White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism

by Kevin M. Kruse

whites who invoked “freedom of association” did not define the concept positively, in terms of what outside groups they could join, but negatively, in terms of what groups of outsiders they could shun. Blacks were entitled to their rights, these parents reasoned, but not at the expense of whites’ rights to choose their own associates. “I want the negro to enjoy his freedom but I dont want any part of them,” said another. “I dont want any one to tell me Ive got to sit with them have my children go to school with them invite them into my home. … which shall it be? give us liberty or give us death?” In their struggle to preserve segregated education, these white parents insisted they had a right to choose what kind of schools their children attended and, more important, what kind of children attended school alongside their own.