The Color of the Law: Race, Violence, and Justice in the Post-World War II South

3. War, Esteem, Efficacy, and Entitlement

WAR, ESTEEM, EFFICACY, AND ENTITLEMENT! Without question, World War II affected middle-class leaders such as Morton and the Blairs. As the organizers of war bond and Red Cross drives in Maury County, James and Mary Morton felt their commitment to a "Double-V" strengthened as the war progressed. Saul Blair also both imbibed and circulated word of the "Double-V" effort as he distributed the Chicago Defender, a black newspaper that minced no words in the campaign 's behalf. Additionally, the flush of wartime prosperity and the quickened pace that it brought to the business community undoubtedly reinforced the prestige and position of established leaders like the Blairs and thereby encouraged their assumption of responsibility in repelling a potentiallynching . Yet despite the important role played by local businessmen in leading a defense effort, decisive, combative action welled up from below. "White officials believe Mr. Morton and Mr. Blair and his son had something to do with it [the congregation of blacks and shooting of police]," investigator W. B. Twitty reported to the Southern Regional Council. "I believe they could have made it worse," he continued, "but doubt seriously if they could have stopped it."l Instead, he concluded: "It was a spontaneous reaction." The FBI reached the same conclusion in an investigation that it completed in May 1946. The gathering of so many men in the Bottom and the action that they took in Stephenson's behalfstemmed, not from blind loyalty to East Eighth Street's leaders, but from changes resulting from the war. Already from family, friends, and community, black Maury Countians had developed a strong sense of personal esteem. As the national rhetoric intoned freedom and dcmocracy, as black citizcns themselves or their relatives and friends donned military uniforms, and as the workplace widened, they experienced an enhanced sense of entitlement and personal cfficacy.2 Especially the greater sense of personal efficacy for those who remained at home derived from an economy that, for once in the twentieth century, needed all of its workers. The country's voracious appetite for civilian and military personnel reached those on the lowcst rungs of the economic ladder , as sharecroppers, day laborers, and domestic workers all found greater room to maneuver. Those who participated in unions created even more latitude for themselves. This section focuses on African Americans' expanding sense of entitlement and personal efficacy at home, while the following one details similar processes at work among black members of thc armed forces. Togcther they shed light on thc emergence of a black populace "not disposed to be 'pushed around.' '" THE HOME FRONT WAR AND THE UNORGA;\IIZED WORKER One of the major results of the war in the South was the departure of many people from small towns and rural areas. As historian Pete Daniel recounts, "Like [singcr-performer] Muddy \Vaters, a lot of southerners got the 'Walking Blues.' "4 This trend was especiallv pronounced among African Americans who were hit hard by the Great Depression.5 Like their counterparts throughout the South, thc largest number of black men in Maury County on the evc of the war were farm laborers or tenant farmers, while thc overwhelming majority of black women worked in domestic servicc. Because these jobs were arduous, arbitrary, and low paying, it was especially men and women from these walks of life who walked awav.6 As the number of tenants and farm laborers decreased across the South, those who remained found their bargaining position temporarily enhancedJ This did not mean that the balance of power in the workplace had shifted drastically in the rural South. Police continued to arrest reluctant workers on charges of loitering, vagrancy, and disturbing the peace, while informal, extralegal controls on farm laborers rcmained. In Lowndes County, Georgia, for example, the U.S. Employment Service represcntative refused to certi~' farm workers for defense jobs unless they had permission from their employers or, in the case of indcpendent renters, from the white county cxtension agent.8 Employers who got blacks deferred from thc 90 Racial Violence military for farm work also threatened to have them declassified if their performance was unacceptable. But the pressure was not unidirectional. Exempt workers, often more than willing to be declassified and depart, exhibited newfound freedom in a variety of ways, such as reporting late for work or slacking off as they tired. White employers throughout the South complained that only the poorest quality of workers...