With essays by Tony Badger, David L. Chappell, Elizabeth
Jacoway, Richard H. King, Ralph E. Luker, Charles Marsh, Keith D.
Miller, Linda Reed, and Lauren F. Winner
In the 1950s and 1960s the American South was in upheaval.
Brilliant thinkers and writers joined on-the-ground activists to
challenge segregation and the South's long established Jim Crow
society. The men and women who opposed them waged a war of words in
favor of the status quo.
The essays in "The Role of Ideas in the Civil Rights South"
examine the interplay of thought and action in a complex and
turbulent moment in American history. Written by scholars in
history, English, and religious studies, these essays explore ideas
about religion, freedom, race, liberalism, and conservatism.
When people challenged authority, or defended it, what ideas did
they uphold? What were their moral and intellectual standards? What
language did they use, and what sources did they cite? What issues
did they feel needed explaining, what issues did they take for
granted, and what issues did they avoid?
Leading scholars investigate the wide range of conceptions,
interpretations, and responses to the whirlwind of change. Some of
the essays concentrate on intellectuals who were systematic
thinkers who published their work to be studied, analyzed, and
used. Four essays center on the ideas of Martin Luther King, Jr.,
surely the most influential southern intellectual in the 1950s and
1960s. Other essays analyze the thoughts of people, such as civil
rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer and segregationist politician Jim
Johnson, who never saw themselves as intellectuals.
The civil rights movement set the agenda for thought and action
in the 1950s and 1960s. "The Role of Ideas in the Civil Rights
South" begins by examining ideas prominent in the movement. It then
studies the ideas of white moderates in the South, white
conservatives, and African Americans who did not join the movement.
Particular emphases include the relationship between theology and
political life, the national and international contexts of southern
thought, and the variety of southern intellectual interests.
Ted Ownby is a professor of history and southern studies at the
University of Mississippi. His books include "American Dreams in
Mississippi: Consumers, Poverty, and Culture, 1830-1998" (1999) and
"Subduing Satan: Religion, Recreation, and Manhood in the Rural
South, 1865-1920" (1990).
General
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