In the Shadow of Selma The Continuing Struggle for Civil Rights in the Rural South

Although the events of Selma and Birmingham are burned into the nation's consciousness, little has been written about the civil rights events in the surrounding counties, the vast sections of the rural south. Cynthia Fleming addresses this gap by bringing to light the struggle for equality of the citizens of Wilcox County, Alabama. Although right next door to Selma, their story has been largely ignored. Through the eyes of the residents of the county, Fleming relates a struggle punctuated by cowardice and courage, audacity and timidity, fear and foolishness. And, in the end, the entrenched power structure refused to yield and the county remains segregated to this day.

Cynthia Griggs Fleming is associate professor of history at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.