Fighting for Democracy: Black Veterans and the Struggle Against White Supremacy in the Postwar South (Princeton Studies in American Politics: Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives)

289 Pages·2009·1.65 MB·English

by  Christopher S. Parker

Fighting for Democracy
PRINCETON STUDIES IN AMERICAN POLITICS:
Historical, International, and Comparative Perspectives
Series Editors
Ira Katznelson, Martin Shefter, and Theda Skocpol
A list of titles in this series appears at the back of the book
Fighting for Democracy
black veterans and the struggle
against white supremacy
in the postwar south
Christopher S. Parker
princeton university press
princeton and oxford
Copyright © 2009 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Parker, Christopher S., 1963–
Fighting for democracy : Black veterans and the struggle against white supremacy in the
postwar South / Christopher S. Parker.
p. cm. — (Princeton studies in American politics : historical, international, and
comparative perspectives)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978- 0- 691- 14003- 2 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-691-14004-9 (pbk. :
alk. paper) 1. Civil rights movements—Southern States—History—20th century.
2. African Americans—Civil rights—Southern States—History—20th century.
3. African American veterans—Political activity—Southern States —History—20th
century. 4. Southern States—Race relations—History—20th century. I. Title.
E185.61.P25 2009
323.1196073—dc22 2009002597
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Sabon
Printed on acid-f ree paper. ∞
press.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FOR CARMEN
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Preface and Ac know ledg ments xi
Introduction 1
Military Ser vice and Insurgency 5
Recasting Military Ser vice and Re sis tance 9
Theory and Method 12
Broader Contributions 13
Plan of the Book 15
1. War, Military Ser vice, and the Prospect for Change:
A Glance at History 18
The Promise of Military Ser vice in the Early American
Republic 20
Diminishing Returns and Increasing Militancy,
1876– 1918 29
Fighting on Two Fronts Twice: World War II
and the Korean War 40
2. Military Ser vice and Re sis tance: Toward a Theory
of Black Republicanism 60
The Citizen- Soldier Ideal 62
The Symbolism of Military Ser vice 67
Military Ser vice as a Symbolic Experience 69
Sketching a Belief System for Black Veterans 73
Black Republicanism Defi ned 79
3. Taking the Crooked with the Straight: The Pros and
Cons of African American Military Experience during the
1940s and ’50s 88
A Description of the Data 90
The Crooked: Negative Aspects of Black Veterans’
Military Experiences 92
The Straight: Positive Aspects of Black Veterans’
Military Experiences 99
Donning the Uniform 107
viii (cid:129) Contents
4. When Jim Crow Meets Uncle Sam: The Veteran Returns
to Dixie 112
White Domination in the 1950s 114
Framing the Meaning of Military Ser vice and Black
Republicanism 116
Black Republicanism and National Identifi cation 118
Black Republicanism and Citizenship 122
Expectations of Racial Progress: Ser vice and Sacrifi ce 127
A Source of Republican Criticism: Military Ser vice
and Entitlement 132
From Criticism to Activism 137
5. Exploring the Attitudinal Consequences
of African American Military Experience 145
Black Veterans’ Attitudes toward Southern Traditionalism:
Resisting the Status Quo 148
Black Veterans and the Role of the State 157
A Hard Case: Black Veterans’ Attitudes
toward Segregation 162
6. Dying to Participate: Po liti cal Participation
as a Form of Protest 174
Impediments to Black Po liti cal Participation in the South 177
Explaining Black Po liti cal Participation in the South 179
Po liti cal Participation and Risk: Voting versus
Po liti cal Activism 181
Modeling Voting and Nonvoting Activism 187
Conclusion: Taps for Jim Crow in the Postwar South 196
Principal Findings 198
The Implications of Fighting for Democracy 203
Future Directions 209
Appendix A: Study Description, Coding, Question Wording,
and Other Estimates from Chapters 5 and 6 210
Appendix B: Content Analysis of the Chicago Defender 217
Appendix C: Interview Methodology and Material 226
Appendix D: Profi les of Selected Black Veteran Activists 231
References 235
Index 255