| Popis: |
In the fall of 1940 black Memphians experienced a prolonged campaign of harassment, mass arrests, and violence at the hands of Memphis police known as the “Reign of Terror.” These actions were carried out under the direction of local political boss E. H. Crump as more black Memphians, tiring of Crump’s iron-fisted rule, backed candidates that promised to move away from the “plantation mentality” of Crump’s regime. While systematically suppressing local black political organizing, Crump offered public praise, token benefits, and a respite from legal action to black community leaders who were willing to rebuke other “agitators” within the black population. As a result, some blacks capitulated to Crump’s demands with the hopes of earning some small amount of favor, while others struggled to resist the might of the Crump machine. This essay argues that this particular moment in Memphis history made concrete a deep intraracial divide within its black activist community, delaying by decades any real chance to change the city’s racial status quo. |
