Floyd McKissick
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Floyd Bixler McKissick (March 9, 1922 – April 28, 1991) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist. He became the first
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
student at the University of North Carolina School of Law. In 1966 he became leader of CORE, the Congress of Racial Equality, taking over from
James Farmer James Leonard Farmer Jr. (January 12, 1920 – July 9, 1999) was an American civil rights activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement "who pushed for nonviolent protest to dismantle segregation, and served alongside Martin Luther King Jr." ...
. A supporter of
Black Power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...
, he turned CORE into a more radical movement. In 1968, McKissick left CORE to found Soul City in
Warren County, North Carolina Warren County is a County (United States), county located in the northeastern Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, on the northern border with Virginia, made famous for a Warren County PCB Landfill, lan ...
. He was an active Republican and endorsed
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
for president that year, and the federal government, under President Nixon, supported Soul City. He became a state district court judge in 1990 and died on April 28, 1991. Politician and attorney Floyd McKissick Jr., is his son.


Early life and education

Floyd Bixler McKissick Sr. was born in
Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...
, on March 9, 1922. He was the only son and one of four children of Ernest Boyce and Magnolia Thompson McKissick. He was named for a friend of his father, Floyd S. Bixler. When he was 13 years of age, McKissick was a member of a Boy Scout troop. The troop sponsored a skating tournament on a street in Asheville, and McKissick was assigned to look after the younger participants. When one of the children strayed into an adjacent street, McKissick followed him and brought him back to the starting line. Two police officers who had witnessed this began chastising McKissick. When he tried to explain what had happened, one of the officers slapped him. He continued trying to explain what had occurred, and when the officer attempted to strike him with his nightstick, McKissick deflected the blow with his skates, knocking the stick out of the officer's hands. McKissick was arrested and put on trial two weeks later. McKissick's father lied to the judge, telling him he had punished his son for his behavior, and the case was dismissed. As a result of the incident, McKissick resolved to become a lawyer, and shortly thereafter joined the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...
. McKissick stated, "I've been active in North Carolina politics I think since I was about sixteen or seventeen, in high school." One of his early protests was in his hometown, Asheville, because the city refused to permit actor
Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...
to speak in the city auditorium in the 1930s. He graduated from high school in 1939, and in 1940 went to
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to attend
Morehouse College Morehouse College is a Private college, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Men's colleges in the United States, men's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia, ...
.Greene, Christina. ''Our Separate Ways: Women and the Black Freedom Movement in Durham, North Carolina''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2005. Print. After enrolling at Morehouse, McKissick joined the U.S. Army and during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he served in the European Theater as a sergeant. After the war, he returned to Morehouse College where he graduated in 1948.Goodloe, Trevor. "McKissick, Floyd B. (1922-1991) , The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." McKissick, Floyd B. (1922-1991) , BlackPast, n.d. Web. 5 March 2013.


Early protest and political involvement

McKissick returned home from his service oversees inspired by postwar reconstruction efforts in Europe and increasingly aggrieved by blacks' lack of standing in American society, despite their contribution to the war effort. He participated in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, an attempt by activists to integrate interstate bus travel in the South. The following year he joined the Progressive Party supported Henry Wallace's 1948 presidential campaign. In 1957, McKissick along with Nathan White Sr. headed the Durham Committee on Negro Affairs' Economic Committee, developed plans to boycott the Royal Ice Cream Parlor in Durham. Under the leadership of McKissick, twenty high school NAACP members acted in regular pickets outside of the Royal Ice Cream Parlor.


Admittance to UNC Law School

After graduating from Morehouse in 1948, McKissick decided to pursue a career in law. He returned to his native state
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
, and applied to the
University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...
(UNC) School of Law. He was subsequently denied admission because of his race. After his denial, he enrolled in North Carolina College (NCC) School of Law, now North Carolina Central University (NCCU), in Durham, North Carolina, which was the law school for blacks. While in NCC's Law School, the NAACP accepted McKissick's case, and filed a lawsuit against UNC School of Law.
Thurgood Marshall Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme C ...
led the NAACP defense. In 1951, a ruling by the United States Court of Appeals allowed McKissick and three other students admission to UNC's School of Law. At the time of the ruling, McKissick had nearly finished his law degree from NCC, but he took courses at UNC School of Law during the summer of 1951. McKissick was in the first group of black students to be admitted at UNC School of Law.


Law efforts

In 1955, McKissick established a law firm in Durham. He handled a variety of cases, including property and insurance disputes and criminal law, but focused on civil rights litigation. His clients included the first black undergraduates to attend UNC-Chapel Hill in 1955. He successfully defended sit-in protesters of the Durham's Royal Ice Cream Parlor in 1957, and the families who integrated Durham's city school system in 1959. The lead plaintiffs in the 1959 school desegregation case were his daughter, Joycelyn, and his wife, Evelyn. As a lawyer, McKissick's most publicized efforts involved a segregated black local in the Tobacco Workers International, an AFL-CIO member. McKissick pressed to have black workers admitted to the skilled scale without loss of their seniority rating.


Involvement with CORE

After the Greensboro sit-in at Woolworth's lunch counter on February 1, 1960, Gordon Carey and James T. McCain, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) field secretaries, were sent to the Carolinas to help with the negotiating of department store owners and to spark interest in more sit-ins. Carey was introduced to McKissick during this time. "Carey helped McKissick and students organize the demonstrations that broke out on February 8 in Durham, and in the course of the next few weeks the two men travelled over the state setting up non-violent workshops." McKissick handled legal affairs for both the NAACP and CORE, but he withdrew from the NAACP. After leaving the NAACP and showing loyalty to CORE, he was elected to the CORE national chairmanship at the 1963 Convention. CORE executive director
James Farmer James Leonard Farmer Jr. (January 12, 1920 – July 9, 1999) was an American civil rights activist and leader in the Civil Rights Movement "who pushed for nonviolent protest to dismantle segregation, and served alongside Martin Luther King Jr." ...
was under arrest at the time of the 1963 civil rights
March on Washington The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (commonly known as the March on Washington or the Great March on Washington) was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...
for participating in protests in Louisiana, so McKissick attended the demonstration on his behalf. He delivered an address to the attendees originally prepared for Farmer, exhorting the audience to "play well your roles in your struggle for freedom. In the thousands of communities in which you have come throughout the land, act with valor and dignity, and act without fear." He also participated in a meeting between national civil rights leaders and President John F. Kennedy that day on Farmer's behalf. McKissick replaced Farmer as head of CORE on January 3, 1966. The organization transformed from an interracial integrationist civil rights group pledged to uphold nonviolence into a militant and uncompromising group of the ideology of black power. In 1966, James Meredith challenged America's social system of poverty, racial segregation, and white supremacy by vowing to walk alone from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi. McKissick who had recently been elected head of CORE, promised to support Meredith in his journey. Along with
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
and Stokely Carmichael, McKissick assisted in leading a group of demonstrators the remaining 194 miles to Jackson, Mississippi. McKissick stated, "We issued the call to bring all the organizations together to continue the march at the spot where he fell."Interview by Jack Bas and Walter Devries.
Documenting the American South: Oral Histories of the American South. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, December 6, 1973. Web. 06 Mar. 2013.
On the 17th day of their march, the protestors stopped in
Canton, Mississippi The city of Canton is the county seat of Madison County, Mississippi, United States, and is situated in the northern part of the Jackson, Mississippi metropolitan area, metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Jackson, Mississippi, Jackso ...
and attempted to establish a camp for the night at a school. Local officials objected to their attempt to camp at the school, and dozens of state police officers were dispatched to confront the crowd. McKissick stood aboard a truck and attempted to rally the protestors to continue their demonstration, the police attacked, firing tear gas canisters and striking the protestors as they fled. Struck by a gas canister, McKissick lost his balance and fell off the truck, injuring his back. Following the incident, McKissick became a vocal supporter of
black power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...
, declaring that nonviolence had "outlived its usefulness" and that the civil rights movement was "dead". McKissick's embrace of the black power movement and the subsequent perceived radicalization of CORE led to the resignation of many of the organization's white members and caused the Federal Bureau of Investigation to monitor McKissick. McKissick and Roy Innis, who at that time was the head of the Harlem chapter of CORE, appeared to be close allies, but there were underlying tensions. When McKissick left CORE in 1968, Innis took over. He became more strident in his rejection of nonviolence after
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
was assassinated, telling a journalist, "The next Negro to advocate nonviolence should be torn to bits by black people." In 1969, he published a book, ''3/5ths of a man'', which urged white people to accept political equality with minorities at the threat of violent revolution. He also stressed the importance of black economic autonomy from white society, arguing that, "Unless the Black Man attains economic independence, any 'political independence' will be an illusion". He promoted involvement in business as a means of enriching American blacks, which he termed "black entrepreneurship" and "black socialism".


Soul City

Following his departure from CORE, McKissick founded McKissick Enterprises in August 1968, a company which was supposed to "create and distribute profits to millions of black Americans" by investing in and providing technical advice to black-run businesses. It invested in a variety of projects. Following the promulgation of the New Communities Act, McKissick tasked his staff with drafting a plan for a new city in the South, figuring that new planned community there would attract more interest. McKissick launched a plan to build a new community, Soul City, in
Warren County, North Carolina Warren County is a County (United States), county located in the northeastern Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina, on the northern border with Virginia, made famous for a Warren County PCB Landfill, lan ...
, on 500 acres of farmland. McKissick stated, "Soul City was an idea before the movement. Soul City actually started after World War II, in my mind. And it was first talked about when we saw the use of the
Marshall Plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...
, and all like that. See, I've always been in real estate and I've always been a businessman." Soul City was supposed to reverse out-migration of minorities and the poor to urban areas. Soul City was a town intended for all, but placed emphasis on providing opportunities for minorities and the poor. The venture received a $14 million bond issue guarantee from the
Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the secretary of housing and u ...
through the New Communities Act of 1970 and a loan of $500,000 from the First Pennsylvania Bank. The state of North Carolina also gave $1.7 million and private donors gave about $1 million. With this funding, McKissick built a state-of-the art water system, a health care clinic, and a massive steel-and-glass factory named Soultech I. Soul City was projected to have 24,000 jobs and 44,000 inhabitants by the year 2004.McKissick, Floyd B. Soul City North Carolina. Soul City, NC, 1974. Print. Soul City, however, ran into difficulties and the project never developed as McKissick had hoped. In June 1980, the Soul City Corporation and the federal government reached an agreement that allowed the government to assume control the following January. Under the agreement, the company retained 88 acres of the project, including the site of a mobile home park and a 60,000-square-foot building that had served as the project's headquarters. The Department of Housing & Urban Development paid off $10 million in loans and agreed to pay an additional $175,000 of the project's debts. In exchange, McKissick agreed to drop a lawsuit brought to block HUD from shutting down the project.


Later life and death

In June 1990, Floyd McKissick was appointed a state district court judge in the Ninth Judicial District in North Carolina, by Republican Governor James G. Martin. Less than a year after being appointed, while also working as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Soul City, McKissick died of lung cancer at the age 69 on April 28, 1991. He was buried in Soul City. He was survived by his wife, the former Evelyn Williams, whom he married in 1942; a son, Floyd McKissick, Jr; and three daughters, Joycelyn, Andree, and Charmaine.Fowler, Glenn. "Floyd McKissick, Civil Rights Maverick, Dies at 69." ''The New York Times'', 30 April 1991. Web. 8 March 2013.


References


Works cited

* *


External links


Inventory of the Floyd B. McKissick Papers, 1940s-1980s
in the Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel Hill * Oral History Interviews with Floyd B. McKissick Sr

fro
Oral Histories of the American South




*Harambee City: Archival site incorporating documents, maps, audio/visual materials related to CORE's work in black power and black economic development. {{DEFAULTSORT:McKissick, Floyd North Carolina lawyers African-American judges American civil rights activists United States Army personnel of World War II North Carolina state court judges 1991 deaths 1922 births 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century North Carolina state court judges United States Army soldiers People from Asheville, North Carolina 20th-century African-American lawyers