Resistance, Rebirth, and Redemption: The Rhetoric of White Supremacy In Post-Civil War Louisiana

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 1-1-2009

Department

Political Science, International Development, and International Affairs

School

Social Science and Global Studies

Abstract

Did white supremacists successfully appeal to a right of resistance in Louisiana in the 1870s? I argue that they did. White supremacists self-consciously defended their own actions within the framework of an Anglo-American discourse of resistance against tyrannical government, and they broadly succeeded in convincing fellow (white) citizens. Can we deny them the cover of legitimacy this tradition affords? We might suggest that a right to resist is rendered void by the fact that white supremacists were resisting constitutional democracy itself. I argue against this strategy (or, more precisely, for a right to resist constitutional democratic government), and suggest that the problem is not what white supremacists were fighting against. The right to resist is bound up with a defense of the just demands of the people, and this claim, as articulated by white supremacists, rests on decidedly shaky ground. Deciding the issue, however, is a matter of political contestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Publication Title

Historical Reflections

Volume

35

Issue

1

First Page

97

Last Page

113

Link to Full Text

Find in your library

Share

COinS