In the Shadow of Selma: The Continuing Struggle for Civil Rights in the Rural South

On March 7, 1965, voting rights demonstrators were brutally beaten as they crossed the Edmund Petis bridge in Selma, Alabama. One of the most-publicized incidents of the civil rights campaign, images from that day have been seared into the nation's consciousness. Yet little has been written about the civil rights events in the surrounding counties, the vast sections of the rural south. Cynthia Griggs Fleming addresses this gap by bringing to light the struggle for equality of the citizens of Wilcox County, Alabama. Although right next door to Selma, their story has been largely ignored. Through the eyes of the residents of the county, Fleming relates a struggle punctuated by cowardice and courage, audacity and timidity, fear and foolishness. And, in the end, the entrenched power structure refused to yield and the county remains segregated to this day. Personal and compelling, In the Shadow of Selma is essential reading for everyone interested in the continuing struggle for civil rights in the United States.

Table of Contents:
Preface: The Forgotten Rural Black Poor Introduction: You'll Git Dar after While Chapter 1: Disfranchisement, Despair, and Disillusionment Chapter 2: Onward Christian Soldiers: The Coming of the Missionaries during the Early Years, 1883–1930 Chapter 3: New Negroes in the Cotton Field: The Great Depression and Gee’s Bend Chapter 4: Making the World Safe for Democracy? What About Wilcox County? Chapter 5: Vote Chapter 6: Ain’t Gonna Study War No More: The Struggle to Desegregate Wilcox County’s Schools Chapter 7: After the Movement Chapter 8: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same

About the Author :
Cynthia Griggs Fleming is associate professor of history at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has written extensively on the civil rights movement of the 1960s and is the author of Soon We Will Not Cry: The Liberation of Ruby Doris Smith Robinson.

Review :
Cynthia Griggs Fleming has performed a remarkable feat. She has made the black freedom struggle in Wilcox County Alabama as compelling to read about as that in the better known, neighboring town of Selma in Dallas County. For all those interested in untold stories of the civil rights movement, this is the place to start. Simply put, this book is one of the finest we have in bringing together local and national, social and political histories of the civil rights struggle not just from 1954–1965, but throughout the entire twentieth century. The author skillfully uses the fruits of her oral history research to portray the people, the policies, and the progression of the struggle for political and educational equality. This is a valuable study for students, scholars, and general readers. Recommended. In her study of the African American freedom struggle in Wilcox County, Alabama, Cynthia Griggs Fleming uncovers the 'hidden' history of black activism in the rural South. . . . In the Shadow of Selma: The Continuing Struggle for Civil Rights in the Rural South, as the title suggests, is a community-based study that traces the ongoing efforts on the part of rural black Alabamians to achieve equality with their white neighbors. . . . The author skillfully recounts the continuity of black protests from the late nineteenth century to the present day with compelling personal histories. Fleming is also adept at demonstrating that violence played an important role in black protests (even during the so-called 'non-violent' period of civil rights activism). Perhaps the most successful aspect of In the Shadow of Selma is Fleming's discussion of the divisions within Wilcox County's black communities. Class, ethnic, generational, and political differences are especially prevalent in the final two chapters of the book where Fleming focuses on the 'post-movement' period. These chapters and the stories revealed in them are perhaps the most important in the book. The well-known march in Selma, Alabama in 1965 may have brought black voting rights and some political power. Fleming's book, however, graphically shows the plight of black rural dwellers today-right down the road in Wilcox County-where exploitation and degradation will continue until a national policy and political will brings sweeping changes. This holds true for rural areas throughout the south as well as in urban ghettos.