Emmett Till and a Southern Reformation
The long buried remains of Emmett Till were exhumed a few days ago in the hopes of resolving one of America's most brutal murders. Till's murder wasn't the most brutal murder of a black in America (indeed people such as Mary Turner and thousands of others were lynched in similiar fashion) but thanks to Till's mother, it was one of the most public. Though the men who beat, shot, and killed Till for supposedly whistling at a white woman confessed to the butcher, an all white jury down in Mississippi acquitted them. The push for a review of the case highlights a quiet, grassroots movement in the South by both whites and blacks to not only learn but to redeem America's most troubled region.
There has been progress made on countless fronts and I'm shocked to say that blacks in the South have found a strong ally among Southern Republican leaders in their quest. Down South in Alabama, decades of activism led to the reopening of the Birmingham church bombings (and an eventual conviction), activism in the Georgia legislature not only brought down the Confederate flag, but also led to the removal of racist language from the Georgia Constitution.
In Alabama, the Republican governor risked his political life (and he will probably lose for it) to reform the racist and wealth friendly Alabama constitution. In South Carolina, the Republican Governor Mark Sanford has apologized for Orangeburg murders where three black college students were killed (and 27 others wounded) by white cops in the 1960's. There has been a big push in the Senate for America to officially apologize for lynching from Southern senators (Landreiu and Allen).
These are but small examples of moderate white and black attempts to close ugly chapters of American history. However, these steps can only be the first steps in a long struggle to change the South. And yes, these issues are small in comparison to the larger economic and structural problems and divisions of the South.
People tend to believe that once the Civil War was over, it was over. In fact, following the American Civil war, the South went through a period of a secondary rebellion and took out their anger at their defeat on blacks. They built a society from the top down that was structurally racist. Thus, their state constitutions, their state agencies, their police, their people, and their regions untouched by technology, still reflect their racist ways.
Even in the most innocent things such as street names remants of this racist, classist society still exist (in Atlanta, you'll be driving down one street then all of a sudden that street changes names often because one side of town was black and the other was white and they each had different names for the street on "their" side of town). Indeed out in parts of west Georgia, older blacks STILL go through the backdoor and their are STILL colored signs and white signs. And America was seemingly shocked to learn that many counties in Georgia still have segreated proms and one school out in Butler, GA had its first integrated prom (though to me the larger problem is that they elect separate class presidents).
Though I think BIG issues such as fighting against the Confederate flag only drive us apart, its important for moderate Southern whites and blacks to point out the small structural racism then continue pushing the door for larger educational and economic reforms.
I think fighting for changes to state Constitutions should be the next step. Most Southern states adopted new Constitutions in the 1890's-1910's to cap their racist victory over Northerners and blacks. These constitutions have built in traps to deprive rights to blacks and grant power to the agricultural, wealthy elites of that era.
Black leaders in the South recognize that the Republican party is the new party in power and many of these blacks should work with the conservative party to do away with the racist state constitutions of places such as Alabama, Mississippi, and, the Ben Pitchfork Tillman state constitution of South Carolina. In reforming these Constitutions, we not only remove racist stains, we push for far larger economic reforms in Southern states. Many of these states are hindered by their racist Constitutions and this is sort of a "backdoor" way to reform them.
There has been progress made on countless fronts and I'm shocked to say that blacks in the South have found a strong ally among Southern Republican leaders in their quest. Down South in Alabama, decades of activism led to the reopening of the Birmingham church bombings (and an eventual conviction), activism in the Georgia legislature not only brought down the Confederate flag, but also led to the removal of racist language from the Georgia Constitution.
In Alabama, the Republican governor risked his political life (and he will probably lose for it) to reform the racist and wealth friendly Alabama constitution. In South Carolina, the Republican Governor Mark Sanford has apologized for Orangeburg murders where three black college students were killed (and 27 others wounded) by white cops in the 1960's. There has been a big push in the Senate for America to officially apologize for lynching from Southern senators (Landreiu and Allen).
These are but small examples of moderate white and black attempts to close ugly chapters of American history. However, these steps can only be the first steps in a long struggle to change the South. And yes, these issues are small in comparison to the larger economic and structural problems and divisions of the South.
People tend to believe that once the Civil War was over, it was over. In fact, following the American Civil war, the South went through a period of a secondary rebellion and took out their anger at their defeat on blacks. They built a society from the top down that was structurally racist. Thus, their state constitutions, their state agencies, their police, their people, and their regions untouched by technology, still reflect their racist ways.
Even in the most innocent things such as street names remants of this racist, classist society still exist (in Atlanta, you'll be driving down one street then all of a sudden that street changes names often because one side of town was black and the other was white and they each had different names for the street on "their" side of town). Indeed out in parts of west Georgia, older blacks STILL go through the backdoor and their are STILL colored signs and white signs. And America was seemingly shocked to learn that many counties in Georgia still have segreated proms and one school out in Butler, GA had its first integrated prom (though to me the larger problem is that they elect separate class presidents).
Though I think BIG issues such as fighting against the Confederate flag only drive us apart, its important for moderate Southern whites and blacks to point out the small structural racism then continue pushing the door for larger educational and economic reforms.
I think fighting for changes to state Constitutions should be the next step. Most Southern states adopted new Constitutions in the 1890's-1910's to cap their racist victory over Northerners and blacks. These constitutions have built in traps to deprive rights to blacks and grant power to the agricultural, wealthy elites of that era.
Black leaders in the South recognize that the Republican party is the new party in power and many of these blacks should work with the conservative party to do away with the racist state constitutions of places such as Alabama, Mississippi, and, the Ben Pitchfork Tillman state constitution of South Carolina. In reforming these Constitutions, we not only remove racist stains, we push for far larger economic reforms in Southern states. Many of these states are hindered by their racist Constitutions and this is sort of a "backdoor" way to reform them.
posted by Chris at 5:22 PM
2 Comments:
FYI, I've included this post in History Carnival #10.
Thanks for writing about history!
I wonder if the Deep South still merits the label 'America's most troubled region.' For my money, the Rust Belt is a strong competitor for that title ...
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