A Political Coup d’État?: How the Enemies of Earl Long Overwhelmed Racial Moderation in Louisiana

Abstract

This chapter provides a specific state study of segregationist politics in Louisiana. It shows how the racially moderate state leadership was confronted with an intense political challenge from the forces of massive resistance. It explains that although the gubernatorial election of Earl Long in 1956 appeared to represent the triumph of racial moderates, within months hard-line segregationists reclaimed the political initiative, launching a multipronged assault on black civil rights. It notes that the forces of massive resistance would nonetheless ultimately fail, particularly in their attempt to purge black voters from the electoral rolls, which resulted in a federal backlash. It adds that the massive resistance movement is depicted as less a grassroots revolt against an unrepresentative government than a conspiracy by a small but fanatical band of politicians.

Anatomy of Judicial Backlash: Southern Leaders, Massive Resistance, and the Supreme Court, 1954–1958

“…Together with White Citizens’ Councils, Mississippi's political elite worked to intimidate black communities, sometimes threatening—and, occasionally, carrying out—acts of violence to dissuade liberal agitation for integration and civil rights. In Louisiana, by contrast, segregationist forces received “minimal cooperation” from the state's senators and representatives in Congress (Fairclough 2005, 59). Without strong support from the state's top elected officials, Louisiana's White Citizens’ Councils battled racial moderates on roughly even terrain.…”

“…Aided by the abolition of the poll tax in 1934, African Americans grew to constitute 15 percent of registered voters by 1954. Forging a biracial coalition with white moderates, black voters won significant pre- Brown victories, desegregating Louisiana's flagship university without strife in 1950, and graduating the school's first black lawyer in 1954 (Fairclough 2005, 57, 61).…”

“…The legislature also passed a measure authorizing the state school board to mandate segregation in primary and secondary facilities and criminalizing violations (Bartley 1969, 74–75). Led by state Senator William Rainach, the committee “coordinated the burgeoning Citizens’ Council movement, which by 1956 claimed 80,000 members,” roughly equivalent to 8 percent of the state's registered voters (Fairclough 2005, 58). Like Eastland, Rainach believed “the only real solution [lay] in organizing our people completely from the ground up.” 69 Together, Rainach and the newly formed White Citizens’ Councils spearheaded a statewide referendum to designate enforcement of segregation as an “inherent police power of the state.” 70…”

“…In the end, neither side would emerge triumphant. Retaking the state house in 1956, moderates—led by newly elected Governor Earl Long—convinced voters to reject a statewide measure championed by White Citizens’ Councils to limit black suffrage (Fairclough 2005, 59). Criticizing Rainach, Long observed: “It's easy to say nigger and scare everybody … I don't think you should run for office on it.” 71 Under Long's leadership, moderates also thwarted efforts to resegregate the state's public colleges and universities, and opened a new campus of Louisiana State University in New Orleans to black students.…”

Citizens’ Councils, Conservatism and White Supremacy in Louisiana, 1964-1972

“…22 By the early 1960s, "the Council movement had disintegrated as a statewide force," concluded the historian Adam Fairclough. 23 The remaining council movement in the 1960s was characterized by a struggle against its influence's erosion and constant infighting. In February 1962, the Shreveport attorney and ACCL president Charles L. Barnett sent a letter to Willie Rainach to initiate a meeting at Alexandria, writing that "[r]igor mortis has about set in on the Council.…”