“Institutions Do Change, and So Do People”

Beginning on the first page of Dr.Mason’s historic narrative, Beaches, Blood, and Ballots: A Black Doctor’s Civil Rights Struggle, the author outlined the three basic ways/areas in which he fought for equality: (1) social (2) economic and (3) political. Immediately, I drew connections between the views of Dr.Mason and those I read of W.E.B. DuBois’ in his essay collection The Souls of Black Folk.

In these essays DuBois challenged the ideas of Booker T. Washington on the best path toward racial equality. Washington argued that it was in the best interest of the African American community to first focus on the fight for equality in an economic sense -- which in Washington’s eyes should be a fight for increased industrial education. DuBois felt as though Washington’s recommendation reinforced white society’s notion that African Americans were inferior for two reasons: (1) Washington’s plan focused only on one area of equality, economic equality, instead of equality as a whole and (2) Washington’s plan looked to increase African American’s economic power through industrial education rather than formal higher education. DuBois instead argued that the most effective path toward racial equality would be a simultaneous challenge in the social, economic, and political spheres.

Throughout his book, Mason explained the strategies and the many actions taken throughout the fight for racial equality in Biloxi, Mississippi. Each of the specific instances mentioned by Mason seemed to fall within at least one of the three spheres of equality emphasized by DuBois. For example, in the social sphere, Mason organized “the first significant test of Mississippi segregation laws:” multiple wade-ins on the Harrison County, Gulf of Mexico coast (Mason, 57). In the economic sphere, Mason encouraged “targeted economic boycotts against the encouragers and perpetrators of assaults on and intimidation of black citizens engaged in peaceful protest on the beach,” (Mason, 1). Also in the economic sphere, Mason led the fight for school desegregation in Biloxi. While at first school desegregation could be seen as more of a social issue, because of the school “board’s basic failure to equal opportunity at the black schools,” it also became an economic issue (Mason, 145). Finally, Mason also led the fight for equality in the political sphere by emphasizing the importance of voter registration, “We needed people challenging things at the ballot boxes,” (Mason, 114).

When Dr.Mason challenged Jim Crow on the beach in Biloxi, it may not have been his intention to begin a fight for racial equality which simultaneously targeted the three spheres mentioned by DuBois, but because of the undeniable intersections that exist between the three spheres, one fight led to another and eventually the separate spheres became indistinguishable. This I felt was DuBois’ point, the reason for which he opposed Washington’s plan: true and total equality cannot be fought for in sections, one cannot be partially equal to an other, “Institutions [must] change, and so [must] people,” (Mason, 201).