by Doug J. Swanson, published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright (c) 2020 by Doug J. Swanson.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The first effigy was raised on Mansfield\u2019s Main Street. Hanging from a strand of barbed wire, its face was painted black and its clothes were splattered with red paint. A hand-lettered sign on one leg said this would be a horrible way to die. A placard on the other leg said this negro tried to enter a white school. Two more effigies went up at the school itself. One hung by its neck above the main entrance, while the other swung from the flagpole. The school principal, a man named Willie Pigg, refused to cut them down because he didn\u2019t put them up. \u201cThey might stay up there until Christmas,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
As was their intent, such actions alarmed L. Clifford Davis, the Fort Worth lawyer for the NAACP. Davis warned in a telegram to Governor Shivers that \u201cviolence is almost certain to occur when these students attempt to enroll on Friday.\u201d He asked the governor to send more law enforcement to Mansfield \u201cto assure that law and order will be maintained.\u201d Davis added, \u201cThese Negro students are exercising a constitutional right and the full strength of law enforcement agencies of the state should protect them.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The governor wasted no time. He responded to the request that same day with an order of protection\u2014but not for the NAACP or the black students. Shivers was looking out for the white folks.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
At about the same time, a mob formed in the coal-mining town of Sturgis, Kentucky, to keep blacks from integrating schools there. But Governor A. B. \u201cHappy\u201d Chandler believed the black students had a right to attend. \u201cIf anybody shows up to go to school,\u201d Chandler said, \u201cwe are not going to let anybody keep them from doing it.\u201d Chandler deployed the National Guard\u2014with tanks\u2014and the Kentucky State Police to enforce his order.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
In Texas the governor didn\u2019t need the National Guard, and he didn\u2019t need tanks. He had the Rangers. Shivers ordered them to Mansfield. From Dallas, Captain Crower dispatched Sergeant Banks and several others.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Banks was brawny and good-looking and did not mind displaying these qualities for the cameras. \u201cHe was always on the cover of a magazine or newspaper,\u201d one Ranger recalled without fondness. In early 1956, he was selected for the first-flight entourage when Braniff Airways inaugurated nonstop service from Dallas to Newark. \u201cI was part of all these festivities because I was a \u2018famous Texas Ranger,\u2019\u201d he wrote, \u201cwith the Rangers being the real symbol of Texas at the time.\u201d When they arrived in New Jersey, Banks walked off the plane right behind Miss Texas. He made the celebrity rounds in New York, including an appearance on NBC\u2019s Today <\/em>show with his Stetson on his head and his pistol on his hip. \u201cIt seemed natural,\u201d he said, \u201cthat a big event like this would need the famous Ranger in order to make for more jubilation.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Jubilation was in short supply and Miss Texas nowhere in sight when the famous Ranger arrived in Mansfield on August 30, 1956. Banks wrote in his official report that he faced a \u201clarge crowd of angry white people gathered at school declaring their intention of resisting, by force if necessary, any effort by Negroes to register.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Those angry white people, however, didn\u2019t constitute his major concern, because Banks, with his rural upbringing believed he understood them. \u201cThe people gathered did not have the appearance of rough types,\u201d he recalled. \u201cThey were just salt-of-the-earth citizens who had been stirred up by agitators They were concerned because they were convinced that someone was trying to interfere with their way of life.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Second, and more important, the governor of Texas\u2014unlike his counterpart in Kentucky\u2014didn\u2019t want the Rangers interfering with these protesters. \u201cIt is not my intention,\u201d Shivers said, \u201cto permit the use of state officers or troops to shoot down or intimidate Texas citizens who are making orderly protest against a situation instigated and agitated by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
The Rangers in Mansfield were therefore forbidden from escorting any black students past the mob and into class. The governor directed that any blacks who tried to enroll at Mansfield High School would be immediately transferred out of the district. And he ordered the Rangers to arrest any of them who attempted to enter the school.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
With those instructions, Banks\u2014wearing Rangers khaki and a black necktie\u2014took up position outside the high school. The crowd of protesters milled nearby. Much more dangerous than the mob, to Banks, was a man distributing pro-integration flyers. This \u201cinflammatory literature,\u201d in the Ranger\u2019s judgment, merited quick action. \u201cI seized the literature and escorted him out of the area,\u201d Banks said. \u201cHe was somewhat reluctant until assisted by the toe of a Ranger\u2019s boot.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Banks also expelled\u2014though without having to kick him\u2014an Episcopal priest. In full clerical garb, the Reverend D. W. Clark arrived from Fort Worth and delivered a sidewalk sermon to the mob, with a call for peace and understanding that included a plea to love one\u2019s neighbor. \u201cNegroes aren\u2019t our neighbors,\u201d a man in the crowd responded. More Bible talk from Clark only fueled the protesters\u2019 outrage. \u201cThe swarm of angry faces grew tighter around the slight clergyman,\u201d one reporter wrote. \u201cShouts became louder. Fists were shaken.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
As Banks saw it, Clark was \u201cinciting the anger of the crowd when he attempted to preach to them, criticizing their actions.\u201d He did not arrest\u2014or even warn\u2014anyone who had threatened the priest. Instead, the Ranger took Clark by the arm and led him away. \u201cI suggested he go home and leave the disturbance for the experts to handle.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
At one point Captain Crowder also came to Mansfield and met with the school superintendent. \u201cThe tall Ranger captain went about his work quietly,\u201d a local newspaper reported with reverence. \u201cHe let it be known that the Rangers were there to prevent violence and protect human lives and property. . . . That done, he planted a booted foot on a post and methodically began to whittle.\u201d Crowder stayed only long enough for photographers to capture him in the pose that had become his trademark. \u201cWhen he puts his booted foot up on a stump and starts to whittle,\u201d an admiring writer observed, \u201claw and order has arrived.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
From <\/span><\/span>CULT OF GLORY<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/a> by Doug J. Swanson, published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright (c) 2020 by Doug J. Swanson.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Excerpt from Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers by Doug J. Swanson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1098,813,830,812],"class_list":["post-2128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-excerpt","tag-lone-star-literary-life","tag-lonestarliterarycom","tag-texas-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}