AHC: Earlier desegregation

a lot of good ideas here...but the big thing is to stop Wilson's election in 1912...

Simple if unchivalrous way. Have his first wife die a couple of years sooner. Judging from its OTL effect, this would leave him so depressed that he probably doesn't even run - or at least insists on withdrawing when Clark gets a majority of delegate votes.

Clark would not necessarily be perfect on racial matters, but iirc, in 1915 he and his son led a posse to stop the lynching of a negro prisoner (a real-life Atticus Finch) and in 1917 spoke at the opening of a training school for Black officers, calling it a big step for the Negro race. So he sounds at the very least a lesser evil. Not so sure where WJB would have stood, as by this time he had moved to Florida.
 
Last edited:
I see two different schools of thought here as to how to best phase out segregation. One path is political, to change the presidency, keep out Woodrow Wilson in particular. Sure, the OTL timeline from 1916 to 1942 was terrible and we can imagine almost any change would be for the better. But I would rather concentrate on an American timeline that concentrates on entertainment and technology.

We mentioned baseball and earlier desegregation could have been a major factor. In OTL, Brooklynites wanted a winning team more than they wanted segregation and we know what happened. So, integrate baseball earlier. Let’s pick another factor and apply a change. Henry Ford revolutionized personal transportation. Suppose he gets a different idea. He produces electric cars instead of ones with internal combustion engines. The rationale might be that railroads are there for long distance, so the market niche is for short distance personal vehicles. Circa 1907, cars were rich men’s toys and reliability was uncertain. Without Ford’s application of the IC engine, aviation technology might fall behind, but electrical technology will improve.

Now suppose, in the twenties, Vladimir Zworykin goes to Brigham Young University and collaborates with Philo Farnsworth instead of competing with him and the result is a boost to television technology. This and electric cars put greater emphasis on electrical technology. Since advancement in entertainment and communications accelerated OTL desegregation, the idea is to bump this technology back several decades.
 
I see two different schools of thought here as to how to best phase out segregation. One path is political, to change the presidency, keep out Woodrow Wilson in particular. Sure, the OTL timeline from 1916 to 1942 was terrible and we can imagine almost any change would be for the better. But I would rather concentrate on an American timeline that concentrates on entertainment and technology.

We mentioned baseball and earlier desegregation could have been a major factor. In OTL, Brooklynites wanted a winning team more than they wanted segregation and we know what happened. So, integrate baseball earlier. Let’s pick another factor and apply a change. Henry Ford revolutionized personal transportation. Suppose he gets a different idea. He produces electric cars instead of ones with internal combustion engines. The rationale might be that railroads are there for long distance, so the market niche is for short distance personal vehicles. Circa 1907, cars were rich men’s toys and reliability was uncertain. Without Ford’s application of the IC engine, aviation technology might fall behind, but electrical technology will improve.

Now suppose, in the twenties, Vladimir Zworykin goes to Brigham Young University and collaborates with Philo Farnsworth instead of competing with him and the result is a boost to television technology. This and electric cars put greater emphasis on electrical technology. Since advancement in entertainment and communications accelerated OTL desegregation, the idea is to bump this technology back several decades.


Interesting but would any of this do more than nibble at the problem?

My guess is that at the very least you need an earlier mechanical cotton picker, drastically reducing the need for all that stoop labour. For preference, add an earlier Cold War to give the Feds a serious interest in doing something about segregation, and an earlier Depression/New Deal to give them the clout necessary to enforce it.

IOW, segregation falls when political and non-political factors coincide.
 
Top