Brandon K. Winford
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813178257
- eISBN:
- 9780813178264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813178257.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Social Groups
Chapter 3 examines how the legal phase of the civil rights movement came together as World War II ended. It highlights Wheeler’s postwar activism and involvement in the battle for black educational ...
More
Chapter 3 examines how the legal phase of the civil rights movement came together as World War II ended. It highlights Wheeler’s postwar activism and involvement in the battle for black educational equality in North Carolina and the South more broadly. He believed education to be one of the most essential ingredients for achieving the expansion of economic rights. This chapter argues that it was during the postwar period that he articulated his economic vision of New South prosperity to bankers in the Tar Heel State. During the world conflict, M&F Bank purchased war bonds, loaned black farmers money for equipment to support the war effort, and then helped returning black war veterans take advantage of the GI Bill through providing home loans. His embrace of legal tactics helped challenge an unjust educational system that effectively stifled black schoolchildren from learning the skills needed to obtain jobs later. This chapter also explores how Wheeler and others argued for immediate school desegregation directly following the Brown decision.Less
Chapter 3 examines how the legal phase of the civil rights movement came together as World War II ended. It highlights Wheeler’s postwar activism and involvement in the battle for black educational equality in North Carolina and the South more broadly. He believed education to be one of the most essential ingredients for achieving the expansion of economic rights. This chapter argues that it was during the postwar period that he articulated his economic vision of New South prosperity to bankers in the Tar Heel State. During the world conflict, M&F Bank purchased war bonds, loaned black farmers money for equipment to support the war effort, and then helped returning black war veterans take advantage of the GI Bill through providing home loans. His embrace of legal tactics helped challenge an unjust educational system that effectively stifled black schoolchildren from learning the skills needed to obtain jobs later. This chapter also explores how Wheeler and others argued for immediate school desegregation directly following the Brown decision.
Brandon K. Winford
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813178257
- eISBN:
- 9780813178264
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813178257.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Social Groups
This work combines black business and civil rights history to explain how economic concerns shaped the goals and objectives of the black freedom struggle. Brandon K. Winford examines the “black ...
More
This work combines black business and civil rights history to explain how economic concerns shaped the goals and objectives of the black freedom struggle. Brandon K. Winford examines the “black business activism” of banker and civil rights lawyer John Hervey Wheeler (1908–1978). Born on the campus of Kittrell College in Vance County, North Carolina, he came of age in Jim Crow Atlanta, Georgia, where his father became an executive with the world-renowned North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company (NC Mutual). As president of Mechanics and Farmers Bank (M&F Bank), located on Durham’s “Black Wall Street,” Wheeler became the Tar Heel State’s most influential black power broker and among the top civil rights figures in the South.
Winford places Wheeler at the center of his narrative to understand how black business leaders tackled civil rights while continuously pointing to the economy’s larger significance for the success and advancement of the postwar New South. In this way, Wheeler articulated a bold vision of regional prosperity, grounded in full citizenship and economic power for black people. He reminded the white South that its future was inextricably linked to the plight of black southerners. He spent his entire career trying to fulfill these ideals through his institutional and organizational affiliations, as part and parcel of his civil rights agenda.
Winford draws on previously unexamined primary and secondary sources, including newspapers, business records, FBI reports, personal papers, financial statements, presidential files, legal documents, oral histories, and organizational and institutional records.Less
This work combines black business and civil rights history to explain how economic concerns shaped the goals and objectives of the black freedom struggle. Brandon K. Winford examines the “black business activism” of banker and civil rights lawyer John Hervey Wheeler (1908–1978). Born on the campus of Kittrell College in Vance County, North Carolina, he came of age in Jim Crow Atlanta, Georgia, where his father became an executive with the world-renowned North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company (NC Mutual). As president of Mechanics and Farmers Bank (M&F Bank), located on Durham’s “Black Wall Street,” Wheeler became the Tar Heel State’s most influential black power broker and among the top civil rights figures in the South.
Winford places Wheeler at the center of his narrative to understand how black business leaders tackled civil rights while continuously pointing to the economy’s larger significance for the success and advancement of the postwar New South. In this way, Wheeler articulated a bold vision of regional prosperity, grounded in full citizenship and economic power for black people. He reminded the white South that its future was inextricably linked to the plight of black southerners. He spent his entire career trying to fulfill these ideals through his institutional and organizational affiliations, as part and parcel of his civil rights agenda.
Winford draws on previously unexamined primary and secondary sources, including newspapers, business records, FBI reports, personal papers, financial statements, presidential files, legal documents, oral histories, and organizational and institutional records.
Brandon K. Winford
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780813178257
- eISBN:
- 9780813178264
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813178257.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Social Groups
Chapter 4 examines Wheeler’s activism during the direct-action phase of the civil rights movement. It pushes us to consider how a black businessman in Wheeler’s position could serve not as an ...
More
Chapter 4 examines Wheeler’s activism during the direct-action phase of the civil rights movement. It pushes us to consider how a black businessman in Wheeler’s position could serve not as an obstacle to but as a steadfast advocate of alternative tactics during the 1960s. Despite the emergence of student-centered leadership with the 1960 sit-in movement, Wheeler did not take a sidelines position. Instead, he continued to operate behind the scenes while publicly and privately lending his support to student activists. Wheeler had a reputation for always being ahead of his time, and white leaders considered him to be a radical. His acceptance of young activists and his integrationist views represented a unique departure from many of his black business contemporaries. I argue that while direct action represented a shift away from strict reliance on legal tactics, as well as a generational shift in leadership, Wheeler recognized that ongoing civil disobedience meant that he was in a much better position than ever before to fulfill the ideals of New South prosperity through increased involvement in reform and policymaking at the local, state, and national levels.Less
Chapter 4 examines Wheeler’s activism during the direct-action phase of the civil rights movement. It pushes us to consider how a black businessman in Wheeler’s position could serve not as an obstacle to but as a steadfast advocate of alternative tactics during the 1960s. Despite the emergence of student-centered leadership with the 1960 sit-in movement, Wheeler did not take a sidelines position. Instead, he continued to operate behind the scenes while publicly and privately lending his support to student activists. Wheeler had a reputation for always being ahead of his time, and white leaders considered him to be a radical. His acceptance of young activists and his integrationist views represented a unique departure from many of his black business contemporaries. I argue that while direct action represented a shift away from strict reliance on legal tactics, as well as a generational shift in leadership, Wheeler recognized that ongoing civil disobedience meant that he was in a much better position than ever before to fulfill the ideals of New South prosperity through increased involvement in reform and policymaking at the local, state, and national levels.
