Joe T. Patterson and the White South’s Dilemma: Evolving Resistance to Black Advancement by Robert E. Luckett (review)

Robert E. Luckett Jr.’s Joe T. Patterson and the White South’s Dilemma: Evolving Resistance to Black Advancement highlights the role of Joe T. Patterson, Mississippi’s attorney general from 1956 to 1969, in leading the white South’s efforts to undermine the so-called Second Reconstruction. Luckett shows the effective strategy moderate segregationists used to fight integration. He compares their long-term strategy to the shortsighted actions of radical segregationists. Patterson was very concerned about Mississippi’s reputation and how violent clashes destroyed the state’s image, even though he was equally dedicated to maintaining segregation. The moderates preferred to outflank the civil rights fighters by using the letter of the law to undermine the spirit of civil rights legislation. Patterson was an old-fashioned segregationist who believed that the best way to maintain the racial status quo was to use chicanery. Patterson and his fellow moderates preferred a quiet, reasoned approach over the loud, violent antics of Governor Ross R. Barnett and his cohort.

Luckett describes Patterson as a skilled legal tactician, who used states’ rights arguments as a cudgel against civil rights legislation. A fiscal conservative, Patterson guarded the state’s funds, even protesting state resources being given to the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. Born in Europa, Mississippi, Patterson was reared in the racial miasma of segregated small-town Mississippi. As a child, he watched his father provide legal aid to their impoverished neighbors. Patterson left college early before attending Cumberland University Law School. After graduating and getting admitted to the bar, he returned to Calhoun City where he was elected city attorney. Patterson then served two terms in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Later he served as chief legislative assistant to U.S. senator Byron Patton “Pat” Harrison, a New Deal Democrat. There Patterson learned the mechanics of moderate Mississippi politics as he watched Harrison navigate a moderate road against the virulently racist James K. Vardaman.

In 1947 Patterson began working for the Mississippi state attorney general’s office. He immediately found himself fighting a rearguard battle against civil rights activists. Patterson defended Mississippi against the myriad challenges that confronted him and his office until his death in 1969. Mississippi was the epicenter of the civil rights movement, with the murders of Emmett Till and Medgar Evers, and the ongoing struggles over school integration, voting rights, and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party all taking their toll. Patterson and his allies demonstrated an incredible determination to maintain segregation in Mississippi. Patterson came to office during the most challenging period for white southerners. He personally dealt with several incidents that highlighted Mississippi’s racist resilience. Patterson proved a savvy legal strategist as he attempted to defend Mississippi from the rising tide of federal action on civil rights.

Patterson used well-worn strategies including blaming the victims, demonizing Washington, D.C., particularly the John F. Kennedy administration, and labeling civil rights leaders as dangerous racial radicals or communists. By painting the picture of white southerners as victims, Patterson and his cohort engaged in open warfare against federal authority in defense of white privilege. Luckett spends very little time on the African American side of the story in order to tell Patterson’s.

Luckett masterfully weaves together a plethora of primary and secondary sources to produce a compelling narrative of Patterson’s career. Without casting judgment, the author points out the determination of white people in Mississippi to hold on to yesterday. The book is a must-read for those interested in understanding the civil rights movement and the legal strategies used to fight it.