Fighting for Democracy : Black Veterans and the Struggle Against White Supremacy in the Postwar South

by Parker, Christopher S.

• ISBN13: 9781400831029
• ISBN10: 1400831024
• Copyright: 2009-09-03
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

Fighting for Democracyshows how the experiences of African American soldiers during World War II and the Korean War influenced many of them to challenge white supremacy in the South when they returned home. Focusing on the motivations of individual black veterans, this groundbreaking book explores the relationship between military service and political activism. Christopher Parker draws on unique sources of evidence, including interviews and survey data, to illustrate how and why black servicemen who fought for their country in wartime returned to America prepared to fight for their own equality.Parker discusses the history of African American military service and how the wartime experiences of black veterans inspired them to contest Jim Crow. Black veterans gained courage and confidence by fighting their nation's enemies on the battlefield and racism in the ranks. Viewing their military service as patriotic sacrifice in the defense of democracy, these veterans returned home with the determination and commitment to pursue equality and social reform in the South. Just as they had risked their lives to protect democratic rights while abroad, they risked their lives to demand those same rights on the domestic front.Providing a sophisticated understanding of how war abroad impacts efforts for social change at home,Fighting for Democracyrecovers a vital story about black veterans and demonstrates their distinct contributions to the American political landscape.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	p. ix
Preface and Ac knowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Military Ser vice and Insurgency	p. 5
Recasting Military Service and Resistance	p. 9
Theory and Method	p. 12
Broader Contributions	p. 13
Plan of the Book	p. 15
War, Military Ser vice, and the Prospect for Change: A Glance at History	p. 18
The Promise of Military Service in the Early American Republic	p. 20
Diminishing Returns and Increasing Militancy, 1876- 1918	p. 29
Fighting on Two Fronts Twice: World War II and the Korean War	p. 40
Military Service and Resistance: Toward a Theory of Black Republicanism	p. 60
The Citizen- Soldier Ideal	p. 62
The Symbolism of Military Ser vice	p. 67
Military Ser vice as a Symbolic Experience	p. 69
Sketching a Belief System for Black Veterans	p. 73
Black Republicanism Defined	p. 79
Taking the Crooked with the Straight: The Pros and Cons of African American Military Experience during the 1940s and'50s	p. 88
A Description of the Data	p. 90
The Crooked: Negative Aspects of Black Veterans' Military Experiences	p. 92
The Straight: Positive Aspects of Black Veterans' Military Experiences	p. 99
Donning the Uniform	p. 107
When Jim Crow Meets Uncle Sam: The Veteran Returns to Dixie	p. 112
White Domination in the 1950s	p. 114
Framing the Meaning of Military Ser vice and Black Republicanism	p. 116
Black Republicanism and National Identification	p. 118
Black Republicanism and Citizenship	p. 122
Expectations of Racial Progress: Service and Sacrifice	p. 127
A Source of Republican Criticism: Military Ser vice and Entitlement	p. 132
From Criticism to Activism	p. 137
Exploring the Attitudinal Consequences of African American Military Experience	p. 145
Black Veterans' Attitudes toward Southern Traditionalism: Resisting the Status Quo	p. 148
Black Veterans and the Role of the State	p. 157
A Hard Case: Black Veterans' Attitudes toward Segregation	p. 162
Dying to Participate: Political Participation as a Form of Protest	p. 174
Impediments to Black Political Participation in the South	p. 177
Explaining Black Political Participation in the South	p. 179
Political Participation and Risk: Voting versus
Political Activism	p. 181
Modeling Voting and Nonvoting Activism	p. 187
Conclusion: Taps for Jim Crow in the Postwar South	p. 196
Principal Findings	p. 198
The Implications of Fighting for Democracy	p. 203
Future Directions	p. 209
Study Description, Coding, Question Wording, and Other Estimates from Chapters 5 and 6	p. 210
Content Analysis of the Chicago Defender	p. 217
Interview Methodology and Material	p. 226
Profi les of Selected Black Veteran Activists	p. 231
References	p. 235
Index	p. 255
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.