3 minute read
An Abbreviated History: African Americans in North Carolina Politics
During slavery and before the Civil War, North Carolina African American men and women have had a hunger for being a part of the political process yet could not actively participate until the Reconstruction Era. Throughout slavery, Black slaves were only used as property and political props to bolster white southern political power. They had no agency over themselves and their political power. Sadly enough, African Americans did not even equate to a whole person. White politicians commodified Black bodies to be three-fifths of a white person, which gave slaveholders more political power. Fortunately, freed African Americans had a brief opportunity to tap into their political potential in the Reconstruction Era. Slavery set the precedent that African Americans would not be seen as equal to their white counterparts in United States politics.
Since the state government was in shambles from the Civil War, North Carolina had to rebuild politically and economically during Reconstruction. To do this, President Andrew Johnson sent military troops to North Carolina to ensure Union rebels would stay in line. During Reconstruction, the 15th Amendment was ratified, giving African American men the right to vote. Several African American men were also elected to political office. Many white male property owners were upset that newly freed African Americans gained so much political power and sought to change that. During the subsequent election cycle, newly appointed African American lawmakers were removed from their offices, and new restrictions were put in place regarding who could participate in elections. Laws like the Grandfather Rule, reading tests, and poll taxes were created to ensure that African Americans would not gain more political power in North Carolina.
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Moreover, voter intimidation tactics used by the Ku Klux Klan fueled fear among African Americans. The use of vigilante intimidation plus the passage of Jim Crow laws began an era of voter suppression that made it difficult for African Americans to participate in the political process until the 1960s.
Despite the institutional disenfranchisement, African Americans in North Carolina found subversive ways to resist political dispossession. They created and used social institutions like social clubs, Greek Letter Organizations, and faith-based communities to organize and mobilize their communities to fight against injustices. Building on the traditional role of women as moral agents within society, African American women were particularly masterful organizers during this adverse political environment.
With more than 30 years of involvement in temperance societies, Republican aid groups, and churches, Black women in North Carolina became critical spokespersons for their communities. They managed to turn the Progressive crusade for public cleanliness into a means to improve the living conditions of many African Americans. Regardless of these efforts, most white North Carolinians sought only to refine the Jim Crow system and retain systematic segregation through the premise of separate but equal facilities. However, even amid oppressive efforts, the work of these social institutions and organizing efforts laid the groundwork for the Civil Rights Movement.
During the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans began to make many legal reform strides regarding reinstating rights for Black people in society. The most notable actions were the legal case of Blue v. Durham Board of Education in 1951, the school integration efforts of 1957 in Charlotte, Greensboro, and Winston-Salem, and the Greensboro Four SitIn in 1960. All the mobilization during the 1950s and 1960s led to the adoption of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. After its adoption, African Americans began to shift their attention to obtaining political offices and politically furthering the issues that pertain to Black North Carolinians. Although African Americans were ‘documented’ equally, there have been and continues to be remnants of Jim Crow political tactics. Racialized violence such as the Wilmington Bombing of 1972 and political tactics like redlining and gerrymandering still suppress African American political power. Even today, African Americans still fight voter suppression with the passing of Voter ID laws in the 2018 election and absentee ballot fraud in the 2018 Congressional District Nine race.
Regardless of the racial backlash, Black people continue to persevere, rebuild and rebrand themselves in North Carolina. African American North Carolinians are resilient people who will not allow voter suppression and voter intimidation to get the best of them. For African American North Carolinians, 2022 is a crucial year. It is our time to fight for what is right and continue building Black political power in North Carolina.
