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From Boss Crump to King Willie: How Race Changed Memphis Politics

Amazon.com Price:  $21.14 (as of 20/04/2019 08:37 PST- Details)

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From Boss Crump to King Willie offers an in-depth look at the vital role that race played in the political evolution of Memphis, from the upward thrust of longtime political boss Edward Hull Crump to the election of Dr. Willie Herenton as the city’s first black mayor. Filled with vivid details on the workings of municipal politics, this accessible account by veteran journalist Otis Sanford explores the nearly century-long struggle by African Americans in Memphis to safe recognition from local leaders and gain a viable voice in the city’s affairs.Sanford explains how, in 1909, Crump won his first election as mayor without black improve but then immediately sought to woo and keep the black vote so as to take care of his political machine for the next two generations. The African American community overwhelmingly supported the Crump organization because he a minimum of listened and responded to a couple of their concerns, at the same time as other white leaders completely ignored them. The book probes Crump’s hot-and-cold relationship with local newspaper editors, some of whom castigated his machine politics, and examines the press’s influence on the political and civic life of the city. It also shows how, amid longstanding racism and poverty in Memphis, the black community on the other hand produced many prominent business, religious, and political leaders, most of whom had an amicable relationship with “Boss” Crump.The book goes on to explore the political vacuum that ensued after Crump’s death in 1954, and the factors that led to African Americans becoming the majority voting population in the city following Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. Through the civil rights movement and beyond, black Memphians kept up their fight for recognition and inclusion. That fight culminated in the election of Dr. Herenton, a well-educated native son who proved to be the right man at the right time to make racial and political history in the city. Additionally, the book compares the racial climate in Memphis with that in other southern cities throughout the height of the civil rights movement.

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