'In a Nice Way': Moderation as a Tool of Racial Oppression in North Carolina after Brown from 1954-1956 (2015)

Undergraduate: Abigail Cooksey

Faculty Advisor: James Leloudis
Department: History

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After Brown, the North Carolina Executive Branch and the Pearsall Committee¿¿¿s used the discourse of moderation as a tool to keep North Carolina public schools open. In practice, however, these men prioritized the public opinion of the white majority over the rights of African Americans, openly excluding them from the decision making process and continuing the Southern tradition of paternalism and racial oppression. From 1954 to 1956, the executive branch defined moderation through the tactics that they used to keep segregation as the status quo in North Carolina including active inaction, voluntary segregation, and the Pearsall Plan.