Freedom is a Constant Struggle

The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and Its Consequences

Browse Return to Previous Page       Related Subjects African American History African American Studies All Subjects American History American Studies History Political Science/Sociology

by Kenneth T. Andrews

University of Chicago Press

Due/Published June 2004, 232 pages, paper

ISBN 0226020436

No part of the United States was more resistant to racial integration than Mississippi. Freedom Is a Constant Struggle explores the civil rights movement in that state to consider its impact before and after the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Andrews examines not only the history of the movement but its social and political legacy as well. His study demonstrates how during the 1970s and 1980s, local movements worked to shape electoral politics, increase access to better public schools, and secure the administration of social welfare to needy African Americans.

Freedom Is a Constant Struggle also details the activities of white supremacists in Mississippi, revealing how white repression and intimidation sparked black activism. Andrews tracks the mobilization of black activists by the NAACP, the creation of Freedom Summer, efforts to galvanize black voters, the momentous desegregation of public schools and the rise of all-white private academies, and efforts by whites to block the economic development of black communities. From this complex history, Andrews shows how the civil rights movement built innovative organizations and campaigns that had a lasting legacy in Mississippi and beyond.

Contents

List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
List of Acronyms and Descriptions for Organizations
1. Introduction
2. Explaining the Consequences of Social Movements
3. The Contours of Struggle
4. The Formation of Local Movement Trajectories in Mississippi
5. The Struggle for Political Power
6. The Politics of Poverty
7. Federal Authority, School Desegregation, and Countermobilization
8. The Acquisition of Political Power
9. Conclusion: The Legacies of the Civil Rights Movement
Appendix A: Study Design
Appendix B: Archival Collections
Appendix C: List of Interviews
Appendix D: Descriptions of Major Variables and Sources
References
Index