We're beginning to consider the ways in which the mindset of white southerners come full circle in the middle of the twentieth century. W.J. Cash produced one of the most debated works of its genre in The Mind of the South. Luckily, you get to read Cobb's distillation of it.
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In Radio Free Dixie, Tyson writes, "During the decades after World War II, black Southerners found a strange, unpredictable, but potent ally in the anti-communist fevers that wracked America." However, anti-communist sentiments often fueled many white Southerners' justifications against the work of the civil rights movement, arguing that it was rooted in Communism. Discuss the nature of the conflicting role that anti-communism played in being both an ally and enemy of the civil rights movement. How did the world political climate at that time affect the efforts of African Americans?
ReplyDeleteThis is my question for Radio Free Dixie...
ReplyDeleteIn 1943 Randolph declared that “the problem of the Negro in the United States is no longer a purely domestic question but has world significance.” With the Axis powers using propaganda that exposed the problems of Western white supremacy, the United States was a nation fighting for democratic ideals but not living by them. The irony of the United States fighting totalitarianism while also having second class citizens seemed to serve as a spark for African-American activists. What were some of the comparisons used between the Axis powers and social inequality in America? Why didn’t these comparisons hit closer to home for many white Americans?
In Tyson’s first chapter of “Radio Free Dixie,” he notes a contrasting view of what the Monroe Town Hall signified to its residents. To the white population, it stood as a proud historical monument and landmark. However, for the black population, it symbolized violence and corruption within the government (Tyson, 11). What other aspects of that small town life presented conflicting meanings depending on perspective? Can it be argued that small town life in general was seen as heaven for some and hell for others?
ReplyDeleteIn the second chapter of Radio Free Dixie, Tyson claims that African-American veterans drew a distinct parallel between the fascism of WWII and the Jim Crow laws in the South. Furthermore, he writes that Captain Grant Reynolds claimed African-American soldiers returned "from the far-flung battlefields" and expected "a new definition of the American ideals of liberty, justice and equality." Do you think that Tyson is sound when he suggests African-American's gained a new confidence because of their military experience, or is he merely assuming the same ends would not have procured? In short, if Hitler had never invaded Poland, would we be reading about the incidents of Robert F. Williams and others?
ReplyDeleteRobert Williams was better off than most blacks and some whites in Monroe county growing up. What instances in Roberts life influenced him to become such a prominent civil rights leader and which of these experiences can be linked to past readings?
ReplyDeleteLast class we talked about the conflicting/schizophrenic themes that are embedded in many southern writers’ works (Faulkner, Wolfe). Are those conflicting themes found in Radio Free Dixie? If so where?
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ReplyDeleteIn Cobb's chapter "The Mind of the South," he breaks down W.J. Cash's book of the same title. At one point he says that Cash was one of many who "equated northernization with conformity to 'the modern world.'" How did people in the New South deal with the conflict of trying to prove themselves to the North by industrializing, while also trying to maintain a strict Southern identity completely seperate from the North?
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