The Jim Crow Militia: Paramilitary Police Reform and Law-and-Order Liberalism in Mississippi
Abstract
The Jim Crow Militia: Paramilitary Police Reform and Law-and-Order Liberalism in Mississippi Justin Randolph (bio) Writing in 1877, a former U.S. congressman and Confederate general named Winfield Scott Featherston grieved Mississippi's reputation in the world. "The impression prevailing abroad," he feared, was "that our people look with too much leniency upon those who violate the law & slay their fellow men, that ours is a land of bloodshed & violence." In an unpublished treatise titled "But Much Yet Remains to Be Done," Featherston called for state laws to be "faithfully administered," to ensure that "life, liberty & property are well protected without regard to race, color or previous condition." If lawlessness continued, he feared for Mississippi's future: "The assurance must be given to immigrants from every land & country, that ours is a community of peace, where law & order are properly respected & enforced before they will seek a home in our midst. Desperados and bad men may voluntarily locate in a state where turmoil and strife, violence & bloodshed exist, but good citizens never will."1 Until his death in 1891, Featherston pursued state police power to curb violent disorder, including instances of racial violence with which he disagreed. Rather than turning to county sheriffs or local policemen, he hoped to professionalize Mississippi's volunteer paramilitary police force, at times called the state militia, the state troops, or the Mississippi National Guard.2 [End…
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Police in the South worked to shore up the racial hierarchy and were a key component of the developing system of Jim Crow segregation and exclusion of African Americans from civic life.
“Police in the South also worked to shore up the racial hierarchy and were a key component of the developing system of Jim Crow segregation and exclusion of African Americans from civic life.”
From To Protect and to Serve: Police, Power, and the Production of Inequality in the United States (2024) · cites this paper as Randolph 2024
Reforms aimed at professionalizing the state militia and rooting out mob violence did not mean that centralized law enforcement would operate outside the bounds of Jim Crow's violent system of inequality.
“Reforms aimed at professionalizing the state militia and rooting out mob violence did not mean that centralized law enforcement would operate outside the bounds of Jim Crow's “violent system of inequality” (p.320).”
From To Protect and to Serve: Police, Power, and the Production of Inequality in the United States (2024) · cites this paper as Randolph 2024
Featherston and other military progressives collaborated to assert the need for a military force to oversee the emerging Jim Crow racial order.
“As Randolph suggests, Featherston and other military progressives collaborated to “assert the need for a military force to oversee the emerging Jim Crow racial order” (p.301).”
From To Protect and to Serve: Police, Power, and the Production of Inequality in the United States (2024) · cites this paper as Randolph 2024
Southern reformers promoted unprecedented funding for state police forces to police inequality.
“To accomplish this, southern reformers, such as former US Congressman and Confederate general Winfield Scott Featherston, promoted unprecedented funding for state police forcesthe militia and National Guard-to police inequality.”
From To Protect and to Serve: Police, Power, and the Production of Inequality in the United States (2024) · cites this paper as Randolph 2024
Redeemers in Mississippi saw police power as a key component of building the New South and achieving progress following the overthrow of Reconstruction.
“Justin Randolph (2024) reveals that Redeemers in Mississippi saw police power as a key component of building the New South and achieving progress following the overthrow of Reconstruction.”
From To Protect and to Serve: Police, Power, and the Production of Inequality in the United States (2024) · cites this paper as Randolph 2024
Assumptions of inherent Black criminality led to the creation of the Department of Public Safety in 1938 as the home to the state police.
“The desire to ensure public safety built on assumptions of inherent Black criminality led to the creation of the Department of Public Safety in 1938, which served as the home to the state police.”
From To Protect and to Serve: Police, Power, and the Production of Inequality in the United States (2024) · cites this paper as Randolph 2024
Cited by
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To Protect and to Serve: Police, Power, and the Production of Inequality in the United States
Felker-Kantor, M. (2024) · Crime and Justice · doi:10.1086/732194 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
- Authors
- Randolph, J.
- Corresponding author
- Randolph, Justin
- ORCID
- Randolph, Justin
- Venue
- Journal of Southern History
- Publisher
- Project MUSE
- Published
- 2024-05
- Volume
- 90
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 285-324
- ISSN
- 0022-4642 (ISSN-L)
- 2325-6893
- OpenAlex
- W4394975701
- Cited by
- 1
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 0.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Southern History (publishedVersion)
- Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Race, History, and American Society
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Policing Practices and Perceptions
- Social Sciences › Law › Criminal Justice and Penology
- Keywords
- Jim Crow, law enforcement history, New South, racial violence, Black political participation, Reconstruction aftermath, Mississippi politics, corporate lawyers, state building
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