A lot has changed in the
Deep South since the days when Jim Crow segregation was the law of the land,
and many improvements have been ushered in. It is hardly fair to suggest that
the South is the same place that it was way back when.
Just a few days ago, on
July 2, was the anniversary of a truly monumental piece of legislation that
changed American history – perhaps on more levels than most people realize.
This was the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which finally put an end to legal
discrimination based on race, color, religion, nationality, or sex. It seems
amazing that in the "land of the free", we would need such
legislation. After all, the United States
is not, and was not, South Africa ,
and did not have as rigid a form of legal segregation as existed under
apartheid in South Africa
That said, legal
discrimination did exist, and it is a shame. When you look at it historically,
it was what followed up slavery. It was the best that racist whites could do to
impose their superiority in a land where that was legally prevented. Officially,
the South had separate everything for the different races, yet it remained
"Separate, but equal". Realistically, everyone understood that the
reality was something different entirely. There was no such thing as equality
in the South back then. Those who designed the racist laws were all white, with
no exceptions, and they did not make such a point of segregating without a
clear message, to both blacks and whites, regarding the status of each, legally
and realistically. It was a system put in place to replace slavery, in essence.
And that system, which replaced slavery, was only itself abolished in 1964. Ten
years before I was born. Hardly ancient history.
We all know the struggle
involved with ending the official segregation of the South, of course. We have
all seen the images. Peaceful protestors being hosed down, dogs nipping at
their heels. Police harassment, trying to prevent peaceful marchers.
Demonstrations at segregated lunch counters, bus boycotts. Counter protestors
angrily congregating at schools, trying to intimidate the children that found
themselves mixed in the battle. The most extreme chapters would have been the
bombings, especially of black churches, and of course, the assassinations, as
well. Some of them are very well known, and movies have been made. These were
ugly incidents, of course. America
Or is it?
Sometimes, it just seems
that, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Although the
practice of legalized slavery may have been officially outlawed following the
Civil War, southern states did their best to institute something that resembled
it, as closely as possible. Likewise, although the legal structure of segregation
may have been outlawed in 1964, the prejudices remained long after the fact,
and a lot of it still remains, even nearly fifty years later.
I have heard the much
publicized and apparently verified stories of segregated proms and such in some
parts of the South (see some of the related links below). There are still
racists that live in the South, and plenty of them (in the North, too, though).
That is not to say that all, or even most, southerners are racist. Just that
they still have a strong presence there. Not verifiable in terms of articles,
but believable nonetheless, were stories I was told about de facto segregation
similar to the bygone days of Jim Crow still actually exist in some very rural
backwater communities of the South. The South was generally resentful of the
Civil Rights Act, and President Johnson, himself a Southerner from a segregated
state, knew this all too well – even predicting that he had cost his Democratic
Party elections in the long term. How right he was, too! The Solid South had
previously been solidly Democratic, but has now switched. It has become the
Solid South, only throwing it's support for Republicans, these days. Obama
managed to flip a couple of Solid South states in 2008, to be sure. Virginia , North Carolina ,
and Florida
The South has become a
hotbed of Republican sympathizers, where it used to lean almost exclusively
pro-Democratic. It is perhaps the main hotbed of resistance currently against
Obamacare, and is also a hotbed of religious activism. Many prominent
politicians and religious activists from southern states are the most outspoken
on issues concerning "family values", and many continue to support
things like the war in Iraq
Now, most recently, there
are stories coming out that, on many levels, indicate that racial prejudices
leading to de facto practices of segregation still not only exist, but are
still largely enforced, although now more socially than officially or legally. Last
month, a feature story by the New York Times reported about the practice of segregated
funerals in the South, leading to many related reports.
Also, a new story has
come out about a Christian conference in a town in Alabama county of Lamar United States , and especially here in the heart
of the Deep South . The entire conference will
evidently have prominent displays of traditional white supremacist symbols and
such. The organization holding the conference is the Christian Identity
Ministries, and they are firm and unapologetic believers in white supremacy.
Their website clearly
states: "Yes, we believe that the Europeans and their descendants are the
chosen people of God." It goes on to say that this is pretty much fact due
to "overwhelming proof in support of this belief", like it or not.
Now, I am not suggesting
that this town is the American version of Orania, which is a town in South Africa
To their credit, the
mayor and many of the residents have been adamant that such sentiments to do
not represent them, or their community as whole. The fliers were, in fact, put
up overnight, and against the wishes of many residents and local businesses. Yet,
it serves as a reminder that, although segregation was illegalized as an
official practice in 1964, it nonetheless has not entirely gone away, either.
Reminders that the bygone era still exists and persists in some forms, like
this episode, and perhaps has not yet passed and been relegated to just the
history books just yet.
Links to Article About
the "Whites-Only Christian Conference":
Links Relating to
Segregated Proms:
Links related to Segregated Funerals:
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/06/24/us/24embalmer-slideshow.html
(related to above article, but offers slides for visual effect)
Link to An Article Researching if the
South is Re-Segregating, in Effect:
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