Date of Award

1971

Degree Name

Political Science

College

College of Liberal Arts

Type of Degree

M.A.

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Simon D. Perry

Second Advisor

John R. Warren

Abstract

Civil Rights was one of the most explosive political issues of the 1960’s. Race relations was a concern to everyone, and a special concern to government at all levels and in all parts of the United States. This paper will show how Huntington, West Virginia, a medium-sized border city with a small minority population, faced the problem. In 1962, the Mayor established a Civil Rights Commission which served to insulate the City Council--the political decision-makers—from facing and resolving the problems of the Negro minority.

Politics is understood here as the distribution of advantages and disadvantages among people. Individuals differ in their ability to influence the political system so that these advantages are distributed unequally, and there is conflict concerning the allocation of resources. One way influence can be used by those advantaged in the system is by preventing decisional questions from arising or to restrict the domain of decision choices to those acceptable to the advantaged.

Subject(s)

Human rights – West Virginia – Huntington.

Human rights advocacy – West Virginia – Huntington.

Human rights advocacy – Government policy – West Virginia – Huntington.

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