Description
Book SynopsisShows how the experiences of African American soldiers during World War II and the Korean War influenced many of them to challenge white supremacy in the South when they returned home. Focusing on the motivations of individual black veterans, this book explores the relationship between military service and political activism.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 2010 Ralph J. Bunche Award, American Political Science Association "[T]his is a beautifully crafted piece of scholarship... The analysis is lucid, speaks to multiple theoretical domains, and smartly combines textured qualitative research with rigorous quantitative data... [T]he principal findings of the research are well substantiated and provocative. Fighting for Democracy deserves to be avidly read by all those interested in the nexus of military socialization, political participation, and the struggle for racial equality."--Joseph E. Luders, Perspectives on Politics "Parker convincingly demonstrates that veterans played an essential role in the civil rights movement, challenging a narrative that has focused primarily on the agency of the black church, university students, and traditional civil rights organizations... [H]is conclusions offer powerful insights that historians of the civil rights movement need seriously to consider."--Jennifer D. Keene, Journal of American History "Like most good books, Christopher S. Parker's Fighting for Democracy provides a new perspective on a heavily trafficked field of history."--Anders Walker, Louisiana History
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Preface and Ac knowledgments xi INTRODUCTION 1 Military Ser vice and Insurgency 5 Recasting Military Service and Resistance 9 Theory and Method 12 Broader Contributions 13 Plan of the Book 15 CHAPTER 1. War, Military Ser vice, and the Prospect for Change: A Glance at History 18 The Promise of Military Service in the Early American Republic 20 Diminishing Returns and Increasing Militancy, 1876- 1918 29 Fighting on Two Fronts Twice: World War II and the Korean War 40 CHAPTER 2: Military Service and Resistance: Toward a Theory of Black Republicanism 60 The Citizen- Soldier Ideal 62 The Symbolism of Military Ser vice 67 Military Ser vice as a Symbolic Experience 69 Sketching a Belief System for Black Veterans 73 Black Republicanism Defined 79 CHAPTER 3: Taking the Crooked with the Straight: The Pros and Cons of African American Military Experience during the 1940s and'50s 88 A Description of the Data 90 The Crooked: Negative Aspects of Black Veterans' Military Experiences 92 The Straight: Positive Aspects of Black Veterans' Military Experiences 99 Donning the Uniform 107 CHAPTER 4: When Jim Crow Meets Uncle Sam: The Veteran Returns to Dixie 112 White Domination in the 1950s 114 Framing the Meaning of Military Ser vice and Black Republicanism 116 Black Republicanism and National Identification 118 Black Republicanism and Citizenship 122 Expectations of Racial Progress: Service and Sacrifice 127 A Source of Republican Criticism: Military Ser vice and Entitlement 132 From Criticism to Activism 137 CHAPTER 5: Exploring the Attitudinal Consequences of African American Military Experience 145 Black Veterans' Attitudes toward Southern Traditionalism: Resisting the Status Quo 148 Black Veterans and the Role of the State 157 A Hard Case: Black Veterans' Attitudes toward Segregation 162 CHAPTER 6: Dying to Participate: Political Participation as a Form of Protest 174 Impediments to Black Political Participation in the South 177 Explaining Black Political Participation in the South 179 Political Participation and Risk: Voting versus Political Activism 181 Modeling Voting and Nonvoting Activism 187 Conclusion: Taps for Jim Crow in the Postwar South 196 Principal Findings 198 The Implications of Fighting for Democracy 203 Future Directions 209 APPENDIX A: Study Description, Coding, Question Wording, and Other Estimates from Chapters 5 and 6 210 Appendix B: Content Analysis of the Chicago Defender 217 Appendix C: Interview Methodology and Material 226 Appendix D: Profi les of Selected Black Veteran Activists 231 References 235 Index 255
