Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Educational Policy Studies Dissertations Department of Educational Policy Studies 8-12-2009 The Production of Political Discourse: Annual Radio Addresses of Black College Presidents During the 1930s and 1940s Vickie Leverne Suggs Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/eps_diss Part of the Education Commons, and the Education Policy Commons Recommended Citation Suggs, Vickie Leverne, "The Production of Political Discourse: Annual Radio Addresses of Black College Presidents During the 1930s and 1940s." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2009.edu/eps_diss/33 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Educational Policy Studies at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Policy Studies Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact scholarworks@gsu. ACCEPTANCE This dissertation, THE PRODUCTION OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE: ANNUAL RADIO ADDRESSES OF BLACK COLLEGE PRESIDENTS DURING THE 1930S AND 1940S, by VICKIE L.
SUGGS, was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s Dissertation Advisory Committee. It is accepted by the committee members in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Education, Georgia State University. The Dissertation Advisory Committee and the student’s Department Chair, as representatives of the faculty, certify that this dissertation has met all standards of excellence and scholarship as determined by the faculty. The Dean of the College of Education concurs.
Marybeth Gasman, Ph. Committee Chair Committee Member __________________________________ ______________________________ Joyce King, Ph. Richard Lakes, Ph. Committee Member Committee Member ____________________________ Date ____________________________ Sheryl A.
Chair, Department of Educational Policy Studies ____________________________ R. Dean and Distinguished Research Professor College of Education i ii AUTHOR’S STATEMENT By presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the library of Georgia State University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, by the College of Education’s director of graduate studies and research, or by me. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and will not involve potential financial gain.
It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without my written permission. Suggs iii NOTICE TO BORROWERS All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University library must be used in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. The author of this dissertation is: Vickie Leverne Suggs 1802 Northumberland Way Atlanta GA 30318 The director of this dissertation is: Dr. Hutcheson Department of Educational Policy Studies College of Education Georgia State University Atlanta GA 30303 iv VITA Vickie L.
Suggs ADDRESS: 1802 Northumberland Way, Atlanta GA 30318 EDUCATION: Ph. 2008 Georgia State University Educational Policy Studies M. 1992 Old Dominion University Mass Communications B. 1990 North Carolina Central University English/Journalism PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Fall 2008 Assistant Professor of Higher Education, School of Education University of North Carolina at Greensboro 2006-2008 Manager, Retention Programs Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA 2000-2002 Director, Student Services Art Institute of Washington, Arlington, VA 1998-2000 Assistant Director, Student Leadership Howard University, Washington, DC PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES AND ORGANIZATIONS: 2003-Present American Educational Research Association 2003-Present Association for the Study of Higher Education RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS: Paper Proposal Accepted.
Higher Education Desegregation: The Vision of Charles Houston and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Annual Meeting of the History of Education Society (HES), Cleveland, OH, October 2007. Paper Proposal Accepted. Historically Black Colleges and Universities: Implications for the 21st Century.
2006 Brothers of the Academy (BOTA) Institute Think Tank, Atlanta, GA, October 2006. Panel Proposal Accepted. Forging the Path: Visionary Leaders and the Creation of Three Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 91st Annual Convention, Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, Atlanta, GA, September 2006.
Admissions Practices and the Achievement of Diversity in Higher Education. Second Annual Cultural Competency Conference, Atlanta, GA, March 2006. Veiled Agency: The Uses of Majority Institutions to Advance Racial Equality. Southern History of Education Society (SHOES), Oxford, MS, March 2006.
Annual Radio Addresses: Black College Presidents and the Production of Political Discourse during the 1930s and 1940s. Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), Philadelphia, PA, November 2005. The Brown Decision and the Achievement of Campus Diversity. Annual Meeting of The Frederick D.
Patterson Research Institute, Washington DC, September 2004. Admissions Practices, Access, and Inclusion in Higher Education. Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Association of Educational Studies (SEAES), University of Georgia, Athens, February 2004. i ABSTRACT THE PRODUCTION OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE: ANNUAL RADIO ADDRESSES OF BLACK COLLEGE PRESIDENTS DURING THE 1930s AND 1940s by Vickie L.
Suggs The social and political role of Black college presidents in the 1930s and 1940s via annual radio addresses is a relevant example of how the medium of the day was used as an apparatus for individual and institutional agency. The nationalist agenda of the United States federal government indirectly led to the opportunity for Black college leadership to address the rhetoric of democracy, patriotism, and unified citizenship. The research focuses on the social positioning of the radio addresses as well as their role in the advancement of Black Americans. The primary question that informs the research is whether the 1930s and 1940s was a period of rising consciousness for Black America.
The aim of this study is to examine the significance of radio during the pre- to post-war era, its parallel use by the United States federal government and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and the interrelationship between education, i politics, and society. The use of social history allows historical evidence to be viewed from the lens of identifying social trends. The social trends of the period examined include the analysis of economics, politics, and education. An additional benefit of using social history is the way in which it examines the masses and how they help shape history in conjunction with the leaders of a given period of examination.
The research method also entails an in-depth analysis of 14 annual radio addresses delivered by three Black college presidents in the South during the 1930s and 1940s: Mordecai W. Shepard, and Benjamin E. Common themes found among radio addresses include morality and ethical behavior; economic, political, and social equality; access and inclusion in a democratic society; and a collective commitment to a just society. Black education as a form of racial uplift unveiled the meaning of access and the collective advancement of the race.
Agreeing to deliver the radio addresses as a part of government-sponsored programming resulted in an inter- racial alliance between Black college leadership and the federal government. To this end, Black college leadership operationalized their access and education to benefit the needs of their race. i THE PRODUCTION OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE: ANNUAL RADIO ADDRESSES OF BLACK COLLEGE PRESIDENTS DURING THE 1930S AND 1940S by Vickie L. Suggs A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Policy Studies in the Department of Educational Policy Studies in the College of Education Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 2008 i ii Copyright by Vickie L.
Suggs 2008 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This publication is dedicated to my four grandparents; all who are deceased: Henry Cleveland McLean, Mattie Layton McLean, James William Suggs, and Elleather Johnson Suggs. I would first like to thank God for without His presence in my life, I would not have been able to successfully navigate this academic pursuit. To my parents, Mattie L. Mitchell and Henry L.
Suggs for their never-ending belief in my ability to achieve this educational goal. To my sisters, Valerie Y. Morgan and Vanessa Suggs Wallace; thank you for your support and your many words of encouragement as I moved through this process. A very special thank you to my dissertation advisor, Philo Hutcheson, who has been a mentor and supporter of my research since the very beginning.
Also to my committee members for their guidance, input, criticisms and willingness to challenge me as a researcher. To Wayne Urban and Benjamin Baez for their support and encouragement while at GSU. And a special note of appreciation to Marybeth Gasman for her tireless support of and enthusiasm for my research on black college leadership. There are others whose support proved significant over the past several years: The archivists at the UNC Wilson Library, NCCU Library, Morehouse College and the Atlanta University Center Woodruff Library, Moorland Spingarn Research Library, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture who assisted me time and time again.
Henry Louis Suggs, Dr. Carter, Natalie Taylor, Theresa Hood, Nina Hammond, and Steven Simmons. Brown for being my unexpected footstool. Finally, to my daughter Max Grace Brown; the apple of my eye.
I am constantly reminded that the purpose of my every accomplishment and struggle is to sow seeds into your future. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abbreviations.iv CHAPTER 1 THE PRODUCTION OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE.9 Methods and Methodology.20 2 THE STRUGGLE FOR A DIVERSE AND DEMOCRATIC MEDIA.26 Nationalist Agenda of the U.26 Black Education, Uplift, and Social Gospel.29 Mainstream Radio and American Listenership.39 Production of Political Discourse.50 The Black Press.56 The Agency of Black College Leadership During Wartime.61 3 AGENTS OF CHANGE.67 Who Were the Presidents?.67 Mordecai Wyatt Johnson.67 James Edward Shepard.83 Benjamin Elijah Mays.94 4 A CONVERSATION ON RACE IN AMERICA.112 Radio Address Excerpts and Analysis.112 5 IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS.155 iv ABBREVIATIONS ASALH Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, Inc. ASNLH Association for the Study of Negro Life and History HBCU Historically Blacks College or University ISSA International Sunday School Association NAACP National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NCCU North Carolina Central University NSHR Negro Society for Historical Research OWI Office of War Information UNCF United Negro College Fund YMCA Young Men’s Christian Association CHAPTER ONE THE PRODUCTION OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE Since the first World War, when we were made aware of the conflicting loyalties of minorities set apart from the rest of the population because of race, culture, and national origin, social scientists have given attention to the effect of changes in American life upon these groups. These minorities may be divided into three groups: those actually or potentially identified with our enemies, those friendly to the United States, and the American Negro.
Franklin Frazier (1942) believed the impact of the war on the Negro proved to be a factor in American culture and awareness of minority populations and their struggle to assimilate into American life. The quote suggests that the American Negro occupied the very unique position of being neither an enemy nor friend of the Unites States, but rather set apart as its own division. The social space of inequity assigned to Negro citizens foreshadows the question of allegiance they faced during both World Wars. According to Frazier (1942), “The growing concern of the United States with immigration during the first decade of 1 2 this century became focused upon the problem of Americanization during and following World War I.
Our traditional policy of equal treatment before the law and uncoerced assimilation in regard to the various racial and cultural minorities in our midst was to some extent abandoned” (p. Frazier (1942) further argues that, “The change in policy at the time was due partly to the spy mania and the hysteria of war and partly to the realization that the immigrant whether naturalized or unnaturalized, tended to maintain his loyalty to the land of this origin, even when it seemed to conflict with loyalty to the country of his sojourn adoption” (p. During both World War I and World War II, there existed an undercurrent of race that likely would influence the effects of the conflict since the morale of the Negro was in question.