The Treatment Of Unflower County, By Fannie Lou Hamer

unflower County is a small town that is nestled in the Mississippi Delta and was considered a plantation frontier. Like most Delta cities, African Americans made up the majority of the population due to the fact that plantations required large quantities of slaves in order to produce a profit. This imbalance often concerned the white population since they feared that their power would be stolen from them by enraged slaves who demanded an end to white supremacy. This perceived threat frightened generations of white families and instilled feelings of racial resentment and a need to preserve white superiority. Christopher Asch’s work examines how white politicians, namely James Eastland, continuously worked to maintain white supremacy as well

The author also observes the efforts put forth by Fannie Lou Hamer, a member of the Civil Rights Movement, in order to remove Jim Crow from the South, advocate for equal treatment of African Americans, and to encourage African Americans to seek out a fulfilling life. Asch does a remarkable job displaying the similarities between the former sharecropper and the senator. For example, Hamer and Eastland were from Sunflower County and existed within their fixed, social roles: senator and sharecropper. Another similarity between the two individuals is that both were respected and at the same time greatly disliked in the public eye. Due to the unyielding stance each individual held regarding their views of race, earned them both contempt and admiration nationwide. Even though Eastland and Hamer share many similarities, it is Hamer who stood on the right side of history allowing her name to be remembered, as opposed to Eastland, for the bravery she displayed to eliminate

Both groups still attended their own churches, schools, and socialized within separate settings. This residual racism remained a constant barrier to racial progress and Asch argued within his work it still has a lasting effect. African Americans had a difficult time achieving political power even through the 1970’s because of the lack of education. In Sunflower County schools, the school board, administration, and a large majority of the teachers were white. Many white children were pulled out of public schools for a better education and more opportunity at private institutions. Since a majority of the students left, it was difficult for white people to want to fund a school that taught a majority of African American students. Economically, African Americans were probably worse off after the Civil Rights Movement because sharecropping had ended and the individuals still remained vulnerable to economic pressure. The Civil Rights Movement provided a way for African Americans to feel empowered to stand up against white supremacy. However, the movement was not successful in achieving full freedom it had fought long and hard to gain. Asch’s book allows readers to understand why racial resentment as well as clear economic, social, and political barriers still exist in the south today. African Americans, along