Entangled by White Supremacy: Reform in World War I-era South Carolina

Introduction

When we are reading a novel or watching a film, nothing shapes our perceptions or inhibits our imagination as much as knowing the conclusion in advance. A critic poised to divulge a surprise ending or an unforeseen plot twist issues a spoiler alert. Beware, the critic warns; what is about to be revealed may jeopardize one’s ability to experience the unfolding narrative with fresh eyes or may subvert the ability to consider many possibilities. With advance knowledge of the conclusion we may be dismissive of particular characters or underestimate the significance of actions that lead away from the revealed ending. We may also ignore evidence that appears irrelevant to an ending that no longer holds any mystery. Familiarity with the ending may encourage the perception of its inevitability. Interpreting events through the lens of a known conclusion could lead to a misunderstanding of the context or to a diminished appreciation of the narrative’s complexity and rich insights. The challenge of this book is to reconsider a historical narrative with a well-known outcome and to seriously consider possibilities that contemporaries imagined but which never reached fruition. When long shots fail, it is difficult to recapture the sense of possibility that motivated those involved to take the required risks. But if we can put aside the skepticism derived from knowing the ending and reflect upon once-imagined possibilities, we can recognize how white supremacy prevented the full realization of contemporaries’ imagined possibilities. Moreover, we can achieve a better understanding of the expectations of World War I–era South Carolina reformers, black and white, who were entangled by white supremacy. The narrative to reconsider carefully is the relationship between Introduction 1 Entangled by White Supremacy 2 white supremacy and reform during the World War I era, 1914–1924.1 For a brief period, war-related demands offered unusual and unexpected opportunities. South Carolina benefited economically from the war as commodity prices increased for agriculture and the textile industry enjoyed record profits. Additionally, the introduction of new military bases stimulated economic growth in selected areas of the state. The prosperity that accompanied the war helped South Carolina’s white reformers believe their state had the financial means to accomplish their ultimate goal of a better-educated and economically prosperous state, with a higher standard of living, adequate health care, less crime and violence, better roads, and a more diverse economy.2 But if the war generated economic opportunities that white reformers welcomed, it simultaneously introduced challenges that whites feared, challenges to the recently constructed institutionalized forms of white supremacy: segregation and disfranchisement.3 The federal government’s war mobilization efforts that precipitated the military draft, construction of new military training bases, labor shortages, new employment opportunities, black migration, and woman suffrage threatened the stability of the existing racial hierarchy . Market forces, which drove up the price of labor during the war, also challenged the artificially constructed racial order. Yet most disturbing to whites, the war to make the world “safe for democracy” had kindled hope among South Carolina’s African American reformers , who channeled their hope during and immediately after the war into challenging the structures of white supremacy. Challenges to white supremacy from black reformers ignited whites’ anxiety as well as intensified their resolve to resist any erosion of their control. While black reformers welcomed and exploited the war-related challenge to white supremacy, white reformers confronted the potential paradox that these desired opportunities also threatened white control . They responded to this paradox by both seizing the unique wartime reform opportunities with enthusiasm and resolutely seeking the best method for maintaining white supremacy. Balancing both the opportunity and the threat proved complicated.4 Despite its importance in world and American history, World War I has seldom been identified as an important turning point in southern history because it did not trigger substantial economic, Introduction 3 political, or social change in the South. In 1917, however, South Carolina reformers—black and white—saw their world poised on the brink of momentous change, especially since the war had brought South Carolina new economic opportunities and a glimpse of prosperity that they imagined would foster long-term improvement. From their vantage point in 1917, they could not foresee that the opportunities presented by the war would be short-lived, that an agricultural depression would further erode the fleeting opportunities as it followed on...