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16. New Evil
- University of South Carolina Press
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16. New Evil O God, the heathen have defiled thy holy temple Psalm 79:1 (variation) For five years our family enjoyed life in Lake City. The community enveloped us with warm acceptance, and the town truly became our home. Rev. De Laine still journeyed to Summerton occasionally, but other than overseeing the farm, his work in Clarendon was finished. Still a good shepherd to his flock, he frequented the byways of Lake City and surrounding farms—always dressed in suit and tie or clerical collar—spreading good cheer, teaching, and ministering to the lost and the saved, the hopeless and the happy, the illiterate and the educated. August–September 1955 The summer of 1955 moved along pretty much as we expected. My mother enjoyed a well-earned vacation from teaching. My brother Jay, drafted into the U.S. Army immediately after college graduation, was serving our country as a medic in far away Korea. Eighteen-year-old BB had just graduated from high school. He had a summer job driving a charter bus, legal for someone so young because of a technical loophole. He was often away from home. I was nineteen and would return to college for my junior year in mid-September. My father avidly read the newspapers, listened to the radio, and discussed local, national, and world events with anyone he could. He was aware that diehard segregationists across the South were displeased with the Supreme Court’s decisions and that some influential southern men eagerly worked to stir up hatred. Under the guise of patriotism, they denounced the Supreme Court and tried to discredit the NAACP by accusing it of brainwashing African Americans. Daddy was dismayed by Judge Parker’s statement during the 1955 district court hearing, which had added fuel to the segregationists’ rage and undermined the intentions of people previously willing to accept the decision. The Supreme Court had called for “all deliberate speed,” and the segregationists had interpreted that as meaning “never.” Bent on continuing to deny black people their constitutional rights, segregationists organized themselves to resist the court order. The mainstream news After 1955 168 media in the South willingly provided excellent avenues for the dissemination of anti-desegregation propaganda. Facts were misrepresented and any point that could be used to discredit black people or liberal white people was magnified. As if the presence of black and white children in the same classroom were undemocratic and could destroy the nation, claims were made that “Communists are trying to make us integrate.” Bitter in his defeat, S. E. Rogers looked for a way to preserve segregation, white supremacy, and the “honored southern way of life.” He found his Rosetta stone in Mississippi. During the summer of 1954, rebellion against the Brown decision had given birth in that state to an organization whose members were determined to “keep the Negro in his place.” Known as the White Citizens Council (WCC), the organization and its members were dedicated to crushing any leadership that advocated integration. Their goal was to apply economic pressure to “troublemakers” who advocated compliance with the Brown decision. Enlightened in WCC techniques of terrorism by economic pressure, Mr. Rogers returned to Summerton fired with missionary zeal. He began to travel extensively around the state, organizing local councils and working to gain the support of South Carolina’s leading citizens. Under his guidance, WCC chapters proliferated throughout South Carolina’s predominately black areas. Its membership is said to have grown to include almost all leading white men—grocers, farmers, bankers, mayors, doctors, and lawyers. Men who never would have deigned to join the Ku Klux Klan—businessmen, civic figures, and religious leaders—were willingly recruited. Because membership soon included the men who served as policemen, judges, and government servants, the WCC was the law. Anyone who dared defy “the Council” was destined for disaster. And any member of the NAACP was a marked person. Under Mr. Roger’s expert tutelage, WCC members learned how to put the economic squeeze on people. Recalcitrant black tenants were to be evicted from their homes. Teachers who belonged to the NAACP were to be fired. Credit was not to be extended. White shopkeepers were forbidden to serve certain black customers . Goods were not supposed to be delivered to black stores. Only the bravest and most humane white people dared to break the rules lest they, too, suffer. The few white suppliers who helped “troublemaker” shopkeepers had to do so covertly, dropping off supplies...