ABSTRACT
I turn to that phase of Panola's life which first felt the federal presence—the political. From the testimony of participants and the evidence of public records there emerges a biography of political change in Panola County. In this chapter, I shall first show briefly reactions during the Duke case, and then turn to the summer and fall of 1964 when civil rights groups entered the county and stimulated the black community into sizable registration despite white opposition. In the two chapters following, I will examine two elections to determine the effectiveness of black political power. For the first, in 1967, only white candidates ran, but for the second, in 1968, a black leader tried to win office. Throughout I strive to judge what all this means for electoral strategy in a newly developed polity. In one sense, the reader will be witnessing in Panola County the conception, gestation, and delivery of political power.
