I'm currently re-writing my Dewey Wins TL and I was wondering whether a white supremacist paramilitary group would be plausible in the South during the early Civil Rights movement.
PC: White supremacist paramilitary group in the 50s/60s
- Thread starter King_Arthur
- Start date
And there's also Rockwell's American Nazi Party which may qualify.
I meant a group that are more organised and less drunken mob-ish than the Klan and more killy that Rockwell and Co.
You could go with a Klan off shoot possibly with a more charismatic Jim Jones or Charlie Manson-esque type leader. But given that you already had church bombings and fire bombing of busses during the freedom rides, you don't have too far to push to get where you seem to want to be going.
Sorta like the Belfast Orangemen, only hating blacks instead of Catholics?
What I want to do is major riot in Montgomery during the boycott followed by on-off violence for about 10 years or so. Eventually, Malcolm X will found a black defence group. I have some ideas on making MLK less peaceable, but I'm not sure on them. Basically, I want the Civil Rights Movement to be a lot more violent and messy than OTL.
The Orangemen are only linked to paras, they aren't actually one. The KKK being the Sinn Fein to my IRA is probably the best analogy.
Well, I was using the term "Orangemen" loosely. I meant the Protestant paramilitary groups in Belfast.
Oh OK. Yep they are basically Loyalist paramilitaries but in the South.
I mean, the Klan was effectively a terrorist organization. You don't need a full blown insurgency when the local authorities are willing to look the other way at your crimes and continue a legal system that benefits your interests at the exclusion of those you oppress.
I feel to get what you'd want, you'd basically need a second Reconstruction; with the federal government ordering immediate integration, not 'with all deliberate speed'. But obviously there was no political will for that.
I feel to get what you'd want, you'd basically need a second Reconstruction; with the federal government ordering immediate integration, not 'with all deliberate speed'. But obviously there was no political will for that.
The thing I'm not too sure on is how to instigate a riot during the boycott. I suppose some kind of petty crime like a black man mugging a white guy might do the trick.
Also, would Alabama send in the NG or would the President have to federalise it. Would the NG accept being federalised?
Also, would Alabama send in the NG or would the President have to federalise it. Would the NG accept being federalised?
Yeah, I know. But the version that sprung up during the Civil Rights movement was mostly focused on antagonizing blacks.
My understanding is that the 1920s Klan, focused on immigrants and Catholics, was mostly popular in the Northern States.
FillyofDelphi
Banned
Alabama would want to take every measure possible to keep things from getting bad enough that Washington would feel justified in and face public pressure to get involved. If anything would get the country to gather the political will to actually crack down on Jim Crow, it's white supremacists running amuck with absolute disreguard for even the venere of rule of law. Showing absolutely no willingness to bend is liable to result in being broken by the imposition of marshal law and the end of white supremacy,while cracking down on the worst excesses allows the main body of the policy to survive.
In 1955/6 is it possible to enforce a law similar to the 64 act? Also, is it possible for violence to continue after the end of Jim Crow?
FillyofDelphi
Banned
It's possible, but the question is would you have the motivation to? If the Feds are willing to crack down (and they would to back the principal of Federal Supremacy assuming the state government is stupid enough to be absolutely mule-headed and basically back anarchy and open faced mass murder) then you can have violence but forget about it being remotely effective. Sure, folks might not want black equality, but if they have to chose between it and marshal law brought on by their own extremists I imagine it won't take long for the population at large to turn against the Klan to get their freedoms and normal life back.
I just don't think that own riot would cause a CRA. Also, it's not total anarchy or even Northern Ireland 1969-1998, the group would be more terroristy than a para.