunitie s Poun d an d Lost : Labor , Radicals , an d th e Earl y Civi l Right s Move - ment,"/""""^ Z o/'^wmcfl w History, 75 (Dec. 1988), 786-811; Timothy B. Tyson, "Robert F. Williams, 'Black

Power,

' an d th e Root s o f th e Africa n America n Freedo m Struggle, " ibid., 85 (Sept. 1998), 540 - 70; Julian Bond, •'Th e Politic s o f Civi l Right s History, " i n New Directions in Civil Rights Studies, ed. Robinson and Sullivan, 8 - 16; Payne , I've Got the Light of Freedom, 3, 391-405, 413-41; Charles Payne, "Debating the Civil Rights Movement: Th e Vie w fro m th e Trenches. " i n Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945 - 1968.
b y Steve n F . Lawso n an d

Charle

s Payn e (Lanham , 1998)
, 108-11
; Peniel E. Joseph, "Waiting till the Midnight Hour; Reconceptualizing th e Heroi c Perio d o f th e Civi l Right s Movement , 1954-1965,
" Souls, 2 (Sprin g 2000)
, 6-17 ; Jacquely n Dow d Hall , "Mobilizin g Memory ; Broadenin g Ou r Vie w o f th e Civi l Right s Movement, " Chronicle of Higher Education, Jul y 27
, 2001
, pp . B7-B11 ; Nell Irvin Painter, "America Needs to Reexamine Its Civil Rights H'tszory," Journal of

Blacks in Higher Fducation, Aug. 31, 2001, pp. 132-34; Brian Ward, "introduction: Forgotten Wails and Master

Narratives

: Media , Culture , an d Memorie s o f th e Moder n Africa n America n Freedo m Struggle, " i n Media, Cul- ture, and the Modern African American Freedom Stru^le, ed. Ward, 1-15; Robert O. Self, American Babylon: Race and the Struggle for Posttvar Oakland (Vtinccton. 2003), lO-ll. 330-31; Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham, "Fore- word, " i n

Freedom North: Black Freedom Struggles outside the South, 1940-1980, ed. Jeanne Theoharis and Komozi

Woodar

d (Ne w York , 2003)
. viii-xvi ; Jeann e Theoharis , "Introduction, " ibid., 1-15; Van Gosse, "Postmodern

America

; A Ne w Democrati c Orde r i n th e Secon d Gilde d Age, " i n The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture in

Recent America, ed. Van Gosse and Richard Moser (Philadelphia, 2003), 1 - 36; Jack Dougherty, More Than One

Struggle: The Evolution of Black School Reform in Milwaukee (Chiipel Hill, 2004), 1-4; and Nikhil Pal Singh, Black

Is a Country: Race and the Unfinished Stru^le for Democracy (Cambridge, Mass., 201)4), 4-14. Civil Rights and the Political Uses of the Past 1237 part , i n th e ris e o f othe r storytellers - th e architect s o f th e Ne w Right , a n allianc e o f corporat e powe r brokers , old-styl e conservativ e intellectuals , an d "neoconservatives " (disillusione d liberal s an d socialisr s turne d Col d Wa r hawks) . Th e Ol d Right , Nort h an d South , ha d bee n o n th e wron g sid e o f tb e revolution , opposin g rh e civi l right s movemen t an d revilin g it s leader s i n tb e nam e o f propert y rights , states' rights, anticommunism, and the God-given, biological inferiority of blacks . Largely moribund by the 1960s, the conservative movenienr reinvented itself i n th e 1970s
, first b y incorporatin g neoconservative s wh o eschewe d old-fashione d racis m an d the n b y embracin g a n idea l o f forma l equality , focusin g o n blacks ' osten - sibl e failings , an d positionin g itsel f a s th e tru e inherito r o f tb e civi l right s legacy.' ' Lik e al l bid s fo r discursiv e an d politica l power , tbi s on e require d tb e warran t o f th e past , an d th e dominan t narrativ e o f th e civi l rigbt s movemen t wa s read y a t hand .

Reworkin

g tha t narrativ e fo r thei r ow n purposes , thes e ne w "color-blin d conserva - tives " ignored the complexity and dynamism of the movement, its growing focus on structura l inequality , an d it s "radica l reconstruction " goals . Instead , the y insiste d tha t colo r blindness - define d a s tb e eliminatio n o f racia l classification s an d th e establish - men t o f forma ! equalit y befor e tb e law - wa s th e movement' s singula r objective , th e principl e fo r whic h Kin g an d th e Brown decision , i n particular , stood . Tbe y admitte d tha t racism , understoo d a s individua l bigotry , di d exist - "i n th e distan t past " an d primaril y i n th e South - a concessio n tha t surel y woul d hav e take n th e Ol d Righ t b y surprise.' " Bu t afte r legalize d Ji m Cro w wa s dismantled , suc h irrationalitie s dimin - ishe d t o insignificance . I n th e absenc e o f overtl y discriminator y law s an d wit b th e wanin g o f consciou s bias , America n institution s becam e basicall y fair . Fre e r o com - pet e i n a market-drive n society , Africa n American s thereafte r bor e tb e onu s o f thei r ow n failur e o r success . I f star k grou p inequalitie s persisted , blac k attitudes , behavior , an d famil y structure s wer e t o blame . Tb e race-consciou s remedie s devise d i n th e lat e 1960
s an d 1970
s t o implemen t th e movement' s victories , suc b a s majority-minorit y votin g districts , minorit y busines s set-asides , affirmativ e action , an d two-wa y busing , wer e no t th e handiwor k o f th e authenti c civi l right s movemen t a t all . Foiste d o n a n unwittin g publi c b y a "libera l elite " mad e u p o f judges , intellectuals, and government bureaucrats , thos e policie s no t onl y betraye d th e movement' s origina l goals ; tbe y als o ha d littl e effec t o n th e economi c progres s black s enjoye d i n th e lat e 1960
s an d 1970s
, whic h wa s cause d no t b y grass-root s activis m o r governmenta l interventio n bu t b y '

' For a bracing look at the reinvention of the Right in the 1970s, see Nancy MacLean, "Freedom Is Not

Enough": How the Fight over Jobs and Justice Changed America (Cambridge, Mass., forthcoming), chap. 7. I am

indebte d to MacLean for sharing her work with me. For the metamorphosis of conservatism in the West and South

, see Lisa McGirr, Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right (Princeton, 2001); Anders

Walker

, "Th e Ghost of Jim Crow: Law, Culture, and the Subversion of Civil Rights, 1954-1965" (Ph.D. diss., Yal e University , 2003)
; Ander s Walker , "Legislatin g Virtue ; Ho w Segregationists Disguised Racial Discrimination a s Mora l Refor m Followin g Brown v. Board of Education" Duke Law Journal. 47 (Nov. 1997), .599 - 424; Matthew D

. Lassiter and Andrew B. Lewis, eds.. The Moderates' Dilemma: Massive Resistance to School Desegregation in Vir-

ginia (Charlottesville , 1998)
; Matthe w D. Lassiter, "The Suburban Origins of'Color-Blind' Conservatism: Mid- dle-Clas s Consciousnes s in the Charlotte Busing Crisis," Journal of Urban History, 30 (May 2004), 549-82; and

Richar

d A. Pride, The Political Use of Racial Narratives: School Desegregation in Mobile, Alabama, 1954-97 (Urbana , 2002)
. ' " Th

e quotation is from Ernest Van den Haag, "Reverse Discrimination; A Brief against It," National Review,

Apri l 29, 1977, p. 493, cited in MacLean, "Freedom Is Not Enough," cW^i. 7.

1238 The Journal of American History March 2005

impersona l market forces. In fact, tbe remedies themselves became tbe cause of our problems , creating resentment among whites, subverting self-reliance among blacks, an d encouraging "balkanization" when nationalism and assimilation should be our goals. " It was up to color-blind conservatives to restore the original purpose of civil right s laws, wbicb was to prevent isolated acts of wrongdoing against individuals, ratbe r than, as many civil rights activists and legal expens claimed, to redress present, institutionalize d manifestations of historical injustices against blacks as a group.'-

Germinate

d in well-funded right-wing think tanks and broadcast to the general public , tbis racial narrative had wide appeal, in part because it conformed to white, middle-clas s interests and flattered national vanities and in part because it resonated wit h ideals of individual effort and merit that are widely shared. The American creed of free-market individualism, in combination witb the ideological victories of tbe movemen t (which ensured that white supremacy must "hide its face"), made tbe rhetori c of color blindness central to tbe "war of ideas" initiated by the New Right in th e 1970s. With Ronald Reagan's presidential victory in 1980, and even more so after th e Republican sweep of Congress in 1994, that rhetoric entrenched itself in public policy . Dovetailing with the retreat from race-specific remedies among centrist liber- als , it crossed traditional political boundaries, and it now shapes the thinking of "a grea t many people of good " Proponent s o t thi s ne w racia l orthodox y diffe r i n ton e and , t o a lesse r extent , i n ideas . I a m stressin g th e intervention s o f thos e wh o presen t themselve s a s th e voic e o f th e reasoned , informe d cente r o r a s "racia l realists, " i n Ala n Wolfe' s phrase . I refe r t o the m a s "ne w conservatives " o r "color-blin d conservatives. " Fo r racia l realism , se e Ala n Wolfe , "Enoug h Blam e t o G o Around, " New York Times Book Review, June 12, 1998, p. 12; Philip Klinknet, "Th e 'Racia l Realism ' Hoax. " Nation. Dec . 14 , 1998
, pp . 33-38
; "Letters, " ibid., Jan. 25, 1999, p. 24; and

Michae

l K . Brow n e t al. . Whitewashing Race: The Myth of a Color-Blind Society (Berkeley, 2003), 5-12, 224. For th e spectru m an d evolutio n o f ne w conservativ e writin g o n race , se e Charle s A . Murray , Losing Ground: American

Social Policy, 1950-1980 (New York, 1984); Thomas Sowell, Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality? {New York, 1984);

Dines h D'Souza , The End of Racism: Principles for a Multiracial Society (New York, 1995); Stephan Thernstrom an d Abigai l Thernstrom , America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible (New York, 1997); Jim Sleeper, Lib- eral Racism (Ne w York , 1997)
; Tama r Jacoby , Someone Else's House: America's Unfinished Struggle fir Integration {Ne w York , 1998)
; Shelb y Steele , ^

4 Dream Deferred: The Second Betrayal of Black Freedom in America (New York,

1998)
; and Abigail Thernstrom and Siephan Thernstrom, No Excuses: Closing the Racial Gap in Learning (New York , 2003)
. Critique s o f color-blin d conservatives , whic h disput e thei r understandin g o f history , interpretatio n o f civi l right s law , an d research , includ e Brow n e t al. . Whitewashing Race; J. Morgan Kousser, Colorblind Injustice:

Minority Voting Rights and the Undoing of the Second Reconstruction (Chapel Hill, 1999); K. Anthony Appiah and

Am y Gutmann , Color Conscious: The Political Morality of Race (Princeton, 1996); Stephen Steinberg, Turning

Back: The Retreat from Racial Justice in American Thought and Policy (Boston, 2001); MacLean, "Freedom Is Not

Enough"; and Alice O'Connor, "Malign Neglect," Du Bois Review, 1 (Nov. 2004), forthcoming. ' ^ Thi s formulatio n i s draw n fro m Kimberl e William s Crenshaw , "Race , Reform , an d Retrenchment : Transfor - matio n an d Legitimatio n i n Antidiscriminatio n Law, " i n Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the

Movement,

ed . Kimberl e Crensha w e t al . (Ne w York , 1995)
, 105
. ' ^ Gosse , "Postmoder n America, " 5 ; Brow n e t al. . Whitewashing Race, 224. We have little scholarship on the mushroomin g o f conservativ e thin k tank s an d foundation s an d thei r rol e i n trainin g an d supportin g polic y intel - lectual s an d marketer s an d thu s i n shapin g th e term s o f America n politica l debate . Thi s lac k o f attentio n leave s intac t th e assumptio n tha t th e curren t assaul t o n th e gain s o f th e civi l right s movemen t result s fro m a mor e o r les s spontaneou s shif t i n publi c opinio n tha t proponent s o f racia l an d gende r justic e ofte n fee l helples s t o combat . Fo r a start , se e Leo n Howell , Funding the War of Ideas: A Report to the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries (Cleveland , 1995)
; Jean Stefancic and Richard Delgado, No Mercy: How Conservative Think Tanks and Foundations

Changed

America's Social Agenda (Philadelphia , 1996)
; Davi d Callahan , $1 Billion for Ideas: Conservative Think

Tanks in the 1990s (Washington, 1999); Lee Cokorinos, The Assault on Diversity: An Organized Challenge to Racial

and Gender

Justice (Lanham, 2003); and Andrew Rich, Think Tanks, Puhlic Policy and the Politics of Expertise (New

York , 2004)
. Civil Rights and the Political Uses of the Past 1239

Clearly

, th e storie s w e tel l abou t th e civi l right s movemen t matter ; the y shap e ho w w e se e ou r ow n world . "Facts " mus t b e interpreted , an d thos e interpretations - nar - rate d b y powerfu l storytellers , portraye d i n publi c events , acte d upo n i n law s an d pol - icie s an d cour t decisions , an d grounde d i n institutions - becom e primar y source s o f huma n action . Thos e wh o aspir e t o affec t publi c opinio n an d polic y an d thu s t o par - ticipat e i n "th e endles s struggl e ove r ou r collectiv e destiny " mus t alway s as k them - selve s no t onl y "whic h storie s t o advance , contest , an d accep t a s 'true' " bu t als o ho w t o disciplin e thos e storie s wit h researc h an d experienc e an d t o advanc e the m wit h power . I n th e worl d o f symboli c politics , th e answer s t o thos e question s determin e wh o wil l prevail.'' ' I n tha t spirit, I wil l tur n no w t o a stor y o f m y own - th e stor y o f th e lon g civi l right s movemen t an d o f th e resistanc e t o it . Throughout , I wil l dra w o n th e wor k o f a wid e rang e o f historians , tyin g togethe r storie s usuall y tol d separatel y i n orde r t o alte r commo n understanding s o f th e blac k freedo m struggl e (an d o f ho w w e arrive d a t th e dilemma s o f th e ne w millennium ) i n a t leas t si x majo r ways . First , thi s new , longe r an d broade r narrativ e undermine s th e trop e o f th e Sout h a s th e nation' s "opposit e other, " a n imag e tha t southernize s racis m an d shield s fro m scrutin y bot h th e economi c dimension s o f souther n whit e supremac y an d th e institutionalize d pat - tern s o f exploitation , segregation , an d discriminatio n i n othe r region s o f th e coun - try - pattern s tha t survive d th e civi l right s movemen t an d no w defin e th e South s racia l landscap e a s well . Second , thi s narrativ e emphasize s th e gordia n kno t tha t tie s rac e t o clas s an d civi l right s t o workers ' rights . Third , i t suggest s tha t women' s activ - is m an d gende r dynamic s wer e centra l bot h t o th e freedo m movemen t an d t o th e backlas h agains t it . Fourth , i t make s visibl e moder n civi l right s struggle s i n th e North , Midwest , an d West , whic h entere d a ne w phas e wit h th e tur n t o blac k nation - alis m i n th e mid-1960 s bu t ha d begu n a t leas t a quarte r centur y before . Fifth , i t direct s attentio n t o th e effor t t o "mak e us e o f th e reform s wo n b y th e civi l right s movement " i n th e 1970s
, afte r th e nationa l movement' s allege d demise.' ^ An d finally, i t construe s th e Reagan-Bus h ascendanc y no t simpl y a s a backlas h agains t th e "move - men t o f movements " o f th e lat e 1960
s an d 1970s
, bu t a s a developmen t wit h dee p historica l roots . Th e Lon g Backlas h Tw o grea t interna l migration s gav e ris e bot h t o th e lon g civi l right s movemen t an d t o th e interest s an d ideologie s tha t woul d ultimatel y fee d th e mos t tellin g resistanc e t o it : th e exodu s o f Afi-ica n American s t o th e citie s o f th e South , North , an d Wes t pre - cipitate d b y th e collaps e o f th e souther n sharecroppin g syste m an d th e mas s subur - banizatio n o f whites . Acceleratin g durin g Worl d Wa r II , thos e vas t relocation s o f peopl e an d resource s transforme d th e racia l geograph y o f th e country . Eac h ' * Pride . PoliHcal Use of Racial Narratives, 4-20, 244-72, esp. 9 and 272. ' ^ Nanc y MacLean , "Redesignin g Dixi e wit h Affirmativ e Action : Race , Gender , an d th e Desegregatio n o f tb e

Souther

n Textil e Mil l World, " i n Gender and the Southern Body Politic: Essays and Comments, ed. Nancy Bercaw (Jackson , 2000)
, 163
.

1240 The Journal of American History March 2005

responde d t o an d acte d o n th e odner . The y wer e fatefuUy , althoug h ofte n invisibly , entwined . " ^

Gender

, class , region , an d rac e al l shape d bot h migratio n experiences . Becaus e dis - criminatio n i n th e Nort h shunte d blac k me n int o th e meanes t factor y jobs , wome n carrie d th e burde n o f a double day. Relegated mainly to domestic service, they com- bine d wag e earnin g no t onl y wit h homemakin g bu t wit h ki n wor k an d socia l net - working , practice s tha t wer e roote d i n th e fol k an d famil y tradition s o f th e South , boun d neighborhood s together , an d provide d th e safet y ne t tha t discriminator y wel - far e policie s denied . Suc h network s als o helpe d t o blu r urban-rura l boundaries , ensurin g tha t struggle s i n th e cit y an d th e countrysid e woul d b e mutuall y reinforc - ing.' ^ A s rura l blac k fol k grapple d wit h th e planter-dominate d policie s an d practice s tba t exploite d thei r labo r an d drov e the m fro m th e land , urba n migrant s fough t t o "kee p

Mississipp

i ou t o f California " an d th e "plantatio n mentality " ou t o f th e citie s o f th e

South.'

^ Indeed , th e resonanc e o f th e plantatio n metapho r fo r black s throughou t th e countr y suggest s th e dept h an d durabilit y o f rura l memorie s an d interregiona l con - nections . I n on e sense , however , th e metapho r i s misleading . Fo r blac k migrant s wh o mad e thei r wa y t o th e "promise d land " foun d themselve s confrontin g no t Mississipp i i n Californi a bu t indigenou s form s o f discriminatio n an d d e fact o segregation - th e resul t no t o f custom , a s "d e facto " implies , bu t o f a combinatio n o f individua l choice s an d governmenta l policie s {som e blatan t an d som e rac e neutra l o n thei r face ) tha t ha d th e effect , an d ofte n th e intent , o f barrin g Africa n American s fro m acces s t o decen t jobs , schools , an d homes , a s wel l a s t o th e commercialize d leisur e space s tha t increasingl y symbolize d "makin g i t i n America " fo r whit e ethnic s e n rout e t o th e middl e class .

Ironically

, Ne w Dea l program s helpe d t o erec t thos e racia l barriers . I n tande m wit h th e highe r wage s wo n b y th e newl y empowere d union s o f th e Congres s o f

Industria

l Organization s (cio) , th e expansio n o f th e welfar e stat e mitigate d th e terri - bl e insecurit y o f working-clas s lif e fo r black s an d white s alike . Ye t th e "gendered " an d "raced " imaginatio n o f Ne w Dea l reformer s als o buil t racia l an d gende r inequalit y int o th e ver y foundatio n o f th e moder n state.' ^ Thos e inequalitie s wer e intensifie d b y ' ^ O n th e reshapin g o f citie s b y ch e tw o inrcrna l migrations , se e Rober t O . Sel f an d Thoma s J . Sugrue , "Th e Powe r o f Place : Race , Politica l Economy , an d Identit y i n th e Postwa r Metropolis. " i n Companion to Post-1945

America,

cd . Agne w an d Rosenzweig , 20-43 . " Rober t O . Self, "'Negro Leadership and Negro Money': African American Political Organizing in Oakland befor e th e Panthers, " i n Freedom North, ed . Theohari s an d Woodard , 99-100
. Fo r rh e long-neglccre d topi c o f wome n an d migration , se e Darlen e Clar k Hine , "Blac k Migratio n t o rh e Urba n Midwest : Th e Gende r Dimen - sion , 1915-1945,
" i n The Great Miration in Historical Perspective: New Dimensions of Race. Class, and Gender, ed. Jo e Willia m Trotte r Jr . (Blooniington , 1991)
, 127^6
; Kimberle y L . Phillips . AlabamaNorth: African-American

Migrants,

Community, and Working-CUss Activism in Cleveland, 1915-1945 (Urbana, 1999); Gretchen Lcmke-

Santangelo

, Abiding Courage: African American Migrant Women and the East Bay Community {Ci\3pt:\ Hill, 1996); Mega n Taylo r Shockley , "We, Too, Are Americans": African American Women in Detroit and Richmond, 1940-54 (Urbana , 2004)
; an d Lauri e Bet h Green , "Battlin g th e Plantatio n Mentality : Consciousness , Culture , an d th e Pol - itic s o f Race . Class, and Gender in Memphis, 1940-1968" {Ph.D. diss.. University of Chicago, 1999). ' * Sdf, American Babylon. 88; Laurie B. Green. "Race, Gender, and Labor in 1960s Memphis: 'i,iAf AMAN" and rh e Meaning oi^tetdom" Journal of Urban History. 30 {March 2004), 467. ' ^ Alic e Kessler-Harris , In Pursuit of Equity: Women, Men, and the Quest for Economic Citizenship in Twentieth-

Century America (New York, 2001),

Civil Rights and the Political Uses of the Past 1241 th e concession s exacte d bot h b y conservativ e Republica n congressme n an d b y south - er n Democrats , wh o owe d thei r congressiona l seniorit y an d thu s thei r dominatio n o f ke y committee s t o th e South s constricte d electorat e an d one-part y rule . On e manifestatio n o f systemi c inequalit y wa s a two-trac k welfar e syste m roote d i n a "famil y wage " idea l tha t figured th e worke r a s a full-tim e breadwinne r wh o sup - porte d childre n an d a dependent , non-wage-earnin g wif e a t home - a n idea l fro m whic h mos t peopl e o f colo r wer e excluded . Whe n unemploymen t insuranc e wa s enacted i n 1935
, fo r example , i t di d no t exten d t o agricultura l an d domesti c workers , who m reformer s di d no t se e a s independent , full-tim e breadwinners , an d o n who m th e South s low-wag e econom y depended . A s a result , 5 5 percen t o f al l Africa n Amer - ica n worker s an d 8 7 percen t o f al l wage-earnin g Africa n America n wome n wer e exclude d fro m on e o f th e chie f benefit s o f th e Ne w Deal . I n lie u o f suc h protections ,

Africa

n American s wer e dependen t on - an d stigmatize d by - th e stingy , means - teste d program s know n a s "welfare " today.^' ^ A s metropolita n population s exploded , a ma d scrambl e fo r housin g brough t Afri - ca n American s fac e t o fac e wit h anothe r limitatio n o f th e Ne w Deal : whit e me n ben - efite d disproportionatel y fro m th e G.I . Bil l o f Rights , a mammot h socia l welfar e progra m fo r returnin g veteran s passe d b y Congres s a t th e en d o f Worl d Wa r II . I n combinatio n wit h a n equall y ambitiou s housin g program , th e G.I . Bil l dre w aspirin g ethni c worker s an d th e whit e middl e clas s ou t o f th e city , awa y fro m blac k neighbors , an d int o ever-expandin g suburba n rims . Genturie s o f racia l denigration , com - pounde d b y division s buil t int o th e two-trac k welfar e system , predispose d whit e urbanite s t o fea r blac k migrants . Bu t wha t cam e t o b e know n a s "whit e flight " wa s cause d no t jus t b y individua l attitude s bu t als o b y a panopl y o f profit - an d govern - ment-drive n policies . Loca l zonin g board s an d highwa y buildin g choice s equate d "black " wit h "blight, " frightenin g awa y whit e buyer s an d steerin g investmen t awa y fro m blac k urba n neighborhoods . Blockbustin g rea l estat e agent s stampede d white s int o sellin g chea p an d black s int o buyin g dear . Redlinin g bank s denie d mortgage s t o

Africa

n American s an d t o buyer s i n "mixed " neighborhoods . Mos t important , th e

Federa

l Housin g Administratio n pursue d lendin g policie s tha t no t onl y favore d bu t practicall y mandate d racia l homogeneity.' ' ^° Nelso n Lichtenstein , State of the Union: A Century of American Lahor (Princeton , 2002)
, 96
. O n gender , race , an d welfare , se e Kessler-Harris , In Pursuit of Equity; Lind a Gordon , ed. . Women, the State, and Welfare (Mad- ison , 1990)
; Lind a Gordon , Pitied hut Not Entitled: Single Mothers and the History of Welfare, 1890-1935 (New York , 1994)
; an d Michae l K . Brown , Race, Money, and the American Welfare State (Ithaca, 1999). For changes in th e family-wag e syste m a s th e ke y them e o f posi-Worl d Wa r 1 1 women' s history , se e Nanc y MacLean , "Postwa r

Women'

s History : Th e 'Secon d Wave " o r th e En d o f th e Famil y Wage?, " m Companion to Post-1945 America, ed.

Agncwan

d Rosenzweig , 235 - 59
. ' ' M y discussio n o f whit e ethni c workers , th e middl e class , an d th e spatializatio n o f rac e draw s o n th e wor k o f brillian t urba n historians , especiall y Kennet h T . Jackson , "Race , Ethnicity , an d Rea l Estat e Appraisal : Th e Hom e Owner s Loa n Corporatio n an d th e Federa l Housin g Administration,"/owr W o f f/ria n History. 6 (Aug. 1980),

419-52

; Kennet h T . Jackson , Crabgrass Frontier: The Suhurhanization of the United States (New York, 1985); Thoma s W . Hanchett , Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875- 1975
(Ghape l Hill , 1998)
; Thoma s J . Sugrue , "Grabgrass-Root s Politics : Race , Rights , an d th e Reactio n agains t

Liberalis

m i n th e Urba n North , \94O-1964," Journal of American History. 8 2 (Sept . 1995)
, 551-78
; Arnol d R .

Hirsch

, Making the Second Ghetto: Race and Housing in Chicago, 1940-1960 (New York, 1983); Thomas J. Su- grue , The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit (Princeton , 1996)
; Kevi n Fo x

Gotham

, "Urba n Space , Restrictiv e Govenants , an d th e Origin s o f Racia l Residentia l Segregatio n i n a U.S . City ,

1242 The Journal of American History March 2005

Encourage

d b y ta x incentives, highway building programs, and a desire to out- flank th e new unions, factories and businesses moved to the suburbs as well, eroding th e cities ' ta x base, damaging infrastructure, and eviscerating municipal services. The growt h o f segregate d suburb s als o exacerbate d the trend toward almost complete seg- regatio n in urban schools. The practice of supporting public education through local taxe s an d th e fiercely guarded divide between urban and suburban school districts, combine d wit h conscious , raciall y motivate d choice s regardin g th e siting of schools an d th e assignment of pupils, relegated black migrants to schools that were often as separat e and as unequal as those they had left behind.^' Thi s cascadin g proces s o f migration, job discrimination, suburbanization, and race-code d New Deal reform had three major effects. First, over the course of the 1940
s rac e becam e increasingl y spatialized , renderin g invisibl e to whites the accumu- late d rac e an d class privileges that undergirded what suburbanites came to see as the tightfu l fruit s of their own labor. Second, the "suburban frontier" spawned a new homeowners ' politic s base d on low taxes, property rights, neighborhood autonomy, an d a shrinking sense of social responsibility, all of which became entangled with racia l identit y i n ways that would prove extremely difficult to undo." Finally, African

Americans

, alread y burdene d b y th e social and economic deprivations of slavery and Ji m Crow , foun d themselve s disadvantage d by employment practices and state poli- cie s tha t amounte d t o affirmative action for whites. In a society where a home repre- sente d mos t families ' singl e mos t importan t asset , fo r example, differential access to mortgage s and housing markets and the racial valuation of neighborhoods translated int o enormou s inequalities . Passe d o n from generation to generation, those inequali- tie s persis t t o this day. Short-circuiting the generational accumulation of wealth and socia l capita l cha t propelle d othe r ethni c minoritie s int o the expanding post-World Wa r I I middle class, those policies left a legacy of racial inequality that has yet to be seriousl y addressed. ^ 2 4

Souther

n Strategie s W e no w have a copious literature on postwar suburbanization and the deepening of segregatio n in the North and "West. But too often, the already segregated, rural, back- war d Sout h figure s i n this story only as a footnote or an exception to the rule. In fact,

1900-50,

" International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 24 {Sept. 2000). 616-33; Self, American Babylon; Marth a Biondi . To Stand and Fight: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Postwar New York City (Cambridge, Mass.. 2003>
. 112-36
, 223-49
; Lizabet h Cohen , A Consumer's Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar

America

(Ne w York, 2003); Kenneth D. Durr, Behind the Backlash: White Working-Class Politics in Baltimore.

1940-1980

(Chape l Hill , 2003)
; an d Bryant Simon, Boardwalk of Dreams: Atlantic City and the Fate of Urban

America (New York, 2004). I am also indebted to Douglas S. Massey and Nancy A. Denton. American Apartheid:

Segregation and the Making of the Underclass {dmhrld^e. Mass., 1993); and Brown. Race. Money, and the American

Welfare State. On how veterans' benefits disadvantaged blacb, see Brown et al., Whitewashing Race. 75-77.

" Biondi , To Stand and Fight. 241-49. " Self , American Babylon. 333-34. " Meivi n L . Oliver and Thomas M. Shapiro, Black Wealth/White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality (Ne w York , 1995)
. Civil Rights and the Political Uses of the Past 1243 becaus e souther n citie s gre w u p i n th e ag e o f Ne w Dea l reform , th e automobile , an d suburba n sprawl , th e moder n Sout h migh t bette r b e see n a s a paradigm.^ ^

Lookin

g bac k fro m th e perspectiv e o f th e dominan t narrative , i t i s eas y t o se e a peculia r syste m o f lega l segregation as the Souths defining feature. But spatial separa- tio n wa s neve r th e whit e South s majo r goal . Blac k an d whit e southerner s engage d i n constan t an d nuance d interactions , moderate d b y persona l ties , economi c interests , an d clas s an d gende r dynamic s an d marke d b y cultura l exchange.^* ^ Takin g plac e a s the y di d withi n a contex t o f racia l hierarchy , thos e interaction s di d no t diminis h seg - regation' s perniciousnes s an d power . Ye t give n th e ubiquit y o f black-whit e contac t an d th e crucia l rol e o f black s a s a sourc e o f chea p labor , wha t w e thin k o f a s th e ag e o f segregatio n migh t bette r b e calle d th e ag e o f "racia l capitalism, " fo r segregatio n wa s onl y on e instrumen t o f whit e supremacy , an d whit e supremac y entaile d no t onl y racia l dominatio n bu t als o economi c practices . Pursue d b y a n industria l an d agricul - tura l oligarch y t o aggrandiz e themselve s an d forwar d a particula r developmen t strat - eg y fo r th e region , thos e practice s involve d lo w taxes , minima l investmen t i n huma n capital , th e separatio n an d politica l immobilizatio n o f th e blac k an d whit e souther n poor , th e exploitatio n o f non-unionized , undereducate d blac k an d whit e labor , an d th e patriarcha l contro l o f familie s an d loca l institutions.^' ' Tha t strateg y create d a particularl y bruta l an d openl y racialize d socia l system , especiall y i n th e Dee p South . Bu t it s basi c doctrines - racia l an d clas s subordination , limite d governmen t regulation , a union-fre e workplace , an d a raciall y divide d work - in g class - dovetaile d seamlessl y wit h a n ethi c o f laissez-fair e capitalis m roote d deepl y i n America n soi!.^ ^ Thi s i s no t t o minimiz e regiona l differences . I t is , however , t o sug - ges t tha t th e furthe r w e mov e awa y fro m th e campaign s tha t overturne d th e South' s distinctiv e syste m o f state-sponsore d segregation , th e easie r i t i s t o se e th e broade r an d ultimatel y mor e durabl e pattern s o f privileg e an d exploitatio n tha t wer e Ameri - can , no t southern , i n thei r origin s an d consequences . ^ ' Fo r th e argumen t tha t th e Sout h "travele d almos t directl y fro m th e counttysid e t o suburbia " an d tha t "th e souther n cit y becam e th e quintessentia l suburba n city, " se e Davi d R . Goldfield , Promised Land: The South since 1945
{Admgton Heights , 1987)
, 153
, 34
. ^

* On such black-white interactions, see Diane Miller Sommerviile, Rape and Race in the Nineteenth-Century

South (Chape l Hiil . 2004)
; an d Jennife r Lyn n Ritterhouse , "Learnin g Race : Racia l Etiquett e an d th e Socializatio n o f Childre n i n th e Ji m Cro w South " (Ph.D . diss. . Universit y o f Nort h Carolina , Chape l Hill , 1999)
. ^ " Fo r th e argumen t tha t racialis m aros e i n feuda l Europ e befor e Europe' s encounte r wit h Afric a an d tha t capi - talis m an d racialis m evolve d togethe r t o produc e " a moder n worl d syste m o f racia l capitalism ' dependen t o n sla - very , violence , imperialism , an d genocide, " se e Cedri c J . Robinson , Black Marxism: The Making of the Black

Radical

Tradition {1983; Chapel Hill, 2000), 2 - 3; and Robin D. C. Kelley, "Foreword." ibid., esp. xiii. 1 use "racial

capitalism " t o emphasiz e tha t unfettere d capitalis m a s wel l a s racialis m produce d th e Ji m Cro w syste m an d t o sug - ges t similaritie s betwee n th e Nort h an d th e South . Fo r suc h use s o f th e ter m b y souther n historians , se e Hall , "Mobilizin g Memory, " B8 ; Rober t Rodger s Korstad , Civil Rights Unionism: Tobacco Workers and the Struggle for

Democracy

in the Mid-Twentieth-Century South (Chape l Hill , 2003)
, 55
; an d Bria n Kelly , "Sentinel s fo r Ne w Sout h Industry : Booke r T . Washington , Industria l Accommodation , an d Blac k Worker s i n th e Ji m Cro w South, " Labor

History, 44 (Aug. 2003), 339. On the patriarchal political culture of the black belt elite, see Kari A. Frcder-

ickson . The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South. ;5'.?2-/i'68 (Chapel Hiil, 2001), -* ' Rober t Korsiad , "Clas s an d Caste : Unravelin g th e Mysterie s o f th e Ne w Sout h Regime, " pape r delivere d a t th e W . E , B . D u Boi s Institut e Colloquiu m Series , Harvar d University , Cambridge , Mass. , Feb . 18 , 200
4 (i n Hall' s possession) .

1244 The Journal of American History March 2005

Thos e commo n pattern s mean t tha t th e South' s postwa r prosperit y coul d narro w regiona l difference s withou t eliminatin g racia l gaps . Chang e bega n i n earnes t i n th e 1940
s an d accelerate d i n th e 1950
s an d 1960s
, a s souther n Democrats , respondin g selectivel y t o th e activis t Ne w Dea l stat e (rathe r tha n opposin g it , a s observer s ofte n assume) , use d thei r congressiona l seniorit y t o garne r a disproportionat e shar e o f defens e spendin g whil e demandin g loca l an d stat e contro l ove r federa l program s fo r housing , hospita l construction , education , an d th e like . Tha t strateg y helpe d rais e wage s an d tripl e regiona l income s i n th e 1940s
, hu t i t als o blunte d federa l antidis - criminatio n efforts.^' * A t th e sam e time , souther n industrialists , lik e thei r counter - part s i n othe r regions , reacte d t o risin g wage s an d t o th e labo r militanc y tha t followe d Worl d Wa r I I b y installin g laborsavin g machiner y an d eliminatin g th e job s hel d b y blacks , whil e white s monopolize d th e ne w skille d an d white-colla r jobs , whic h demande d qualification s denie d t o black s b y bot h educationa l inequitie s an d dis - criminator y practice s tha t barre d the m fro m learnin g o n th e job . Thu s eve n a s th e Sout h prospered , racia l disparitie s widened.^ ° Muc h o f th e South s ne w technica l an d manageria l wor k force , moreover , wa s importe d fro m th e urba n North . Befor e Worl d Wa r II , th e chie f goa l o f mos t south - er n politician s wa s t o maintai n th e South' s isolatio n an d th e captiv e labo r suppl y o n whic h th e sharecroppin g syste m depended . Afterward , boosteris m becam e thes e lead - ers ' raison d'etre and "the selling of the South" began. Low corporate taxes, low welfar e benefits , an d "look-the-other-wa y environmenta l policies, " couple d wit h fed - erall y finance d highway-buildin g campaigns , attracte d norther n industr y an d a n influ x o f northern-born . Republican-bre d branc h managers , supervisors , an d techni - cians. " Thos e newcomer s settle d wit h thei r southern-bor n counterpart s i n class - an d race-marke d enclave s create d b y th e sam e ostensibl y race-neutra l publi c policie s tha t spatialize d rac e i n th e North . Wit h mushroomin g suburbanizatio n cam e th e atti - tude s an d advantage s tha t woul d undergir d th e South s versio n o f homeowne r poli - tics - th e politic s o f th e lon g backlas h everywhere . Richar d M . Nixon' s "souther n strategy, " whic h attacke d welfare , busing , an d affirmativ e actio n i n orde r t o brin g whit e southerner s int o th e Republica n fold , targete d suc h voters : middle-clas s subur - banites , includin g skille d worker s fro m outsid e th e Sout h an d youn g familie s wh o ha d com e o f ag e afte r th e Brown decisio n an d wer e uncomfortabl e wit h th e openl y racis t rhetori c o f massiv e resistance . Aime d als o a t whit e worker s i n rh e urba n North , tha t strateg y helpe d mak e th e Sout h a chie f stronghol d o f th e Republica n part y as , " Bruc

e ]. Schulman, From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt: Federal Policy. Economic Development, and the Transforma-

tion of the South, 1938-1980 (New York, 1991), 112-73; Samuel Lubell, The Future of American Politics (New
York , 1951)
, 100, 111-12; Karen Kruse Thomas, "Southern Racial Politics and Federal Health Policy in the

Career

s of Three Southern Senators: Allen Ellender of Louisiana, Lister Hill of Alabama, and Claude Pepper of

Florida,

" pape r delivere d at the Organization of American Historians Southern Regional Conference, Atlanta, Ga., Jul y 10, 2004 {in Hall's possession). * " Gavi n Wright , "Economi c Consequence s o f th e Southern Protest Movement," in Neu/ Directions in Civil

Rights Studies, ed. Robinson and Sullivan, 174-78; Brown et al., Whitewashing Race, 72-73- On how mechaniza-

tio n undercu t labo r an d eliminated jobs for blacks, see Korstad, Civil Rights Unionism. 277-81. * ' Gavi n Wright , "The Civil Rights Revolution as Economic Histovy," Journal of Economic History, 59 (June 1999)

, esp. 285. For the argument that much of the South's continuing distinctiveness rests less on its history of

racis m tha n on its devotion to the conservative economic tenets of racial capitalism, see ibid. Civil Rights and the Political Uses of the Past 1245 ove r th e nex t quarte r century , th e part y cas t of f it s moderate s an d se t abou t disman - tlin g th e Ne w Dea l Th e Lon g Civi l Right s Movemen t Ye t th e outcom e wa s no t inevitable . I t woul d tak e man y year s o f asrur e an d aggressiv e organizin g t o brin g today' s conservativ e regim e t o power . I t too k suc h effor t becaus e anothe r forc e als o ros e fro m th e caldro n o f th e Grea t Depressio n an d creste d i n th e 1940s
: a powerfu l socia l movemen t sparke d b y th e alchem y o f laborites , civi l right s activists , progressiv e Ne w Dealers , an d blac k an d whit e radicals , som e o f who m wer e associate d wit h th e Communis t party . Rober t Korsta d call s i t "civi l right s unionism, " Marth a Biond i th e "Blac k Popula r Front" ; bot h term s signa l th e movement' s com - mitmen t t o buildin g coalitions , th e expansivenes s o f it s social democratic vision, and th e importanc e o f it s blac k radica l an d laborit e leadership . A nationa l movemen t wit h a vita l souther n wing , civi l right s unionis m wa s no t jus t a precurso r o f th e mod - er n civi l right s movement . I t wa s it s decisiv e firs t phase.^- * Th e lin k betwee n rac e an d clas s la y a t th e hear t o f th e movement s politica l imagi - nation . Historian s hav e depicte d th e postwa r year s a s th e momen t whe n rac e eclipse d clas s a s th e defmin g issu e o f America n liberalism.^ ^ Bu t amon g civi l right s unionists , *

^ This paragraph draws on James C. Cobb, The Selling of the South: The Southern Crusade for Industrial Devel-

opment. 1936-1980
(Bato n Rouge , 1982)
; Schulman , From Cotton Belt to Sunbelt; Brown , Race, Money, and the

American

Welfare State; Lubell, Future of American Politics, 100, 111-12; Hanchett, Sorting Out the New South

City, 89-182
, 223-56
; Bruc e J . Schulman , The Seventies: The Great Shifi in American Culture, Society, and Politics {Ne w York , 2001)
, 36-37
; Da n T . Carter , The Politics of Rage: George Wallace, the Origins of the New Conservatism, and the Transformation of American Politics {New York, 1995}, 326-27, 399; Lassiter, "Suburban Origins of 'Color-Blind ' Conservatism, " 549 - 82
; an d Jefferso n Cowie , "Nixon' s Clas s Struggle : Romancin g th e Ne w Righ t

Worker

, 1969-1973,
" Labor History. 4 3 (Aug . 2002)
, 257-83
. Fo r a n^or e sympatheti c treatmen t o f Nixon' s souther n policies , se e Dea n J . Kotlowski , Nixon's Civil Rights: Politics. Principle, and Policy (Cambridge, Mass., 200])
. 1-43. ^ ^ Korstad , Civil Rights Unionism; Biondi, To Stand and Fight. 6. In this essay I use the term "civil rights union- ism " t o highligh t th e conjunctio n o f rac e an d clas s interest s i n black - an d Left-le d union s an d progressiv e organiza- tions

. On the Popular Front, see Michael Denning, The Cultural Front: The Laboring of American Culture in the

Twentieth

Century (Ne w York , 1996)
. Importan t earl y studie s focuse d o n civi l right s activis m i n th e lat e 1930
s an d th e 1940s
. See , fo r example , Richar d M . Dalfiume , "Th e 'Forgotte n Years ' o f th e Negr o Revolution, " Journal of

American

History, 55 (June 1968), 90-106; and Harvard Sitkoff, A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of Civil

Rights

as a National Issue (New York, 1978). Still, only in the 1990s did civil rights historians begin to see the 1940
s a s a watershe d comparabl e t o th e 1870
s an d th e 1960s
. See , fo r example , Michae l K . Honey , Southern Labor and Black Civil Rights: Organizing Memphis Workers (Urbana, 1993); Patricia Sullivan, Days of Hope: Race and

Democracy in the New Deal Era (Chapel Hill, 1996); Penny M. Von Eschen, Race against Empire: Black Americans

andAnticobnialism. 1937-1957
[Ithaca, 1997); Barbara Dianne Savage, Broadcasting Freedom: Radio. War, andthe

Polities of Race, J 938-1948 (Chapel Hill, 1999); John Egerton, Speak Now against the Day: The Generation before

the

Civil Rights Movement in the South (New York, 1994); Carol Anderson, Eyes off the Prize: The United Nations

and the

AJrican American .Struggle for Human Rights. 1944 - 1955 (New York, 2003); Risa Lauren Goluboff, "The

Wor k o f Civi l Right s i n th e 1940s
: Th e Departmen t o f Justice , th e NAACP , and African-American Agricultural Labor " (Ph.D . diss. , Princeto n University , 2003)
; an d Glend a Gilmore . "Defyin g Dixie : Africa n American s an d Thei r Allies