Description
Book SynopsisLooking inside the New South, this book shows how the implementation of civil rights law over the years altered racial reality, that in turn altered white perceptions, and thus behaviour and attitudes in a section of the country where segregation had been entrenched. It is useful for those interested in America's conflict over civil liberties.
Trade Review“This book is a very important treatment of one of the greatest accomplishments of the American political and legal system—the elimination of the system of state-imposed apartheid in the South. . . . [It] offers richly grounded observations by the same scholar of the same issues over a quarter century of profound and complex change and provides an important resource for historians and those trying to think about the capacity of law to resolve aspects of the American racial crisis.”—Gary Orfield, from the foreword
“For years, Fred Wirt has been a sane, sensible, deeply insightful analyst of some of our nation’s most complicated and controversial issues—those dealing with race, class, legal compulsion, and cultural change. He takes on all of those issues here in a book as wise as it is illuminating. It shows us to ourselves in a way that we can immediately comprehend but that suggests new possibilities and grander visions. This is simply a wonderful book.”—Jennifer Hochschild, Princeton University
Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables ix
Foreword / Gary Orfield xi
Acknowledgments xv
Part I. The Context for Change 1
1. Setting the Community Scene 4
2. Regional Changes in the South, 1970–1990 16
3. Panola's Pre-1970 Response to Civil Rights 36
Part II. Institutional and Individual Changes in Panola 53
4. Local Politics and Black Empowerment 56
5. South Panola and Desegregation 84
6. Two Responses to Desegregation in North Panola 118
7. The Results for Students in Different Systems 142
8. The Local Economy and Political Regimes 157
Part III. Internal and External Concepts of Race and Law 193
9. Local Perspectives on Race and Law 194
10. The Theoretical Context of Race and Law 216
Appendices
A. Student Sense-of-Self Questionnaire 243
B. Regression Tables of Student Reponses 251
Notes 259
Index 283
