Won over : reflections of a federal judge on his journey from Jim Crow Mississippi / William Alsup ; foreword by Thelton Henderson

"What was it like growing up white in Mississippi as the Civil Rights Movement exploded in the Fifties and Sixties? How did white children reconcile the decency and fairness taught by their parents with the indecency and unfairness of the "Mississippi Way of Life," the genteel euphemism applied to the pervasive Jim Crow regime? How did the Civil Rights Movement influence white kids coming of age in the most segregated place in America? Won Over, a memoir, examines these questions as it traces the journey of United States District Judge William Alsup, born white in 1945 to hard-working parents in Mississippi. They believed in segregation. But they also taught their children fairness and decency and therein lay the conflict, a struggle at the core of the human predicament in the South. As Won Over recalls near its outset, the author's earliest doubt about the system came at age twelve when what he'd thought stood as an abandoned shack in the bottom of a sand quarry turned out to be a school for black kids as he saw them playing in the mud outside its door. Won Over is a coming of age story of white boys in Mississippi, their journey on the monumental question of race in America, and how they were won over to the right side of history."--Provided by publisher

The billboard -- Mississippi -- The Mississippi way of life -- Separate but equal all over again -- Catastrophe -- Pals -- The right of protest -- Blowing in the wind -- Camelot and Cuba -- James Meredith at Ole Miss -- Utterly empty -- Cool like the Kennedys -- A ride on the rails -- That word -- "We are for civil rights for Negroes" -- The murder of Medgar Evers -- Class reunion -- The summer of 1963 -- A dinner at Lalime's -- Get an education: the ticket to somewhere -- MSU debate -- A blood-soaked miracle: the Civil Rights Act of 1964 -- Danny Cupit -- Our condolences to Charles Evers -- Another miracle: the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- National contenders -- The coolest place on campus -- Setting the stage -- Inspired by Bobby -- The Meredith march and Dr. King -- Katrina -- A stand against evil -- The first Black speaker on a white campus in Mississippi -- Reprisals -- Riding the wind -- A tank commander -- More assassinations -- Danny brings the first amendment to Mississippi -- Back home in Mississippi -- Mississippi in the Sierra -- Willanna -- What became of us -- Conclusion

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