After the Dream: Black and White Southerners since 1965

8 MIXED OUTCOMES

• 8 • MIXED OUTCOMES Civil Rights in the Carter Years During Carter’s presidency, the civil rights movement certainly made some important gains. Known for his integrity, Carter symbolized how some southern whites had become more sympathetic to the black cause. Anxious to try and heal racial divisions, the new president met regularly with African American leaders and identified with their work. “I think,” he commented in April 1978, “we have a long way to go to repair the damage that has been done in the past by discrimination.” Heading a growing movement to make Martin Luther King’s birthday a national holiday, Carter credited King with lifting “the yoke of segregation from around our necks,” adding that both races had been “liberated” as a result. While they drew on his born-again Baptist faith, Carter’s actions also reflected the growth of black political power, a force that was steadily transforming the behavior of white elected officials. The president also tried to back up his rhetoric with action, appointing an unprecedented number of blacks to administrative posts, and working hard to implement civil rights legislation.1 There were, however, also some worrying developments in these years, and most of them were beyond the president’s control. Earlier successes in desegregating schools, for instance, were now undermined by white flight and resegregation. Because of past inaction, Title VI was only just beginning to be enforced in the higher education sector, which remained a weak link in federal policy. Even success in desegregating downtown stores and buses was now undercut by the white exodus. As they fled the cities, many whites lost interest in the civil rights issue. Few of them expressed concern about the treatment handed out to the “Wilmington Ten,” a group of black activists who received harsh sentences following racial disturbances in the Tar Heel City. In the late 1970s, their case gained international attention, exposing troubling racial divisions in the process. By the end of the 1970s, African American leaders recognized that much had been achieved but were acutely conscious of the problems Mixed Outcomes • 169 that remained. As Coretta Scott King wrote, “We have accomplished so much in the ten years since Martin’s death, but there is so much yet to be done.” Still carrying on the struggle, the NAACP also saw the glass as half full. “The South has been held high to the world as a symbol of change and progress socially, politically and economically,” noted its southern conference in 1980. “With the election of a peanut farmer and former governor from the State of Georgia as President of the USA, the term the New South entered the vocabulary of journalists and politicians. Yet, sixteen years after the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent civil rights laws, Southerners of African descent still find poverty, illiteracy, poor housing, little or no political representation or economic strength, more a fact of life today than ever before.”2 While the association’s report was particularly gloomy, it showed that black expectations were not being addressed. Despite upbeat rhetoric , overall Carter was unable to produce a dramatic improvement in race relations. Between 1977 and 1980, the president’s best intentions were undermined by a growing white backlash against civil rights and a persistent economic recession that hit the black community hard.3 Realizing King’s Dream? Black Political Power in the Carter Years Entering public life at a time when African Americans were just starting to vote in large numbers, Carter was initially cautious on the racial issue. During his gubernatorial campaign in 1970, for example, he visited segregated private schools and insisted that there would have been “a lot more violence” without them, while, as governor, he expressed sympathy with whites who were protesting against school integration orders. Like many southerners, Carter also attended an all-white church, although he was one of the first members of the congregation to try to integrate it.4 On the whole, however, Carter’s career illustrated how the Voting Rights Act had quickly changed the political landscape. During his governorship , Carter took a number of steps that marked him out as representative of a new breed of southern politicians. Coming into office in early 1971, he announced that “the time for racial discrimination is over,” a brave declaration that attracted national attention. The rhetoric was backed up by deeds; he increased the number of blacks on the state payroll by half, ensuring...