Harry Byrd, a segregationist who ran Virginia's political machine in the mid-20th century, is losing his place near the seat of government in Richmond, VA. A statue erected in 1976, featuring the long-term Senator sizing down the federal budget, is expected to be removed from outdoor display. How did he fall out of grace so quickly?
Too recently, White Supremacists dominated the Deep South. In contrast, segregationists were
"racial moderates" in the South, as they were called in their time. Politicians of the later group were often socially conservative, and fiscally liberal, the "Blue Dog" epitaph today. Public health and education improvements occurred in the mid-20th century by a separate and somewhat equal policy.
"racial moderates" in the South, as they were called in their time. Politicians of the later group were often socially conservative, and fiscally liberal, the "Blue Dog" epitaph today. Public health and education improvements occurred in the mid-20th century by a separate and somewhat equal policy.
Atlanta, Memphis, and Washington DC hold America's 3 historically black medical schools. These cities, in general, were forward-looking and not in touch with racial attitudes in their surrounding region. Graduates of Black professional schools built a self-sufficiency in border state Black communities that leaders like Frederick Douglas and WEB DuBois imagined.
Yet in the heart of the Jim Crow era, many African-Americans worked as peanut, cotton and tobacco sharecroppers under the peonage system in "Black Belt" counties. Predominately Black urban occupations such as movie attendants, domestic servants, and shoe-shiners were exempted from minimum wage laws. (This shortcoming was symbolically closed in recent years).
Federal directives on equal employment in the defense sector during and after World War Two played a key role in leveling the harsh discrepancy between Black and White income. Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia, a Democrat, maintained cordial relations with President Eisenhower, the later of whom was able to push civil rights bills through a recalcitrant congress in 1957 and 1960. This relationship made Virginia a powerhouse in infrastructure (Dulles International Airport was build with federal funds), technology, and the defense industry. In major Virginia cities, college expansions were paired with the opening of a Black college. Hospitals opened or were renovated in underserved communities (Credit to the US Government's Hill-Burton Act of 1946). The racial wage gap compressed further.
Source: Virginia Pilot
With an emerging black middle class came legal action that closed the chapter on Jim Crow. Strength of conviction and legal connections led plaintiffs to sue for equal rights. Cases include Morgan vs. Virginia (1946), desegregating interstate transportation; Boynton vs Virginia (1960), reinforcing the 1946 case; Davis vs Prince Edward County, which became part of Brown vs Board of Education (1954); and Loving vs Virginia (1967) on interracial marriage.
If there is evidence that the latter generation of segregationists delivered for minority citizens, it is found in voter turnout. The same Southern Democrats who defended segregation often gained support of Black voters towards the end of the 20th century. Governor George Wallace and Senator Al Gore, Sr, are two examples.
Virginia Pilot Link: https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pilotonline.com%2Fnews%2Fvp-nw-racial-income-gap-virginia-20200915-b5t4cl7p6fa7hkdtufpwrnj34e-story.html&psig=AOvVaw1LnHGSMJxgd3yiDhRFqXd8&ust=1612839349840000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAMQjB1qFwoTCMisp_ek2e4CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD
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