In a madhouse's din : civil rights coverage by Mississippi's daily press, 1948-1968 / Susan Weill ; foreword by Ira B. Harkey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Weill, Susan, 1953-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African Americans--Civil rights--Mississippi--History--20th century.

African Americans.

African Americans--Press coverage--Mississippi--History--20th century.

Civil rights movements--Mississippi--History--20th century.

Civil rights movements.

Editorials--Mississippi--History--20th century.

Editorials.

American newspapers--Mississippi--History--20th century.

American newspapers.

Journalism--Mississippi--History--20th century.

Journalism.

Mississippi--Race relations.

Mississippi.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (291 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024

Place of Publication:

Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2002.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

Mississippi is a unique case study as a result of its long-standing defiance of federal civil rights legislation and the fact that nearly half its population was black and relegated to second-class citizenship. According to the vast majority of Mississippi daily press editorials examined between 1948 and 1968, the notion that blacks and whites were equal as races of people was a concept that remained unacceptable and inconceivable. While the daily press certainly did not advocate desegregation, in contrast to what many media critics have reported about the Southern press promoting violence to suppress civil rights activity, Mississippi daily newspapers never encouraged or condoned violence during the time periods under evaluation. Weill places coverage of these important events within a historical context, shedding new light on media opinion in the state most resistant to the precepts of the civil rights movement. This is the first comprehensive examination of civil rights coverage and white supremacist rhetoric in the Mississippi daily press during five key events: the 1948 Dixiecrat protest of the national Democratic platform; the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision to desegregate public schools in 1954; the court-ordered desegregation of Ole Miss in 1962; Freedom Summer in 1964; and the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968. From nearly 5, 000 issues of Mississippi daily newspapers, more than 1, 000 editorials and 7, 000 news articles are documented in this volume.

Contents:

Cover

In a Madhouse's Din

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1 Civil Rights and the Mississippi Daily Press: An Introduction

CIVIL RIGHTS AND AMERICAN LAW

CIVIL RIGHTS AND AMERICAN PRESS COVERAGE: AN OVERVIEW

THE MISSISSIPPI DAILY PRESS, 1948-1968

THE MISSISSIPPI PRESS AND STUDIES OF CIVIL RIGHTS COVERAGE

OTHER AMERICAN MEDIA AND STUDIES OF RACE AND CIVIL RIGHTS

METHOD OF RESEARCH AND QUESTIONS EXPLORED

NOTES

Chapter 2 1948: The Dixiecrats and the Mississippi Daily Press

PRESIDENT TRUMAN'S CIVIL RIGHTS PLATFORM

THE "DRAFT IKE" MOVEMENT

DIXIECRAT PROTEST AT THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION

THE DIXIECRATS WALK

THE DIXIECRAT CONVENTION IN ALABAMA

THE MISSISSIPPI DAILY PRESS RESPONDS

SUMMARY OF DIXIECRAT COVERAGE

Chapter 3 1954: Brown v. Board of Education and the Mississippi Daily Press

EDITORIAL RESPONSE TO BROWN

MISSISSIPPI LEADERSHIP RESPONDS TO BROWN

"DAMN FOOL REMARKS"

"SEPARATE BUT EQUAL" PROPOSED AND DEBATED

ABOLISHMENT OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS CONSIDERED

SUMMARY OF COVERAGE OF BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

Chapter 4 1962: The Desegregation of Ole Miss and the Mississippi Daily Press

GOVERNOR ROSS BARNETT RESISTS THE COURT

BARNETT PROPOSES INTERPOSITION: "BAYING AT THE MOON"

CROSS BURNED, EFFIGY HANGED AT OLE MISS

INJUNCTION AND LEGISLATION AGAINST MEREDITH

REACTION BY MISSISSIPPI OFFICIALS

QUANDARY OF STATE COLLEGE BOARD

OLE MISS ACCREDITATION AT STAKE

BARNETT FINED FOR CONTEMPT

MEREDITH GOES TO OLE MISS

THE RIOT

THE EDITORS RESPOND

SUMMARY OF COVERAGE OF THE DESEGREGATION OF OLE MISS

Chapter 5 1964: Freedom Summer and the Mississippi Daily Press

THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964

MISSISSIPPI EDITORS REACT TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.

PRESIDENT LYNDON JOHNSON AND THE MISSISSIPPI DAILY PRESS

CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLIANCE AND THE MISSISSIPPI DAILY PRESS

MISSISSIPPI FREEDOM DEMOCRATS AND THE MISSISSIPPI DAILY PRESS

EDUCATION CONTROVERSIES DURING FREEDOM SUMMER

WHITE SUPREMACIST GROUPS AND FREEDOM SUMMER

FREEDOM SUMMER VOLUNTEERS ARRIVE IN MISSISSIPPI

THE MURDERED TRIO

COVERAGE OF FREEDOM SUMMER ACTIVITIES

SUMMARY OF COVERAGE

Chapter 6 1968: The Death of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Mississippi Daily Press

MISSISSIPPI DAILY PRESS RESPONSE TO KING'S ASSASSINATION

Chapter 7 Conclusion

A COMPLEX SITUATION

A NATIONAL PROBLEM

THE AMERICAN PRESS: WHITE OWNERSHIP, WHITE BIAS

SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE-OR NOT

Rejection of Equal Rights and Integration

"Us against Them"

Did Not Condone Violence

Jackson Clarion-Ledger and Daily News: Sometimes Representative, Sometimes Not

Localized Coverage

A SLOW, BUT STEADY, TRANSFORMATION

Appendix 1 Mississippi Daily Press Editors

Appendix 2 Mississippi Daily Press Circulation

Appendix 3 Population Statistics of Mississippi Counties with Daily Newspapers, 1948-1968

Bibliography

Index

About the Author.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [261]-267) and index.

ISBN:

979-84-00-66913-2

1-280-31504-0

9786610315048

0-313-01062-5

OCLC:

150645702