Jeff Woods, Black Struggle Red Scare, concentrates on the American South during the 1950s-1960s. This time period marks some of the most trying times for blacks in the civil rights history. The book speaks about how ‘southern nationalist’ were attempting to protect the South from communism, and the merging of communist and civil rights movements. Southern nationalist feared that communism and the emerging of free African Americans will endanger the white supremacy, threaten their southern democracy, and endanger the world as we know it. This was the beginning of the second red scare which took place roughly between the years 1945-1960. The argument that Woods makes is not rather southern nationalist had a valid fear of communism, but rather
…show more content…
The Southern Nationalist took a countless number of measurements prevent the spread of communism. In the beginning of the book Woods mentioned how the fear of black conspiracies in the South started as early as the 16th century. Following WWII many black community leaders, some of them veterans, began to fight for school desegregation and voter registration. The NAACP, one of the southern nationalist most feared group, began to battle segregation in local courts, and took the movements to the streets of southern towns and cities. Blacks effectively began to destroy anti-communist and their efforts. Following the judgment in the Supreme Court’s case Brown vs. Ferguson in 1954, white southerners began to fear the worse, and the red scare reached its strong point. “This resulted in anti-communist forming groups of their own such as the HUAC (House Committee on Un-American Activities) and the FBI as models, southern nationalists in every state in the region converted and constructed law enforcement and legislative agencies to pursue subversives in the civil rights movements”. (Woods, 2004). Poll taxes and literacy tests were placed in effect to attempt to prevent blacks from voting, and Jim Crow laws were placed in effect to further restrict blacks. Anti-Communist began to red bait the NAACP, and groups similar to it. What southern whites didn’t realize during that time was that these very attempts at …show more content…
How can they defend themselves against the dictatorship of the federal government, while also attempting to enforce a system of racial control over African Americans? The attempt of southern nationalist to save the south eventually failed. But according to Woods the south had ‘come close than ever to creating southern red scare that would capture Middle America” (Woods, 2004). There is no denying that the anticommunist and southern nationalist in the south were successful at first in their attempts to limit the advancement of African American rights in America, but there attempt couldn’t hold to be solid. As time went on the views of many people in the south began to change and the fight didn’t hold weight anymore. I believe than if the Anti-communist/ southern nationalist would not have tried to link the civil rights movement with communism the movement would have been more
The Southern Nationalist took a countless number of measurements prevent the spread of communism. In the beginning of the book Woods mentioned how the fear of black conspiracies in the South started as early as the 16th century. Following WWII many black community leaders, some of them veterans, began to fight for school desegregation and voter registration. The NAACP, one of the southern nationalist most feared group, began to battle segregation in local courts, and took the movements to the streets of southern towns and cities. Blacks effectively began to destroy anti-communist and their efforts. Following the judgment in the Supreme Court’s case Brown vs. Ferguson in 1954, white southerners began to fear the worse, and the red scare reached its strong point. “This resulted in anti-communist forming groups of their own such as the HUAC (House Committee on Un-American Activities) and the FBI as models, southern nationalists in every state in the region converted and constructed law enforcement and legislative agencies to pursue subversives in the civil rights movements”. (Woods, 2004). Poll taxes and literacy tests were placed in effect to attempt to prevent blacks from voting, and Jim Crow laws were placed in effect to further restrict blacks. Anti-Communist began to red bait the NAACP, and groups similar to it. What southern whites didn’t realize during that time was that these very attempts at …show more content…
How can they defend themselves against the dictatorship of the federal government, while also attempting to enforce a system of racial control over African Americans? The attempt of southern nationalist to save the south eventually failed. But according to Woods the south had ‘come close than ever to creating southern red scare that would capture Middle America” (Woods, 2004). There is no denying that the anticommunist and southern nationalist in the south were successful at first in their attempts to limit the advancement of African American rights in America, but there attempt couldn’t hold to be solid. As time went on the views of many people in the south began to change and the fight didn’t hold weight anymore. I believe than if the Anti-communist/ southern nationalist would not have tried to link the civil rights movement with communism the movement would have been more