Subversive Southerner: Anne Braden and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Cold War South (Civil Rights and the Struggle for Black Equality in the Twentieth Century)

with A Foreword By Angela Y. Davis Winner Of The 2003 Oral History Association Book Awardwinner Of The 2003 Gustavus Myers Center For Human Rights Outstanding Book Award Anne Mccarty Braden (1924-2006) Was A Courageous Southern White Woman Who In The Late 1940s Rejected Her Segregationist And Privileged Past To Become A Lifelong Crusader Against Racial Discrimination. Arousing The Conscience Of White Southerners To The Reality Of Racial Injustice, Braden Was Branded A Communist And Seditionist By Southern Politicians Who Used Mccarthyism To Buttress Legal And Institutional Segregation As It Came Under Fire In Deferral Courts. She Became, Nevertheless, One Of The Civil Rights Movement's Staunchest White Allies And One Of Five Southern Whites Commended By Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. In His 1963 Letter From Birmingham Jail. Although Braden Remained A Controversial Figure Even In The Movement, Her Commitment Superseded Her Radical Reputation, And She Became A Mentor And Advisor To Students Who Launched The 1960s Sit-ins And To Successive Generations Of Peace And Justice Activists. In This Riveting, Oral History-based Biography, Catherine Fosl Also Offers A Social History Of How Racism, Sexism, And Anticommunism Overlapped In The Twentieth-century South And How Ripples From The Cold War Divided And Limited The Southern Civil Rights Movement. "Anne McCarty Braden is a southern white woman who in the 1940s broke from her segregationist and privileged past and became a lifelong crusader who sought to awaken the consciences of white southerners to the reality of racial injustice. Martin Luther King praised Braden's extraordinary integrity in his famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," but even among civil rights supporters, she was as much a controversial figure as an ally. Branded a communist and seditionist by southern politicians who used McCarthyism to prop up segregation as it crumbled, Braden nevertheless became a role model to students who launched the 1960s sit-ins, and to successive generations of peace and justice activists. In this oral history-based biography, Catherine Fosl demonstrates how racism, sexism, and anticommunism intersected in the twentieth-century South. Braden's story connects southern reform drives of the 1930s and 1940s to the mass civil rights movement of the 1960s and to the continuation of racial justice campaigns today. Fosl's book also reveals dramatically - as has not been done before - how the Cold War divided and limited the southern civil rights movement."--BOOK JACKET. "Anne McCarty Braden (1924-2006) rejected her segregationist, privileged past to become one of the civil rights movement's staunchest white allies. In 1954 she was charged with sedition by McCarthy-style politicians who played on fears of communism to preserve southern segregation. Though Braden remained controversial--even within the civil rights movement--in 1963 she became one of only five white southerners whose contributions to the movement were commended by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his famed "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Braden's activism ultimately spanned nearly six decades, making her one of the most enduring white voices against racism in modern U.S. history. Subversive Southerner is more than a riveting biography of an extraordinary southern white woman; it is also a social history of how racism, sexism, and anticommunism intertwined in the twentieth-century South as ripples from the Cold War divided the emerging civil rights movement."--Publisher's description Cover Contents Foreword Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Chronology of Anne Braden’s Life Introduction Part One Prologue: The Power of Place Chapter 1: A White Southern Childhood Chapter 2: Intellectual Awakening Chapter 3: Alabama Newspaperwoman Part Two Chapter 4: Political Awakening Chapter 5: Marriage and Movement Chapter 6: The Wade Case—No Turning Back Chapter 7: Fighting Back—The 1950s Resistance Movement Chapter 8: A Voice Crying in the Wilderness—Early SCEF Years Part Three Chapter 9: The Mass Civil Rights Movement—Beginning of a New Day Chapter 10: Opening Up the Southern Police State Chapter 11: End of an Era Part Four Chapter 12: The Next Three Decades: The Struggle Continues Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z ANNE MCCARTY WAS BORN INTO THAT "Louisville where white folks lived" on July 28, 1924, at St. Anthony's Hospital.