Conclusions

Seventeen counties where few or no Negroes vote though they are inthe majority formed the basis of this study. Two questions were posed:why do so many Negroes refrain from exercising one of the most basicof all rights, and what is the status of other civil rights in communitieswhere white minorities rule and Negro majorities are politically silent.Since the vote is commonly said to be the key that may unlock the doorto other civil rights, four counties with Negro majorities where Negroesregister and vote in substantial numbers were chosen for comparison.Why, it was asked, do Negroes in these counties vote, and what effect,if any, has their voting had on civil rights?

Obviously these are crucial questions. This study does not presume tobe conclusive as to all questions raised. Some things cannot be measured. Others can be measured but not explained. In the rural South,as elsewhere, not everyone or everything is culturally, politically, or economically determined. Nonetheless, people living under similar conditions in areas with similar histories do seem to conform to communitypatterns of behavior more often than not. Some firm observations andconclusions can be drawn.

The economic setting

Negroes are leaving the rural South in increasing numbers for urbancenters South and North. Part of this migration is from southern ruralcounties like those studied here. It appears to reflect both the severityof life and changes in the agricultural economy. In 14 of the 17 nonvoting counties, population has declined in the past decade; in another it hasonly slightly increased. Fifteen have had, and 13 still have, one-cropcotton economies. The number of farm operators in all 15 has sharplydeclined in the past 5 years as has the number of farm units. Farmconsolidation apparently is increasing, as in other parts of the country.The introduction of farm machinery has reduced the need for farmlaborers.

In contrast, population rose in 2 nonvoting, and 3 voting, counties2014all 5 of which had economies which varied significantly from the 15. Inthese five whatever farming is done is diverse; in four of them, agriculture is of declining importance. None of the five has, or recently had,a one-crop cotton economy. Tenant farmers are in the minority. Light

industry and manufacturing provide varied opportunities for employment. In short the economies of these counties seem to have greatervitality.

The right to vote

As was noted in chapter 3, discrimination inhibits Negro votingin 10 of the nonvoting counties. Some is overt2014such as requiring avoucher to verify the identity of an applicant; some is more subtle2014such as locating a registration office in a white school. In severalcounties Negro teachers are warned to refrain from taking too active aninterest in political matters upon pain of losing their jobs. An even morewidespread inhibiting factor is fear of physical or economic reprisal. Behind all the devices that prevent Negroes from registering is the nature ofthe power structure that permits and encourages their use. Almost without exception it openly ignores the Negro as a political entity and purposely encourages him to keep his passive place.

Perhaps the crucial conclusion to be drawn from this study is thatthe facts of economic life have a direct and significant bearing on civilrights generally, and the right to vote in particular. It seems no mereaccident that in three of the four counties where Negroes are registeredand vote in significant numbers, the economies are active and diverse,and Negroes for the most part are independent of local white economiccontrol. (In these three counties there were in 1959 only 18 tenantfarmers or sharecroppers. Interestingly, more whites than Negroeswere in this category.)

Apparently in reflection of the vigor of the economies in these counties,their populations have markedly increased. An influx of new familiesmay mean that different attitudes find expression in the communitypower structure; where the population declines, on the other hand,traditional attitudes may be expected to perpetuate themselves. Thisdoes not mean that in every county with a rising population and arelatively viable economy, Negroes will be found to vote in significantnumbers. Two of the 17 nonvoting counties with population rises and"healthy" economies have comparatively few Negroes registered. (Both,however, recorded some registration increases in the past 2 years.)

Where Negroes do not vote, they are for the most part subservient tocrop, land, and landlord. Agriculture dominates the economies of 15 ofthe 17 nonvoting counties and the domination is of a special kind. Twothirds of the 15,257 Negroes who till the soil in the 15 are tenants orcroppers; some of the remainder are sharecroppers. Moreover theagricultural changes that are taking place have reduced the need forNegro tenants and farm labor. Hence the possibility of economic reprisal, offered most frequently as a reason why Negroes do not registerin significant numbers, becomes more real. It is easier to retaliate

against someone for whom there is declining need, and more difficult toprove that the reprisal was in fact racially motivated.

Fayette and Haywood Counties, Tenn., provide dramatic examplesof how justified the fear is, and how disastrous its realization can be.Negro tenant farmers and sharecroppers who succeeded in registeringwere evicted from their farms and subjected to other forms of reprisal,including the cutting off of supplies, refusal of credit, and cancellation ofinsurance policies. These events underscore the dwindling importanceof the tenant farmer in a one-crop economy, his economic dependence,and the power of whites to retaliate against Negroes who attempt toexercise their political rights.

The fear of reprisal, then, is sometimes justified. What happened toNegroes in Fayette and Haywood could...