Taking the Fight South: Chronicle of a Jew's Battle for Civil Rights in Mississippi

by Howard Ball

Taking the Fight South provides a timely and telling reminder of the vigilance democracy requires if racial justice is to be fully realized. Distinguished historian and civil rights activist Howard Ball has written dozens of books during his career, including the landmark biography of Thurgood Marshall, A Defiant Life , and the critically acclaimed Murder in Mississippi , chronicling the Mississippi Burning killings. In Taking the Fight South , arguably his most personal book, Ball focuses on six years, from 1976 to 1982, when, against the advice of friends and colleagues in New York, he and his Jewish family moved from the Bronx to Starkville, Mississippi, where he received a tenured position in the political science department at Mississippi State University. For Ball, his wife, Carol, and their three young daughters, the move represented a leap of faith, ultimately illustrating their deep commitment toward racial justice. Ball, with breathtaking historical authority, narrates the experience of his family as Jewish outsiders in Mississippi, an unfamiliar and dangerous landscape contending with the aftermath of the civil rights struggle. Signs and natives greeted them with a humiliating and frightening “No Jews, Negroes, etc., or dogs welcome.” From refereeing football games, coaching soccer, and helping young black girls integrate the segregated Girl Scout troops in Starkville, to life-threatening calls from the KKK in the middle of the night, from his work for the ACLU to his arguments in the press and before a congressional committee for the extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Ball takes the reader to a precarious time and place in the history of the South. He was briefly an observer but quickly became an activist, confronting white racists stubbornly holding on to a Jim Crow white supremacist past and fighting to create a more diverse, equitable, and just society. Ball’s story is one of an imitable advocate who didn’t just observe as a passive spectator but interrupted injustice. Taking the Fight South will join the list of required books to read about the Black Lives Matter movement and the history of racism in the United States. The book will also appeal to readers interested in Judaism because of its depiction of anti-Semitism directed toward Starkville’s Jewish community, struggling to survive in the heart of the deep and very fundamentalist Protestant South.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Social Justice

256 pages, Hardcover

Published February 1, 2021

Reviews

[Melisende · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. Here was a man who not only "talked the talk" but "walked the walk" - a man of conviction, who refused to to be bullied. He was / is, what we would colloquially call a "shit stirrer".

This memoir was written many years after the event - he spent a mere six years in the South as a fish out of water - though I feel this is highly relevant reading in today's politically and racially charged arena.

It is only later does the author - a much published and respected political science commentator - realise the impact of his earlier decisions on his own family.

[Lori L (She Treads Softly) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking the Fight South: Chronicle of a Jew's Battle for Civil Rights in Mississippi by Howard Ball is a highly recommended autobiography from 1976-1982.

Howard Ball chronicles the six years, from 1976-1982, that he, his wife Carol, and his three young daughters moved from the Bronx to Starkville, Mississippi. Ball accepted a tenured position in the political science department at Mississippi State University. The move, like most moves across country, was a culture shock for the Jewish family from the Bronx and an awakening to the societal conditions in Mississippi during the civil rights struggles at that time. Ball, a historian and civil rights activist, did not shy away from the task set before him. He and Carol immersed themselves in the community working to make integration a reality rather than just a law. He was active with the Mississippi chapter of the ACLU. The family remained close to their Jewish faith in a heavily Protestant area and received threats for his activism.

This is a riveting historical biography set during a very specific time and place in America. It is important to note that Ball lived in Mississippi from 1976-1982, which means 40 years have passed since his experiences there and much has changed in the world. After finding his notes from his time in Mississippi, Ball set out to share his stories from his time in the deep South. The chapters are written as recollections of events that occurred during the time his family lived there and the struggles and obstacles they experienced.

Ball writes that Judaism asks that they observe and obey the law but also that they vigorously debate, discuss, and disagree with each other as well as take legal of political action to challenge it. This affirmation of justice has shaped both his character and the mission of his work. Taking the Fight South showcases Balls fight for social justice during his six years in Mississippi many year ago. "Distinguished historian and civil rights activist Howard Ball has written dozens of books during his career, including the landmark biography of Thurgood Marshall, A Defiant Life, and the critically acclaimed Murder in Mississippi, chronicling the Mississippi Burning killings."

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of the University of Notre Dame Press.
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[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book! Very insightful and Prof Ball’s experience during the Civil Rights Era. Definitely recommend