An Hour Before Daylight. by Jimmy Carter: on Civil Rights


Childhood Civil War view: whites conquered; blacks liberated

There is a strong tie to the Civil War, or, as we called it, the War Between the States. Although I was born more than half a century after the war was over, it was a living reality in my life. I grew up in one of the families whose people could not forget that we had been conquered, while most of our neighbors were black people whose grandparents had been liberated in the same conflict. Our two races, although inseparable in our daily lives, were kept apart by social custom, misinterpreting of Holy Scriptures, and the unchallenged law of the land.

It seemed natural for white folks to cherish our Southern heritage and cling to our way of life. We were bound together by blood kinship as well as by lingering resentment against those who had defeated us. A frequent subject of discussion around my grandparents' homes was the damage the "damn Yankees" had done to the South during Reconstruction years.

Source: An Hour Before Daylight, by Jimmy Carter, p. 17-18 Dec 16, 2001

1930s South: elders resented Reconstruction; but not youth

Many older Georgians still remembered vividly the anger and embarrassment of their parents, who had to live under the domination of carpetbaggers and their Southern allies. My grandfather Gordy was 13 years old when what he saw as the Northern oppressors finally relinquished political and economic control of the state in 1876. My mother was the only one in her family who ever spoke up to defend Abraham Lincoln. I don't remember ever hearing slavery mentioned, only the unwarranted violation of states' rights and the intrusion of the federal government in the private lives of citizens. Folks never considered that the real tragedy of Reconstruction was its failure to establish social justice for the former slaves. The intense bitterness was mostly confined to our older relatives, who couldn't understand the desire of some of us younger ones to look more into the future--or at least the present--instead of just the past.
Source: An Hour Before Daylight, by Jimmy Carter, p. 18 Dec 16, 2001

  • The above quotations are from An Hour Before Daylight
    Memories of a Rural Boyhood
    by Jimmy Carter.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Civil Rights.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Jimmy Carter on Civil Rights.
2012 Presidential contenders on Civil Rights:
  Democrats:
Pres.Barack Obama(IL)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)

Republicans:
Gov.Mitt Romney(MA)
Rep.Paul Ryan(WI) 		Third Parties:
Green: Dr.Jill Stein(MA)
Libertarian: Gov.Gary Johnson(NM)
Justice: Mayor Rocky Anderson(UT)
Constitution: Rep.Virgil Goode(VA)
Peace+Freedom: Roseanne Barr(HI)
Reform Party: André Barnett(NY)
AmericansElect: Gov.Buddy Roemer(LA)
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Page last updated: May 27, 2013