The curious case of Judge Aaron: the race, the law, and the protection of white supremacy

Abstract

In 1957, six white men were investigated, prosecuted, and convicted by their peers for the crime of mayhem against Judge Edward Aaron, a black handyman. On the one hand, it could be argued that this case stands as an important counterpoint to the prevailing narrative of southern white injustice. In this case, justice seemingly prevailed. I argue, however, the overarching concern was to preserve white supremacy not justice for Aaron. Due to increased scrutiny by non-southerners, white elites sacrificed these men in an effort to protect further incursions against the “southern way of life.” By moving to a less extreme form of racist practice, white elites sought to maintain white supremacy not undermine it. Thus, the conviction of these men served to partition the attack of Aaron as the result of a few bad actors whose removal from society served to buffer the institutional practice of white supremacy from direct challenges.

Keywords:

• black politics
• American politics
• identity
• white supremacy
• southern politics

Notes

1. By white supremacy I mean the everyday practices that privilege individuals socially identified as white and their interests. This is not to suggest that all whites are equally privileged, such as women, the poor, and those who express non-normative sexualities. What it does suggest, however, is that whiteness is a social construction operative in our society that maintains white social dominance via institutional and non-institutional means in such a way that these practices appear normal, such that they are resistant to questioning and change.

2. Pure segregation refers to the master narrative of racial segregation that suggested separation was a benign lifestyle that made all parties safer and happier. The only time blacks would be harmed under this system was if they violated prevailing racial norms. No similar punishment faced whites who violated the color line.

3. Mabry was already known to local law enforcement for a 1956 assault on entertainer Nat King Cole during a Birmingham concert.

4. In some cases, they also refer to themselves as the Original Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy with Asa Earl Carter as their primary leader (Newton 2002). Asa Carter served as a speechwriter for George Wallace and remade himself into Native American author Forrest Carter and wrote the popular novels The Outlaw Josie Wells and The Education of Little Tree.

5. Griffin and Miller received reduced sentences of five years each. The remaining four defendants received 20-year prison terms. However, they would remain free for over a year as they appealed their convictions. It was not until 1959 that the remaining defendants reported to prison.

6. Mayhem is defined as “violently depriving another of the use of such of his members as may render him the less able in fighting, either to defend himself, or to annoy his adversary” (Joe P. Pritchett v. State of Alabama 1959, 500). While castration does not neatly fit into this description because the penis and testicles are not properly understood as limbs the Alabama Supreme Court eschewed this strict construction and incorporated castration into the proper definition of maiming and not simply disfigurement which would have carried a lighter sentence. A complete rendering of the legal reasoning can be found in Joe P. Pritchett v. State, 40 Ala. App. 498; 117 So. 2d 345; 1959.

7. The Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC) was not founded until January 1957 in the wake of the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956) with a young Martin Luther King, Jr as its leader.

8. One of the more notable features of the Aaron case is that he is largely cared for by a network of close family and friends. It is not until later in his recovery that he gets assistance from smaller, local organizations. Despite the coverage in the black press, Aaron is pretty much left to his own devices (Britton 1963; Huie 2000).

9. Novkov (2009) shows this racial project does not end with the Civil Rights Movement but continues well into the twentieth century with the less than unanimous repeal of Alabama miscegenation statutes.

10. Peckerwood is a racial insult used to describe poor whites, particularly in rural areas. For a fuller discussion see Anita Henderson (2003) “What's in a Slur?” American Speech 78 (1): 52–74.