JAMES O. EASTLAND

Reconstruction was the period in the South after the Civil War. The change that emancipation brought to the white South was traumatic, and there was a constant struggle between those who wanted the Blacks to be integrated into Southern Society—and those Southerners who wanted to create a society that would be as close to slavery as possible, So the Klu Klux Klan and other terrorist organizations formed and with lynching and other intimidation, much of the initial progress of Reconstruction was rolled back and did not get reinstated until the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts were passed in 1964.

Eastland was one of the most paranoid politicians of the late 20th century or so cynical that he made these charges to pander to the extreme racists in Mississippi. He claimed that Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement was full of communists to which King replied, “There are as many communists in this movement as there are Eskimos in Florida.”

This statement was in response to President Harry Truman’s ten-point civil rights proposal. Eastland was clearly implying that in the next presidential election, the South would have to stick together so that they could elect a segregationist Southern candidate.

This statement was in response to President Harry Truman’s ten-point civil rights proposal. Eastland was clearly implying that in the next presidential election, the South would have to stick together so that they could elect a segregationist Southern candidate.

Reconstruction was the period in the South after the Civil War. The change that emancipation brought to the white South was traumatic, and there was a constant struggle between those who wanted the Blacks to be integrated into Southern Society—and those Southerners who wanted to create a society that would be as close to slavery as possible, So the Klu Klux Klan and other terrorist organizations formed and with lynching and other intimidation, much of the initial progress of Reconstruction was rolled back and did not get reinstated until the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts were passed in 1964.

Eastland was one of the most paranoid politicians of the late 20th century or so cynical that he made these charges to pander to the extreme racists in Mississippi. He claimed that Martin Luther King’s civil rights movement was full of communists to which King replied, “There are as many communists in this movement as there are Eskimos in Florida.”