Resistance Movements and Racial Desegregation
| Author | Harold C. Fleming |
| Published date | 01 March 1956 |
| Date | 01 March 1956 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625630400108 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
44
Resistance
Movements
and
Racial
Desegregation
SINCE
the
era
of
Reconstruction,
every
period
of
crisis
in
the
rela-
tions
of
the
South
and
the
nation
has
given
rise
to
resistance
movements
below
the
Potomac.
The
archetypal
pattern
was
set
by
the
original
Ku
Klux
Klan.
Political
developments
around
the
turn
of
the
century
wove
the
ethos
of
white
supremacy
into
the
social,
economic,
and
political
fabric
of
southern
life.
Dur-
ing
the
past
half
century
that
fabric
has
been
so
stretched,
patched,
and
re-
tailored*
that
in
many
respects
it
is
hardly
recognizable.
But
the
tough
strands
of
the
Lost
Cause
have
managed
to
hold
together,
providing
today
vir-
tually
the
last
reminder
of
a
once-united
white
South.
Since
the
Supreme
~Court’s
decision
of
May
17,
1954,
at
least
twenty
pro-
segregation
groups
have
appeared
on
the
southern
scene.’
Among
these
or-
ganizations
there
are
wide
variations
in
ideology
and
effectiveness,
but
they
have
in
common
the
aim
of
mobilizing
resentment
against
&dquo;outside
interfer-
ence&dquo;
in
the
racial
affairs
of
the
region.
And
a
substantial
number
of
them
are
loosely
federated
under
the
spiritual
au-
thority
of
the
White
Citizens’
Councils.
Ku
KLUX
KLAN
It
is
a
measure
of
southern
progress
that
the
mummery
and
frontier
meth-
ods
of
the
old
Ku
Klux Klan
are
no
longer
respectable.
There
is,
to
be
sure,
a
newly
chartered
organization
which
seeks
to
trade
on
the
name.
But
it
is
little
more
than
a
pallid
ghost
of
its
adopted
ancestor.
Indeed,
since
the
de-
mise
of
the
powerful
Klan
of
the
1920’s,
successive
incarnations
have
declined
steadily
in
strength
and
in
influence.
The
revival
of
the
hooded
order
after
World
War
II
lasted
only
a
few
em-
battled
years.
Then
it
found
itself
de-
nounced
from
the
pulpit
and
the
plat-
form,
legislated
against’ in
state
capitols,
and
prosecuted
by
state
and
federal
law
enforcement
agencies.
Its
bankruptcy
was
complete
when
it
appeared
on
the
United
States
Attorney
General’s
list
of
subversive
organizations.
The
current
Klan’s
attempts
to
ex-
ploit
reaction
to
the
Supreme
Court’s
ruling
have
hardly
been
noteworthy
so
far.
The
self-styled
Imperial
Wizard
is
an
Atlanta
paint
sprayer
named
E.
L.
Edwards.
Edwards
has
made
speeches
and
distributed
literature
in
parts
of
Georgia,
South
Carolina,
and
Texas.
Aside
from
these
efforts
to
recruit
dues-
paying
members,
the
Klan
has
shown
1
U.
S.
Klan,
Knights
of
the
Ku
Klux
Klan,
National
Association
for
the
Advancement
of
White
People,
Association
of
Citizens’
Coun-
cils
of
Mississippi
(also
White
Citizens’
Coun-
cils
of
Alabama,
Arkansas,
South
Carolina,
and
Texas),
Constitution
Party
of
Alabama,
Amer-
ican
States
Rights
Association
of
Birmingham,
White
America,
Inc.,
of
Arkansas,
Christian
Civic
League
of
Georgia,
States
Rights
Coun-
cil
of
Georgia,
Knights
of
the
White
Christians
of
Louisiana,
Society
for
Preservation
of
State
G
vernment
and
Racial
Integrity
of
Louisiana,
Southern
Gentlemen
of
Louisiana,
Maryland
Petition
Committee,
Baltimore
Association
for
States
Rights,
North
Carolina
Patriots,
South
Carolina
Committee
of
52,
States
Rights
League
of
South
Carolina,
Tennessee
Federa-
tion
for
Constitutional
Government,
Tennessee
Society
for
the
Maintenance
of
Segregation,
Defenders
of
State
Sovereignty
of
Virginia,
Virginia
League.
This
list is
based
on
reports
in
Southern
School
News
and
files
of
the
Southern
Regional
Council.
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