Inside Agitators: White Southerners in the Civil Rights Movement
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Overview
"With keen insight, Chappell argues that not only were white southerners far from solid in their commitment to segregation during the civil rights era, but that the movement actively exploited and widened their divisions to achieve both local victories and federal intervention." — Mark Newman, Journal of American Studies
"One of the many virtues of David Chappell's fascinating study is that he does not romanticize white southerners who were sympathetic toward the civil rights movement. Rather than depicting them simply as courageous dissenters, he shows that their motives for supporting civil rights reform were varied and complex — a mixture of altruism, pragmatism, paternalism, guilt, and numerous other idiosyncratic sentiments." — Clayborne Carson, Editor of the Papers of Martin Luther King Jr.
"Chappell is to be commended for struggling with hard questions about historical causation." — Robert J. Norrell, Journal of American History
Synopsis
"With keen insight, Chappell argues that not only were white southerners far from solid in their commitment to segregation during the civil rights era, but that the movement actively exploited and widened their divisions to achieve both local victories and federal intervention." — Mark Newman, Journal of American Studies
"One of the many virtues of David Chappell's fascinating study is that he does not romanticize white southerners who were sympathetic toward the civil rights movement. Rather than depicting them simply as courageous dissenters, he shows that their motives for supporting civil rights reform were varied and complex — a mixture of altruism, pragmatism, paternalism, guilt, and numerous other idiosyncratic sentiments." — Clayborne Carson, Editor of the Papers of Martin Luther King Jr.
"Chappell is to be commended for struggling with hard questions about historical causation." — Robert J. Norrell, Journal of American History
Booknews
Chappell contends that black southerners defeated segregation in part because of their ability not only to enlist the help of white liberals and moderates, but also to manipulate hard-line segregationists into behavior that was often politically self-destructive. From case studies of Montgomery, Tallahassee, Little Rock, and Albany (Georgia), Chappell extends his analysis to the national government to show how white southerners became the chief instrument of federal intervention for civil rights. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Editorials
<I>Journal of American Studies</I>
"With keen insight, Chappell argues that not only were white southerners far from solid in their commitment to segregation during the civil rights era, but that the movement actively exploited and widened their divisions to achieve both local victories and federal intervention.
— Mark Newman
Southern Historian
David Chappell's new study provides fresh insight into the Civil Rights movement by shifting the analytical focus from the strivings of African-Americans to the crucial and little-understood role of white Southerners. Chappell explodes the convenient myth of the monolithic and homogeneous white South to reveal a society deeply divided over segregation.— Kari Frederickson
Historian
This well-written and fascinating account shows how important white moderates were to the success of the civil rights movement and how black leaders consciously made winning them over to their cause an integral part of their strategy.— John E. Miller
Peace and Change
Chappell is at his best in describing the dynamics which took place in various southern communities. He also examines the struggles between similar forces on the national scene, as carried on by various southern players within the Democratic Party, the executive office, and the Justice Department.
— Michael Honey
History
Chappell's is a major piece of historical writing that will be of interest to general readers as well as to more specialized students of the Civil Rights movement in the American South.— Neil Thorburn
Reviews in American History
Chappell's argument is insightful and worth serious attention. It makes particularly fascinating reading from the perspective of the 1990s.— David R. Colburn
Virginia Quarterly Review
In this engaging work on Southern whites who sympathized with the Civil Rights Movement, Chappell argues that moderate whites, though lacking a moral commitment to civil rights, played a key role in the movement's success at both the local and national levels.<I>Journal of American History</I>
Chappell is to be commended for struggling with hard questions about historical causation.
— Robert J. Norrell
Journal of American Studies
With keen insight, Chappell argues that not only were white southerners far from solid in their commitment to segregation during the civil rights era, but that the movement actively exploited and widened their divisions to achieve both local victories and federal intervention.— Mark Newman
Journal of American History
Chappell is to be commended for struggling with hard questions about historical causation.— Robert J. Norrell
Peace & Change
Chappell is at his best in describing the dynamics which took place in various southern communities. He also examines the struggles between similar forces on the national scene, as carried on by various southern players within the Democratic Party, the executive office, and the Justice Department.— Michael Honey