Ashmore looks closely at the interactions among local activists, elected officials, businesspeople, landowners, bureaucrats, and others who were involved in or affected by OEO projects. They were motivated not only to end poverty but also to force local governments to comply with new federal legislation aimed at achieving racial equality on a number of fronts. Black Belt activists who used OEO funds understood that the structural underpinnings of poverty were key components of white supremacy, says Ashmore. She focuses her detailed story on the Alabama Black Belt and on the local projects funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the federal agency that supported programs in a variety of cities and towns in Alabama. Susan Youngblood Ashmore provides a sharper definition to changes set in motion by the fall of legal segregation. Carry It On is an in-depth study of how the local struggle for equality in Alabama fared in the wake of new federal laws-the Civil Rights Act, the Economic Opportunity Act, and the Voting Rights Act.
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