Inside Agitators: White Southerners in the Civil Rights Movement

How did the vastly outnumbered black Southerners in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s succeed against a white power structure that seemed uniformly hostile? Contrary to widespread belief, argues David Chappell, a crucial role was played by "inside agitators" - white Southerners sympathetic to the cause of desegregation. Chappell shows how years of experience gave black Southerners unique insights into the strengths and weaknesses of "their" white folks. These insights not only helped black leaders to enlist the help of white liberals and moderates but also to manipulate hard-line segregationists into behaviour that was often politically self-destructive. In short, Chappell contends, black Southerners defeated segregation because they understood white Southerners better than segregationists did. Case studies from Montgomery, Tallahassee, Little Rock and Albany, Georgia, highlight the movement's successes and failures. Chappell then extends his analysis to the national government to show how white Southerners became the chief instrument of federal intervention for civil rights. Based on more than 70 personal interviews, as well as on previously unpublished material from the Martin Luther King papers and elsewhere, "Inside Agitators" provides a reinterpretation of the civil rights movement and the reasons for its triumph.

Review :
"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, 'Southern 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, 'The Historian' "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, 'Peace & Change' "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, 'History' "In the movement, we always said that, like in a washing machine, it was the agitator that got the dirt out. David Chappell's book shows how the inside agitators helped cleanse the society of an extreme injustice. It is an enlightening and important look at a less publicized part of this history."--Andrew Young "A superb study done with subtlety and keen insight, it is absolutely essential for understanding the vital role white Southerners played in the civil rights movement."--C. Vann Woodward, Yale University