By Alyce Koruna
@chocolatemama38
While on Twitter this morning, I stumbled into a seemingly benign conversation questioning the motivation of poor White people who vote against their interests for the GOP. I, too, am bewildered by this action. I joined in and commiserated, upping the ante by saying people would probably be equally mystified that many smart-but-poor African Americans -- my mother among them -- cast votes for Strom Thurmond in the 60's through mid 70’s, and many even far beyond. I tweeted a small part of this information, thinking that the educated folk with whom I chat on Twitter would either know the rest about this racist-but-surprisingly-complex figure or politely ask the circumstances if they did not. I was wrong. A fella named @Gstuedler replied “@Chocolatemama38 ...you voted for Thurmond? Really? Wow...”
I patiently responded that it was my mom’s generation (dear God, I’m not that old!), to which he basically said, well they were dumb because (condescending tone) Strom Thurmond was a Dixiecrat, and therefore “smart” cannot be applied to your mom and her ilk. End of story. Well, my fuse is long but my temper is volcanic. Talking about my mom makes it go BOOM! However, I’m no Tagg Romney so after a few more exchanges with my trying to explain to the-earnest-but-uninformed-by-life Mr @Gstuedler that 60’s era race relations in the south were very complicated, we ended the conversation with my encouraging him to read up on the history of the matter, which he, I imagine, is disinclined to do. However, thoughtful reader, perhaps you are.
In light of this puzzle -- Black people of South Carolina voting for Strom Thurmond -- let's address intelligence. Surely these Black Thurmond voters sadly signed their names with an "x" and were guided to the polls by their White bosses. Au contraire. My mother -- who taught us Poe, Langston Hughes and the Bible as literature when we were small children, who went back for a college degree in her 40’s, who has had a book (now Kindle) in her hand since I can remember, who is a rabid Obama supporter who follows every turn of news events -- consciously voted for Strom Thurmond in the early-mid 1970’s. Mr. Stuedler is dismissive and quick to think that Black folk of that era were lemmings who, like today’s poor Whites voting for Romney, were voting against their economic best interests. Quite the contrary, my mother and her Black peers were quite savvy. They understood quite well what they were doing and why they were doing it.
Next, recall the era. The pickin’s back then were very, very slim for improving the state's and family's lot through government. South Carolina was basically a one-party system for much of the first half of the 20th century. Thurmond grudgingly became a Republican when the Democrats became the party associated with the civil rights movement and social change. It didn't matter in the south. You were voting for a person. Thurmond unbelievably once even won election to the Senate as a write-in candidate, not only with the White voters, but also with a significant amount of the Black electorate. Thurmond became a US Senator in 1954 and remained in office through his 100th birthday, party be damned. As a result of his long tenure, he became very senior, and able to get things done for the state. This side of Thurmond is not well known because his early repugnant racist views and actions overshadow his less well known popular "pork" and legitimate constituent services that spanned his entire political career.
Then, understand the man. He was the king of the good ole boys, leading the charge on what would keep him in office, whether it be conducting the longest filibuster ever in the Senate against the Civil Rights Act of 1957 or, later, supporting legislation to make Martin Luther King Day a federal holiday. Complex. Going to see his biracial daughter at college in his limousine, privately acknowledging his parentage and supporting her financially throughout her life, though her identity would be announced only after his death. Complex. Having Democratic Senator (our now wonderful Vice President) Joe Biden deliver his eulogy. Complex. In a Slate article on the attempt at revising the Thurmond legacy to a simple "he changed to a great guy"-type narrative, Timothy Noah, the author, notes “Thurmond was always the kind of conservative who believed in the aggressive redistribution of wealth to his home state from the other 49.” He adds that Black people held their nose as they voted for Strom, but those votes were enough to keep him in the Senate. Black people understood this complexity and saw his evolution, as uneven as it may have been, over the years. To tell the truth, he was just like most of the rest of the White folks of the time in Black people's minds. If you spent energy hating White people like Strom Thurmond, you'd be hating nearly everyone you had to deal with and getting nothing for your family. At least there was growth. When it came to government, the people of my mother's generation saw plenty of White politicians NOT making changes, such as Jesse Helms. They also noted most importantly that these changes benefited them economically.
Walter Rhett, a Black writer from South Carolina, wrote a blog post dated February 2012 titled, “Why I Voted for Strom Thurmond.” He writes about Thurmond’s laughably ineffectual segregation efforts but HIGHLY effective and remarkably color-blind constituent relations efforts. The money and programs he brought to the small and suffering state of South Carolina were well known to its people, even to the “nigras” who despised him personally. Yet, momma didn’t raise no fool, as the saying goes. The people needed food on the table. Rhett says, “Thurmond supported the EPA, wanting to protect SC waterways and air quality. And once, in Washington, when I was unemployed with a small child and a mortgage, he put me to work in 72 hours, with transparent copies of his efforts forwarded to me. He walked far differently than he talked. He delivered. On time. Over time.”
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"all the laws of Washington and all the bayonets of the Army cannot force the Negro into our homes, into our schools, our churches and our places of recreation and amusement."-- Strom Thurmond
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| Strom Thurmond: Straight up racist or Complex Figure? |
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Thurmond obviously enjoyed being a politician and wanted to stay in Washington. To that end, Thurmond simply had to moderate his views on race in order to remain in power. It was a numbers game. Although many Black people had migrated north, some 30% of the electorate was African American. The time was also right because he had something to offer. His relationship with the Nixon administration in the early 1970’s was such that Thurmond had lots of federal money he could spread around the state to the folks who needed it. He did just that. He was great at bringing home the bacon and both Black and White South Carolinians knew it. Voting him out meant voting out what little leverage little South Carolina had at the time. Thurmond wanted to make inroads with Black voters. Thurmond even hired a Black fellow, Thomas Moss, to help him with the Black community. None of this would have gotten him anywhere with Black folks if he didn’t deliver, but he did. Again, holding their noses until something better came along, the Black folks voted for him. Even my strong -- AND SMART -- mother.
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| Rep Jim Clyburn: Power Broker for Today |
How I Got Over? That's a Mahalia Jackson gospel song I love. Yet, in the poor South we "got over " the best way we could. Those complicated times are not easy to explain to judgmental people and -- guess what -- we don’t have to. My mom is a wonderful example of strength, dignity and courage and I thank God every day for the example she set for me.
And no, she didn’t like Strom one bit.
