Description
Book SynopsisHow did the vastly outnumbered black Southerners in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s succeed against a white power structure that seemed uniformly hostile? Contrary to widespread belief, argues David Chappell, a crucial role was played by "inside agitators"--white southerners sympathetic to the cause of desegregation.
Trade ReviewDavid Chappell's new study provides fresh insight into the Civil Rights movement by shifting the analytical focus from the strivings of African-Americans to the crucial and little-understood role of white Southerners. Chappell explodes the convenient myth of the monolithic and homogeneous white South to reveal a society deeply divided over segregation. -- Kari Frederickson Southern Historian This well-written and fascinating account shows how important white moderates were to the success of the civil rights movement and how black leaders consciously made winning them over to their cause an integral part of their strategy. -- John E. Miller Historian Chappell is at his best in describing the dynamics which took place in various southern communities. He also examines the struggles between similar forces on the national scene, as carried on by various southern players within the Democratic Party, the executive office, and the Justice Department. -- Michael Honey Peace and Change Chappell's is a major piece of historical writing that will be of interest to general readers as well as to more specialized students of the Civil Rights movement in the American South. -- Neil Thorburn History Chappell's argument is insightful and worth serious attention. It makes particularly fascinating reading from the perspective of the 1990s. -- David R. Colburn Reviews in American History In this engaging work on Southern whites who sympathized with the Civil Rights Movement, Chappell argues that moderate whites, though lacking a moral commitment to civil rights, played a key role in the movement's success at both the local and national levels. Virginia Quarterly Review Chappell is to be commended for struggling with hard questions about historical causation. -- Robert J. Norrell Journal of American History "With keen insight, Chappell argues that not only were white southerners far from solid in their commitment to segregation during the civil rights era, but that the movement actively exploited and widened their divisions to achieve both local victories and federal intervention. -- Mark Newman, Journal of American Studies
Table of ContentsForeword, by Clayborne Carson
Preface
Introduction
Part I. The Strange Career of Racial Dissent in the South
Chapter 1. The "Silent South": The Founding Fathers of Sour=thern White Dissent
Chapter 2. From Silence to Futility: Southern White Dissent Gets Organized
Part II. The Strategy of Nonviolence and the Role of White Southerners in the Movement
Chapter 3. The Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-1556
Chapter 4. Tallahassee, 1956-1957
Chapter 5. Little Rock, 1957-1959
Chapter 6. Albany, Georgia, 1961-1962
Part III. The Art of the Possible: The White Southerner in the National State
Chapter 7. The Late 1950s: Saving the Party from Civil RIghts
Chapter 8. Lyndon Johnson Takes Center Stage-and Then an Intermission
Chapter 9. Policy in High Gear: From the Justice Department to the Acts of 1964 and 1965
Epilogue: Interpreting the Movement
Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliographical Essay
Index
