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A Christmas boycott that worked

As 1961 came to a close, some whites in the Mississippi Delta were dreaming of a “white” Christmas when they decided to keep their black patrons away from the annual Clarksdale city parade.

Its tune changed when the Coahoma County NAACP chapter led by civil rights activist Aaron Henry sponsored a major boycott during the 1961 holiday shopping season. Downtown stores relied heavily on black trade, leading to the boycott. immediate and long-lasting effects.

Medgar Evers, head of the state NAACP, and Henry had met with President Kennedy over the summer during the NAACP convention in Philadelphia. Members of the national board traveled from Philadelphia to Washington, DC on a “freedom train” where they spoke with the president and others about the seriousness of their problems.

“President Kennedy listened to us attentively, was very cordial, and gave us a tour of the White House,” Henry later wrote in his autobiography.

Several months later, the mayor of Clarksdale decided that there would be no black participation in the local Christmas parade – his decision would result in the first major confrontation in Clarksdale since 1955.

Aaron Henry and others were stunned and confronted by the mayor’s edict. It was tradition for the black band to play at the end of the parade, followed by floats from their community. There appeared to be no reason for this decision, except that the mayor “apparently resented the progress we were making across the state,” Henry said.

The announcement came in November and was supported by the Chamber of Commerce. Henry and Evers called for a boycott of downtown stores with the slogan: “If we can’t parade downtown, we won’t change downtown.” Flyers were printed and a newsletter was sent calling for blacks to join the boycott; merchants felt pressure from the start.

The leaders of the white community did not accept the black community and the boycott dragged on. Aaron Henry voiced the opinion of the black community, when he said it could go on forever unless there are real changes in hiring practices. When Henry was asked by County Attorney Thomas H. (Babe) Pearson to come into his office and talk about the boycott,

“We met in his office at 7.30 the next morning. He told me that he knew I was leading the effort and wanted to warn me that it was illegal. He read something from a law book but did not explain how it was related to the boycott, and I told him that our lawyers had warned us that we were not breaking the law, unless we used threats, force or intimidation to try to get people to participate. Finally he told me that he would put me in jail if he did not use my influence to cancel the boycott He gave no explanation of the legal process involved in such an arrest and was clearly confident in his ability to put a black man in jail whenever he wanted. I told him that he would have to do just that because I had no intention of canceling it. “

Aaron Henry didn’t move, so Pearson called Clarksdale Police Chief Ben Collins to come out of the side room and tell him to “take this black to jail.” The arrest was illegal, as no warrant was issued, “and I was not committing a crime in their presence, but I knew even better that I should not argue with an armed policeman. And I did not mind going to jail, as I believed it. “. it would result in an intensification of the boycott, “Henry observed.

When they got to the jail, Henry was left standing in the lobby because no one was sure whether to hire him or not and, if so, what position to press. Then they brought in seven more civil rights leaders from Clarksdale and all were locked up, despite the lack of charges.

When the Coahoma County Sheriff, LA Ross, arrived at the jail, he was angry about the forced detention and “really outraged by the whole situation.” Ross demanded an explanation from Pearson, who told him the boycott was illegal.

Two hours later, Henry and others were finally charged with restricting trade and released. After this, the boycott reached its peak. Merchants felt the economic pressure as they lost half of their customers. But Pearson had other ideas, and several days later insisted that Henry and others be placed “on tangible bond” of $ 2,000 each pending their court appearance.

Originally, the black leaders of Clarksdale were brought to trial in a justice of the peace court and found guilty of restricting trade. When the county court upheld the conviction, he appealed to the circuit court, which ruled that the petition should be amended or Henry and others would be released.

But there was no amendment, and Henry and the others were not acquitted or found guilty, while bail money was withheld. “We were out of jail, but we weren’t sure of our legal status,” Henry wrote.

As Henry and others were arrested, another group, all white, launched their own boycott. The Mississippi State Legislature passed a resolution “with little dissent” that no loyal Mississippi should shop in Memphis, Tennessee, across the state line and fairly close to Clarksdale.

Angry that public accommodations and other facilities in Memphis were being quietly desegregated, the Mississippi legislature had already “distinguished itself,” wrote Tougaloo professor John Salter, “by publicly investigating conditions at Jackson University Hospital, where the Black and white children left their segregated children. rooms and played together in the hallways. “

The Clarksdale boycott continued for three years, eventually slowing down. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was seen as “a dramatic way to end it.” Along the way, the mechanization of farm labor was heading to the Delta, and as the need for black workers diminished, so did the meanness of the whites.

On June 12, 1963, on his way home, Medgar Evers was killed by an assassin’s bullet.

(Excerpt from “Where Rebels Roost, Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited”, Susan Klopfer)

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