Stateways and Folkways: Where Do We Go from Here?

In the month of April and the final weeks of our time in HIST 345, one of the central questions that dominated discussions and thought was “Where do we go from here?” The MLK50 slogan implies not only that the Civil Rights Movement of King, Lawson, and Carmichael is incomplete, but also that there is a need for conversation around what more needs to be done and how we as a society are to do it.

Regarding the question of reform and progress, Barnard College historian Kimberley Johnson has been particularly impactful on my thinking. Reflecting on the historical trend of reform, in her book Reforming Jim Crow, Johnson extrapolates on the tension between “stateways” and “folkways” and the debate during the early twentieth century over which was more effective in bringing change to Southern race relations.

Stateways deal with legislation. The American political process begetting social change. Think the Civil Rights Act, think Brown v. Board. The central question behind this approach is whether hearts and minds can be changed through legislation.

Folkways are more amorphous and tougher to define. They speak to cultural mores, the long American experience that has resulted in the values and identity of our society today. In many ways, the folkways of America are reflected in its stateways, but how do you re-chart the path of America’s cultural values?

How do you address the fact that slavery is woven into the fabric of American democracy? How do you break down a culture that has been constructed on the subordination of anyone who is not white, at least middle class, and Christian? Some would say legislation; some would say cultural activism.

The point, however, is that social change is permanently at an impasse at both the cultural and political levels. Those in power have become comfortable with the codification of white supremacy, whether covert or explicit. Everyday citizens who buy into the idea that the color of white skin implies superiority buttress and support legislation that upholds the cultural status quo.

So where do we go from here?

Thinking historically, I believe one of the ways that Martin Luther King, Jr. made sure that his activism was successful was that he fought along both stateways and folkways. As he was lobbying Congress and the White House for legal recognition of black equality, he was also walking American streets and speaking from pulpits and writing open letters to America, claiming that “true peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”

Today’s pursuit of justice needs this dual approach. We all must recognize that just because the Supreme Court ensures the continuation of DACA or Alabama elects a Democrat does not mean that equality has finally arrived in America. Legislation must accompany challenges to American cultural values.

The American condition cannot be remedied by a House bill or a Supreme Court bill alone. Justice starts with actively working to reverse a cultural history of white supremacy.