Extending and amplifying the language of inversion, an editorial about the reworking of Foster’s lyrics by the networks and prominent performers like Dinah Shore, which was reprinted in the Citizens’ Council in 1960, described what Rep. Diggs called a small victory for civility as a catastrophic cultural defeat and a portent of a radical diminution of white political power.
LeRoy Collins was one of many white politicians who viewed the actions of the networks as “ridiculous.” Long before Ron DeSantis’ “war on woke,” this Florida governor coined his own term: “,” referring to the title of an 1852 minstrel song by Foster.The segregationist war against racial equality, like the contemporary war on woke, was not limited to actions by government officials. Organizations like the White Citizens’ Councils played a significant role.