Subversive Southerners: Anne Braden and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Cold War South

'Subversive Southerner' is a must-read for anyone interested in southern history or in the social and cultural upheavals of the 50s and 60s. It's a riveting story of personal transformation and courage in the face of unrelenting persecution by authorities, and a reminder of how fragile and how precious are our civil liberties. Anne Braden is a heroine-- dedicated, single-minded in her pursuit of civil rights, but compassionate and always interested in individuals. There's plenty of bombings, arrests, and HUAC subpoenas to keep you turning pages,and lots of quotes, oral-history style, from major figures from the 50s and 60s. It's well-written--Fosl is an expert interviewer and very good writer.

Anne Braden courageously opposed the Dixie segregationist establishment. She was born Anne McCarty in 1924 in "Louisville where white folks lived." Her earlier concerns were conventional and non threatening to the social mores of her Jim Crow society. Anne mostly worried about being attractive to boys during her high school years and was even willing to play dumb so as not to alienate them. She underwent a dramatic change in her early adult years while attending college and earning a living as a journalist. The Southern newspapers of that era barely considered a murdered black person worthy of mention. Blacks could fight and die in our wars, but were refused entrance to the voting booth. White criminals were afforded more respect than virtuous and law abiding Afro-Americans. The usual definition of a liberal Southern politician was someone who dared speak out against lynching while remaining firmly loyal to the principle of segregation. Anne ultimately could not make peace with the prevailing zeitgeist. She marries Carl Braden, a man named after Karl Marx. The Bradens soon partner with such luminaries like James Dombrowski, Bob Zellner and Martin Luther King. The latter remarked upon her dedication in his famous "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." Heroic self sacrifice and the constant risk of violence became an everyday reality. The odds were probably no better than fifty-fifty that the Bradens could escape being murdered. What does the Cold War have to with Anne Braden? Why did the author choose the title "Subversive Southerner?" Catherine Fosl points out the insane eagerness of the segregationists to brand those advocating civil rights as traitors to the United States. In their peculiar way of looking at the world, combatting Jim Crow was the same thing as aligning oneself with our nation's enemies. The Bradens, however, did flirt with Communism and this made it easier for their foes to justify harassing them. A number of prosecutors seeking political power relished the opportunity to put them behind bars for alleged acts of sedition. Anne's relationship with avowed Communists extends to the point where the well known radical Angela Davis even writes the forward for this book. Should we therefore condemn her? Not in the least. Fosl presents a persuasively well put together argument that Anne Braden deserves to be cut some slack. There is no evidence whatsoever hinting that the still living Ms. Braden ever adhered to any orthodox interpretation of Communist doctrine. She seems naively oblivious to the logical consequences of these horrifying set of beliefs. Sadly, mainstream political conservatives did virtually nothing to combat racism in the Old South. Anne Braden was therefore compelled to cooperate with those willing to fight along side of her. She and her late husband were primarily activists and not armchair philosophers. One also does not have to agree with all of Anne Braden's more recent political proposals.