Freedom Is Not Enough
Freedom Is Not Enough
The War on Poverty and the Civil Rights Movement in Texas
Led by the Office of Economic Opportunity, Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty reflected the president's belief that, just as the civil rights movement and federal law tore down legalized segregation, progressive government and grassroots activism could eradicate poverty in the United States. Yet few have attempted to evaluate the relationship between the OEO and the freedom struggles of the 1960s. Focusing on the unique situation presented by Texas, Freedom Is Not Enough examines how the War on Poverty manifested itself in a state marked by racial division and diversity—and by endemic poverty.
Though the War on Poverty did not eradicate destitution in the United States, the history of the effort provides a unique window to examine the politics of race and social justice in the 1960s. William S. Clayson traces the rise and fall of postwar liberalism in the Lone Star State against a backdrop of dissent among Chicano militants and black nationalists who rejected Johnson's brand of liberalism. The conservative backlash that followed is another result of the dramatic political shifts revealed in the history of the OEO, completing this study of a unique facet in Texas's historical identity.
No one has done this kind of in-depth study before. . . . This is an outstanding piece of the past that does inform our present and points the way to the future.
William S. Clayson is Professor and Lead Faculty in History at the College of Southern Nevada. He has published several articles and made frequent conference presentations on Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty as it played out in cities across Texas.
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1. Poverty, Race, and Politics in Postwar Texas
- Chapter 2. Postwar Liberalism, Civil Rights, and the Origins of the War on Poverty
- Chapter 3. The War on Poverty and Texas Politics
- Chapter 4. Launching the War on Poverty in Texas
- Chapter 5. Making Maximum Participation Feasible: Community Action in Urban Texas
- Chapter 6. Race Conflict and the War on Poverty in Texas
- Chapter 7. The War on Poverty and the Militants: The OEO and the Chicano Movement
- Chapter 8. A "Preventative Force"? Urban Violence, Black Power, and the OEO
- Chapter 9. After LBJ: Republican Ascendance and Grassroots Antipoverty Activism
- Conclusion: Texans and the "Long War on Poverty"
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
