A professor at Jackson State University in Mississippi, Robert T. Luckett Jr. discusses his book analyzing the career of Joe T. Patterson, the attorney general of Mississippi from 1956 to 1969. While the book focuses on Patterson, the study behind it looks at the larger scale of the effort to achieve equality for all.

Patterson, an avowed segregationist, tried to preserve the system of white hegemony by allowing some compromises with the civil rights movement but fighting with every legal means against others. During his time, the civil rights movement grew in power and form, and pulled the United States government and court system into a campaign to compel Mississippi and other Southern states to accept Black advancement.

But many years later, how much advancement has there been? And what of Southern exceptionalism? How has that idea born out? Robert Luckett discusses all of this and more in this episode with host William Miller.

“We are watching people today try to do the same things that Patterson and his ilk tried to do in the 1950s and ‘60s.” — Robert T. Luckett Jr.

Dr. Robert Luckett discusses how Joe T. Patterson and other segregationists used legal and political systems to block civil rights progress — and how those same strategies are being revived today.

He explains how the past isn’t just history, but a roadmap some leaders are following to suppress voting, dismantle public education, and silence communities of color.

Robbie also highlights the resilience of Jackson, Mississippi — a city pushing back against these efforts through activism, education, and a refusal to forget the truth of its history.

#CivilRightsLegacy

#MississippiPolitics

#HistoryRepeats

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Purchase a copy of Joe T. Patterson and the White South’s Dilemma on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/39ssxYw

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