White Hegemony in the South

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the issue of white supremacy in the South through a discussion of Richard Wright's autobiographical sketch, "The Ethics of Living With Jim Crow," the Compromise of 1876, the Plessy vs. Ferguson case, and the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education.

From the Paper:

"Richard Wright's autobiographical sketch, "The Ethics of Living With Jim Crow," was written well after the Compromise of 1876 and the Plessy v. Ferguson case, but well before Brown v. Board of Education. Its origination in a time frame that might be thought of as an era of mummified Southern white attitudes allows it to shed bright light on the social constructs and barely legal conduct that served to affirm Southern white hegemony for decades, arguably (in light of the recent presidential election) right up to the present moment. In fact, the supremacy of state's rights in the recent elections, as upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, signifies a turn of mind and events that is closer to that of 1876 than to that of 1954, despite the reluctance of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1954, to enforce the decision and to legitimize any attempt to encourage the hearts and minds of all Americans to adopt its letter and intent (Stern, 1993)."

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