Racial equality organization
The
Southern Regional Council
(SRC) is a reform-oriented organization created in 1944 to avoid racial violence and promote racial equality in the
Southern United States
. Voter registration and political-awareness campaigns are used toward this end. The SRC evolved in 1944 from the
Commission on Interracial Cooperation
. It is headquartered in
Atlanta
,
Georgia
.
History
[
edit
]
The Commission on Interracial Cooperation (CIC) was formed in 1919.
[1]
The CIC formed in response to the increased tensions between white Americans and
black
soldiers returning from fighting in Europe after
World War I
.
[2]
Although most African Americans still lived in the South, the
Great Migration
had started to the North and Midwestern industrial cities, and thousands of blacks were living in new urban environments. They often had to compete with immigrants and ethnic whites for jobs and housing. In the summer of 1919, race riots erupted in numerous major cities as whites attacked blacks. African-American veterans and others resisted being treated as second-class citizens and fought back, especially in Chicago and Washington, DC,
[3]
during what has been called "
Red Summer
" because of the widespread violence. Black veterans in the South were confronted with expectations they would submit to
Jim Crow laws
, and lynchings of black men rose after the war, including of some veterans in uniform.
During
World War II
, members of the CIC realized that the same problem could recur during and following that war.
[4]
In 1943, leaders from the CIC, including sociologist
Howard W. Odum
, held a series of conferences in
Durham, North Carolina
;
Richmond, Virginia
; and Atlanta, Georgia. As a result, they formed the Southern Regional Council (SRC), with Odum selected as its leader.
[5]
The CIC was disbanded,
[4]
essentially being merged with the new SRC in 1944.
[5]
[6]
The SRC was formed "to attain through research and action the ideals and practices of equal opportunity for all peoples of the region."
[6]
The SRC urged
whites
, particularly those with more
liberal
political attitudes, to help black people obtain
equal rights
. Like the CIC before it, the SRC was a coalition of
lawyers
,
Christian ministers
, and
newspaper editors
from thirteen southern states. Although the group was bi-racial and included both men and women, the majority of its members were white.
[7]
Initially, Odum sought to bring about racial equality in the Southern US by improving economic, social and political conditions.
[1]
The SRC avoided taking a public stand against legal segregation, on the belief that this would hinder progress toward its economic planning goals. Critics of this approach, such as activist author
Lillian Smith
, believed that the SRC should condemn the state-imposed legal segregation. In 1949 the SRC declared in a resolution that segregation "in and of itself constitutes discrimination and inequality of treatment."
[5]
As a result, many whites left the SRC, resulting in a decline of membership by almost half by 1954.
[5]
Activities
[
edit
]
Often partners with other groups involved in the
civil rights movement
, the SRC used
communications
and
analysis
to try to reach people through facts and education. It published literature related to racial justice, released studies on
race relations
, and acted as a
think tank
for issues concerning the movement.
[
citation needed
]
Publications
[
edit
]
Since 1944, the SRC has published some form of journal. The Council's first publication,
Southern Frontier
, had been published by the Commission on Interracial Cooperation from January 1940 until February 1944
.
[8]
The SRC continued publishing
Southern Frontier
from March 1944 to December 1945 before reformatting and renaming the publication as
New South
. In 1974,
New South
and a companion tabloid
South Today
were merged into a color glossy magazine,
Southern Voices
. This published for ten months but ceased because of financial issues.
[9]
The SRC journal
Southern Changes
was published between 1978 and 2003.
[10]
Emory University
, in partnership with the
Library of Congress
, has digitally preserved the journal, described as "an alternative and groundbreaking news outlet for stories on social justice in the South."
[11]
The Council publishes various issues briefs, position papers, and legislative reviews, including the annuals
Southern States Legislative Review
and
State of the South Report
.
[12]
Voter Education Project
[
edit
]
The SRC served as a liaison between a number of southern organizations and northern foundations, providing resources and opportunities for mutual understanding. The organization created the
Voter Education Project
(VEP), building on an idea from U.S. Attorney General
Robert F. Kennedy
during the
Kennedy administration
; the project was run by the SRC from its inception on April 1, 1962, until it was made an independent organization on June 1, 1971.
[13]
[14]
The VEP did not actually register voters; instead, it acted as a conduit between
philanthropic
grants and civil rights organizations conducting
voter registration
drives or voting-related research.
[13]
For example, the VEP funded voter-registration work by the
National Urban League
; in October 1962, the Jefferson County (Alabama) Voters Campaign received assistance with a registration effort from the League.
[14]
Lillian Smith Book Award
[
edit
]
The
Lillian Smith Book Award
was established by the SRC in 1968, shortly after writer
Lillian Smith
died, to "recognize authors whose writing extends the legacy of this outspoken writer, educator and social critic who challenged her fellow Southerners and all Americans on issues of social and racial justice."
[12]
Georgia Council on Human Relations
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Dunbar, Leslie W. (January 1965). "The Southern Regional Council".
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science
.
357
(1). Sage Publications: 108?112.
doi
:
10.1177/000271626535700113
.
JSTOR
1035897
.
S2CID
145120160
.
- ^
Pullen, Ann Ellis (December 23, 2004).
"Commission on Interracial Cooperation"
.
New Georgia Encyclopedia
. Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press
. Retrieved
October 12,
2010
.
- ^
"Commission on Interracial Cooperation, 1919?1944"
.
ProQuest
. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 2010
. Retrieved
October 24,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Southern Regional Council Papers, 1944?1968"
.
ProQuest
. Ann Arbor, Michigan. 2010
. Retrieved
October 24,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Patton, Randall L. (October 12, 2007).
"Southern Regional Council"
.
New Georgia Encyclopedia
. Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press
. Retrieved
October 24,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"SRC History Timeline"
.
Southern Regional Council
. Atlanta
. Retrieved
October 24,
2010
.
- ^
Miller, Steven P. (2006).
"Whither Southern Liberalism in the Post-Civil Rights Era? The Southern Regional Council and its Peers, 1965-1972"
.
Georgia Historical Quarterly
.
90
(4): 547?568
. Retrieved
February 15,
2018
.
- ^
Commission on Interracial Cooperation; Southern Regional Council (1969).
Southern frontier. Volumes 1-6, 1940-1945. Volumes 1-6, 1940-1945
. New York: Negro Universities Press.
ISBN
9780837112602
.
OCLC
26109050
.
- ^
Suitts, Steve (1978).
"Interchange: A New Magazine: our creed and hopes"
.
Southern Changes
.
1
(1). Atlanta: Southern Regional Council: 2?3.
ISSN
0193-2446
. Retrieved
October 25,
2010
.
- ^
Tullos, Allen; Hickcox, Alice.
"Overview"
.
The Southern Changes Digital Archive
. Atlanta: The Beck Center for Electronic Collections at Emory University
. Retrieved
October 25,
2010
.
- ^
"Interview with the MetaArchive Project"
.
Digital Preservation
. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress
. Retrieved
October 25,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"Programs"
.
Southern Regional Council
. Atlanta
. Retrieved
October 25,
2010
.
- ^
a
b
"The Voter Education Project Organizational Records"
.
Emory Libraries Blog
. March 14, 2011
. Retrieved
December 30,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
Dickerson, Dennis C. (1998).
Militant Mediator: Whitney M. Young Jr
. University Press of Kentucky. p.
244
.
ISBN
0-8131-2058-6
.
LCCN
97043456
.
External links
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Events
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1954?1959
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1964?1968
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