"Public Order is Even More Important than the Rights of Negroes:" Race and Recreation in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1927-1973

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Ervin, M. (2015). "Public Order is Even More Important than the Rights of Negroes:" Race and Recreation in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1927-1973. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

In July 1960, Charlotte’s Park and Recreation Commission enacted an official policy of desegregation in the city’s parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, and recreation centers. This development, which resulted in the first integrated municipal swimming pool in the state of North Carolina, seemed to embody the progressive business-centric ethos of Charlotte’s white elite. While token desegregation was lauded by commentators as evidence of Charlotte’s progressive race relations, the reality was far more complex. During the majority of the twentieth century, the Commission utilized a series of putatively moderate methods to suppress black dissent and muffle white reaction in the city. Even after de jure segregation crumbled, de facto segregation remained largely intact. This form of exclusion was buttressed by discriminatory public policies that redistributed black tax dollars to white communities, spatial segregation that insulated middle-and upper-class white neighborhoods from African Americans, and police harassment that fractured militant Black Power organizations. The persistence of these factors disempowered black residents in distinctive ways, perpetuating poverty and insecurity. Although modes of white reaction in Charlotte were less vivid than massive resistance or the violence found in other southern locales, the effects of these seemingly banal policies were remarkably similar.

Details
Author

Ervin, Michael

Title

"Public Order is Even More Important than the Rights of Negroes:" Race and Recreation in Charlotte, North Carolina, 1927-1973

Physical Description

1 online resource (202 pages) : PDF

Date

2015

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

In July 1960, Charlotte’s Park and Recreation Commission enacted an official policy of desegregation in the city’s parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, and recreation centers. This development, which resulted in the first integrated municipal swimming pool in the state of North Carolina, seemed to embody the progressive business-centric ethos of Charlotte’s white elite. While token desegregation was lauded by commentators as evidence of Charlotte’s progressive race relations, the reality was far more complex. During the majority of the twentieth century, the Commission utilized a series of putatively moderate methods to suppress black dissent and muffle white reaction in the city. Even after de jure segregation crumbled, de facto segregation remained largely intact. This form of exclusion was buttressed by discriminatory public policies that redistributed black tax dollars to white communities, spatial segregation that insulated middle-and upper-class white neighborhoods from African Americans, and police harassment that fractured militant Black Power organizations. The persistence of these factors disempowered black residents in distinctive ways, perpetuating poverty and insecurity. Although modes of white reaction in Charlotte were less vivid than massive resistance or the violence found in other southern locales, the effects of these seemingly banal policies were remarkably similar.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

History
African Americans--Study and teaching
Ethnicity--Study and teaching

Degree

M.A.

Keywords

Black Freedom
Charlotte
Civil Rights
North Carolina
Public Policy

Subject Area

History

Advisor(s)

Ramsey, Sonya

Committee Members

Hicks, Cheryl
Goldfield, David

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2015.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Ervin_uncc_0694N_10835

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:1254