Glenn Feldman

SOFT OPPOSITION : ELITE ACQUIESCENCE AND KLAN-SPONSORED TERRORISM IN ALABAMA, 1946–1950

The traditional division of the Klan phenomenon into three or four separate outbreaks (Reconstruction, 1920s, post-1954, and post-1979) is a useful organizing construct for scholars, but is deceptively simple and not necessarily reflective of reality. Alabamas KKK is examined immediately following World War II. During this alleged period of dormancy there is, instead, a thriving Klan presence in perhaps the most racist of the deep South states. Postwar Alabama was especially tense as black voting registration aspirations and the growing appeal of biracial economic liberalism challenged the status quo. Klan resurgence was part of a determined white supremacist reaction. The concept of soft opposition is also coined and introduced to describe the efforts of elites to combat the Klan. While waging a vigorous opposition, elites were not so concerned with Klan depredations as abominations in and of themselves; rather, they were worried about the threat of federal intervention into southern race relations in response to violence. They opposed Klan excesses to perpetuate traditional elite, white control over southern blacks. Such opposition, while genuine, was less than effective, altruistic, or hard opposition ; the kind needed to eliminate the Klan as an accepted part of southern society, which evolved only after 1979.

Southern Disillusionment with the Democratic Party: Cultural Conformity and “the Great Melding” of Racial and Economic Conservatism in Alabama during World War II

This essay explores growing disillusionment with the national Democratic Party in the southern United States, disillusionment that led to third-party movements such as the Dixiecrats and George Wallacism, and eventually southern allegiance to the modern Republican Party. The essay focusses on Alabama during the first half of the 1940s, where a “Great Melding” between economic conservatism and racial conservatism came to maturity. The melding resulted in a cross-class and pan-white alliance in a state that had experienced periodic plain-white challenges to business and planter elite dominance. It also resulted in the use by economic conservatives of white supremacy and allied conservative norms on gender, class, religion, and militaristic hyper-patriotism to suppress future working-class insurgency, and set the stage for a more formal southern disassociation from the Democratic Party and eventual conversion to Republicanism.

Fighting the Devil in Dixie: How Civil Rights Activists Took on the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama (review)

Wayne Greenhaw is one of the finest journalists Alabama has ever produced. And that’s saying something given that this state has produced a number of outstanding ones. In Fighting the Devil in Dixie, Greenhaw’s twenty-second book, the author succeeds in providing a riveting, insider’s account of how a group of brave activists—white and black—faced down their fears to work successfully for civil rights, against Klan abuses, and redeem a state considered lost by many. Greenhaw brings his wealth of experience as a journalist who actually covered the critical events of the classic civil rights era in real time. For close to two decades Greenhaw worked as a reporter for the (Montgomery) Alabama Journal and the Montgomery Advertiser, and as a stringer for the New York Times. He covered politics and race in Alabama first-hand, and this book profits handsomely from his personal interviews with nearly all the major actors of the era: governors, Klansmen, civil rights activists, attorneys, and many others. Greenhaw’s book takes us behind the scenes—to dusty roads, nocturnal meetings, and back rooms where smiling sheriffs politely suggest that he stop asking questions about police brutality toward African Americans—and much more. Greenhaw’s first-hand knowledge, exquisite reporter’s instincts, and personal experience give this book a special authenticity lacking in some other accounts of the era. Of particular interest is Greenhaw’s close-up account of some of the most courageous actors and activists who helped break the back of the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama and push the state up the road closer to the goal of racial justice and equality for all people. Bill Baxley, the best governor Alabama never had, is rightfully given his due as a particularly courageous and visionary individual. The state’s youngest attorney

From desegregation to diversity management in Alabama public universities: a narrative review

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that history has much to teach leaders in understanding resistance to affirmative action and how a greater commitment to diversity can be fostered.Design/methodology/approach – This narrative review provides a timeline of a case for resolution‐by‐agreement in the wake of the landmark Knight v. Alabama case.Findings – There have been dramatic increases in the enrollment of students of color and the presence of African‐American faculty in the three major public universities that comprise the University of Alabama System, as well as others in the state.Research limitations/implications – The present review does not contend that historic and fundamental inequities no longer exist in business and society. Moreover, the authors recognize that present inequities in the realms of diversity have important and historical roots. Likewise, there is no attempt to suggest that affirmative action is no longer a necessary or desired program in some areas. Neither do th...