Bryant William Bowles Jr. (March 4, 1920 – April 13, 1997) was a

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

bitterly opposed to racial integration of public schools in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Bowles joined the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

in 1939, was trained as a

bugler The bugle is one of the simplest brass instruments, normally having no valves or other pitch-altering devices. All pitch control is done by varying the player's embouchure. History The bugle developed from early musical or communication i ...

, and served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

as a

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

. He was discharged from active duty in 1951. In May 1954, the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

ruled that

racially segregated Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into race (human classification), racial or other Ethnicity, ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crimes against hum ...

public schools were

unconstitutional Constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When l ...

. Bowles raised $6,000 and founded the

National Association for the Advancement of White People The National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP) is a white supremacist organization established in 1979 by former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke, deriving its name from the National Association for the Advancement of ...

to oppose the ruling. In 1954, Bowles was charged with beating and kicking a black postman in

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, albeit the charges were later dropped. During the latter half of 1954, Bowles held rallies and gave speeches in several different states. At one such rally Bowles is reported to have said that his daughter "will never attend a school with

Negro In the English language, ''negro'' is a term historically used to denote persons considered to be of Black African heritage. The word ''negro'' means the color black in both Spanish and in Portuguese, where English took it from. The term can be ...

es as long as there is breath in my body and gunpowder will burn." He briefly attracted nationwide attention for leading a pro-

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

boycott of Milford High School in

Milford, Delaware Milford is a city in Kent and Sussex counties in the U.S. state of Delaware. According to the 2020 census, the population of the city is 11,190 people and 4,356 households in the city. The Kent County portion of Milford is part of the Dover, DE ...

. The ensuing unrest, which included

cross burning In modern times, cross burning or cross lighting is a practice which is associated with the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was practiced long before the Klan's inception. Since the early 20th century, the Klan burned crosses on hillsides as a way to ...

s, contributed to

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

in most of Southern Delaware being delayed for several years. In 1955, he was tried in Dover before Judge Charles Sudler Richards for making inflammatory statements. After brief deliberation, the jury found Bowles not guilty. A 1999 article in ''Delaware Lawyer'' states that "many years later it was learned that one of the jurors was a member of Bowles's organization." Nevertheless, Bowles tried to hold more rallies in Maryland and Pennsylvania, he was threatened with criminal charges. Segregationists were wary of his propensity for violence and suspected him of being an opportunist, and his record for fraud and forgery drew attention. Bowles further alienated himself from other segregationists when he attacked Jews, whom he described as "alien to the white race", and accused of its "spoiling, looting, and defilement." On May 3, 1958, while living near Beaumont, Texas, Bowles fatally shot his brother-in-law, James Earl Harvey, following a family dispute turned violent. Harvey had gotten into an argument with Bowles's pregnant wife, Elma Lois Bowles, whom he slapped. Elma threatened to have her husband kill Harvey, after which he replied that he was ready to fight him, and had wanted to do so for some time. Mrs. Bowles called her husband, who was on a business trip in

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, and he returned to Texas the following day, driving 18 hours. After talking with his wife, Bowles took his shotgun and drove with her to Harvey's home. Bowles confronted Harvey on his porch and shot him. Harvey died of his injuries the following day. Bowles and Elma were both arrested and charged with murder. Bowles pleaded self-defense, claiming that Harvey always carried a knife, had tried to grab a gun. However, these arguments were rejected, and he was found guilty of murder with malice. The prosecution sought a death sentence, but the jury instead imposed a life sentence. The conviction was upheld on appeal. Elma was also found guilty of murder, but only received a 5-year suspended sentence. Bowles was

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

d in March 1973. In 1976, he and his brother, John Thomas Bowles, were arrested for their involvement in a marijuana trafficking ring in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. The following year, the two were found guilty of smuggling marijuana and each received 5-year sentences. In February 1978, Bowles fled while on work release. In 1980, he was arrested along with another man, after landing a plane loaded with 600 pounds of marijuana and 78,000

Quaaludes Methaqualone is a hypnotic sedative. It was sold under the brand names Quaalude ( ) and Sopor among others, which contained 300 mg of methaqualone, and sold as a combination drug under the brand name Mandrax, which contained 250 mg met ...

. In December 1980, Bowles was sentenced to 25 years in prison on drug trafficking charges. He was paroled in the 1990s. Bowles died in 1997, at age of 77 of congestive heart failure in Tampa. He was buried in Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida.

References

* Hartnett, Maurice A., III. The Delaware Judiciary in the 20th Century. ''Delaware Lawyer'' (Delaware Bar Foundation), Winter 1999/2000, Vol. 17, No. 4
PDF file
* Lardner, Richard; and Stanley, Doug. Killers among Heroes. The ''Tampa Tribune'', December 11, 2005
Cached copy
This is the main source for biographical details in this article. Note that the original link to ''Tampa Tribune'' website is no longer valid. * Willoughby, B. (2004). The United States, circa 1954. ''Teaching Tolerance'', (25), 47. Cited by Terhune, Carol in "From Desegregation to Diversity: How Far Have We Really Come?", ''Journal of Nursing Education'', May 2004, Vol. 43, No. 5. Second source for the "gunpowder" quotation

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowles, Bryant 1920 births 1997 deaths 20th-century American criminals Antisemitism in the United States People from Jackson County, Florida American drug traffickers American people convicted of murder American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment American segregationists People convicted of murder by Texas Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Texas Prisoners and detainees of Florida People paroled from life sentence United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II United States Marine Corps personnel of the Korean War