Carry It On: The War on Poverty and the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama, 1964-1972

by Ashmore, Susan Youngblood

• ISBN13: 9780820330075
• ISBN10: 0820330078
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-15
• Publisher: Univ of Georgia Pr

Summary

Carry It Onis an in-depth study of how the local struggle for equality in Alabama fared in the wake of new federal laws--the Civil Rights Act, the Economic Opportunity Act, and the Voting Rights Act. Susan Youngblood Ashmore provides a sharper definition to changes set in motion by the fall of legal segregation. She focuses her detailed story on the Alabama Black Belt and on the local projects funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the federal agency that supported programs in a variety of cities and towns in Alabama. Black Belt activists who used OEO funds understood that the structural underpinnings of poverty were key components of white supremacy, says Ashmore. They were motivated not only to end poverty but also to force local governments to comply with new federal legislation aimed at achieving racial equality on a number of fronts.Ashmore looks closely at the interactions among local activists, elected officials, businesspeople, landowners, bureaucrats, and others who were involved in or affected by OEO projects.Carry It Onoffers a nuanced picture of the OEO, an agency too broadly criticized; a new look at the rise of southern Black Power; and a compelling portrait of local citizens struggling for control over their own lives. Ashmore provides a more complete understanding of how southerners worked to define for themselves how freedom would come during the years shaped by the civil rights movement and the war on poverty.

Author Biography

Susan Youngblood Ashmore is an associate professor of history at Oxford College of Emory University.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Map of Alabama's Black Belt Counties
How Will Freedom Come?	p. 7
Southern Accents: The Politics of Race and the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964	p. 17
At the Crossroads: The Programs of the Office of Economic Opportunity and Civil Rights in the South	p. 54
Wallace's Infrastructure: Alabama State and Local Government Defiance of Federal Civil Rights Laws	p. 86
In Selma's Wake: Organizing for Change in the Alabama Black Belt after the Selma to Montgomery March	p. 124
In the Rurals: The Civil Rights Movement, the War on Poverty, and the 1966 Statewide Elections in the Alabama Black Belt	p. 153
Agriculture Is More Than Farming: The Southwest Alabama Farmers Cooperative Association and the National Democratic Party of Alabama	p. 198
Old Patterns and New Designs: Evaluating the Community Action Program in the Alabama Black Belt	p. 253
Conclusion. Carry It On, Carry It On	p. 281
Notes	p. 295
Bibliography	p. 369
Index	p. 381
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