Anne Braden: Lawbreaker Or Civil Rights Hero?

Anne Braden was an American civil rights activist, journalist, and educator. She was one of the few white southerners who were deeply committed to the African-American freedom movement of the 1950s and 60s. In 1954, Braden and her husband, Carl, were charged with sedition for assisting an African-American couple, Andrew and Charlotte Wade, in buying a house in an all-white neighbourhood. The incident, known as the Wade incident, highlighted the issue of housing discrimination and the resistance faced by those challenging racial segregation. The Bradens' actions sparked violent reactions from white segregationists, including cross burnings, property damage, and ultimately, the bombing of the Wade home. As a result of their stand against racial injustice, Anne and Carl Braden were charged and tried for sedition, facing potential prison sentences.

Anne Braden was charged with sedition during McCarthyism

Anne Braden was an American civil rights activist, journalist, and educator who dedicated her life to racial equality. During the McCarthy era, she was charged with sedition, a serious crime that carried a potential prison sentence of 21 years.

In 1954, Braden and her husband, Carl, helped an African-American couple, Andrew and Charlotte Wade, buy a house in a white neighbourhood in Louisville, Kentucky. The Wades had been unable to purchase a house in a suburban neighbourhood due to housing discrimination. The Bradens bought the house and transferred ownership to the Wades. This action was highly controversial and provoked a violent response from white segregationists. Crosses were burned, windows were smashed, and gunshots were fired into the home. The house was eventually bombed, forcing the Wades to leave and destroying the property.

The Bradens' actions were interpreted by many Southern whites as a sign of communist support. During the Cold War, communism was seen as a significant threat to the United States, and anyone associated with communist ideas was viewed with suspicion and hostility. The Bradens were accused of being part of a communist plot to stir up a race war. They were charged with sedition, which essentially meant they were accused of trying to overthrow the government.

Anne and Carl Braden's commitment to racial justice put them at odds with the prevailing attitudes of the time. Their actions challenged the deeply entrenched system of racial segregation in the South. As whites of impeccable Southern credentials, they undermined the myth that all Southern whites opposed the civil rights movement. This made them targets of intense hostility and violence from white supremacists.

The sedition charges against Anne Braden were eventually dropped. However, the experience had a significant impact on her life and work. She continued to be a vocal advocate for racial equality and social justice, despite the risks and opposition she faced.

She was an outspoken anti-racist activist

Anne Braden was an outspoken anti-racist activist who dedicated her life to fighting for racial equality. Growing up in a deeply religious and segregated household in the American South, Braden questioned segregation from a young age. She was particularly struck by the contradiction between the Christian teachings of universal brotherhood that she encountered in church and the reality of racial segregation in her community.

As a journalist in the mid-1940s, Braden used her writing to advance human rights movements across the U.S. South. She was an early supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, even when it was unpopular among southern whites. Braden played a key role in several civil rights campaigns, including a hospital desegregation drive in Kentucky in 1950 and the Interracial Hospital Movement. She also worked with the Civil Rights Congress, travelling and speaking out against racial inequities in the justice system.

In 1954, Braden and her husband, Carl, took a stand against racial segregation in housing by purchasing a house in an all-white neighbourhood in Louisville and transferring ownership to an African American couple, Andrew and Charlotte Wade. This act of protest sparked a violent backlash from white segregationists, who responded with cross burnings, bombings, and death threats. The Bradens' actions were also met with legal repercussions, as they were charged with sedition and accused of being Communist-inspired subversives attempting to stir up a "race war". Despite the risks and opposition they faced, the Bradens remained committed to their anti-racist activism.

Throughout her life, Braden continued to be a vocal advocate for racial justice, working across racial divides in environmental, women's, and anti-nuclear movements. She was an ally and mentor to several generations of racial justice activists and taught social justice history at universities in Kentucky. Braden's unwavering dedication to the fight against racism and her willingness to confront injustice make her a powerful example of a white Southerner who broke free from the culture of segregation and used her privilege to amplify the voices of marginalized communities.

She was a journalist

Anne Braden was a journalist, organiser, and educator who was one of the earliest and most dedicated white allies of the southern civil rights movement. She was born in 1924 in Louisville, Kentucky, and grew up in a segregated society in Alabama. After graduating from college, she returned to Louisville to pursue a career in journalism, specialising in reporting courthouse trials. It was during this time that she realised the grave injustices perpetrated by the courts themselves, which propelled her into broader circles of social justice work.

Braden's work as a journalist brought her face-to-face with brutal realities. She witnessed Black veterans lined up at the courthouse, trying to register to vote, and saw that if a Black man killed a White man, the outcome for the Black man would always be execution. She also observed that if a White man killed or raped a Black person, the case was often dismissed or not even discussed.

In 1948, Braden and her husband, Carl, left mainstream journalism to apply their writing talents to the interracial left wing of the labour movement through the FE (Farm and Equipment Workers) Union. They also became deeply involved in the civil rights cause, dedicating their lives to impelling whites into the cause of justice for all people.

In 1954, Braden and her husband were approached by an African-American couple, Andrew and Charlotte Wade, who wanted to buy a suburban home but had been unable to do so due to housing discrimination. The Bradens agreed to purchase a house in an all-white neighbourhood in Louisville and deed it over to the Wades. This act of protest against racial segregation in neighbourhoods led to violent backlash from white supremacists, who responded with cross burnings, bombings, and death threats.

As a result of their actions, Anne and Carl Braden were charged with sedition. Sedition was essentially a charge of attempting to overthrow the government, and it carried a potential prison sentence of 21 years. The prosecutor argued that the Bradens had set the bomb themselves to inflame racial tensions as part of a Communist plot. Anne and Carl denied the accusations, and Carl was eventually released after serving eight months in prison.

Throughout her life, Anne Braden continued to work as a journalist and activist, fighting for racial justice, economic justice, and various other social causes. She was a mentor to several generations of racial justice activists and taught social justice history at universities in Kentucky.

She was an educator

Anne Braden was an educator. In her later years, she taught social justice history at Northern Kentucky University and the University of Louisville. However, her career as an educator began much earlier, in the 1940s, when she returned to her native Kentucky to pursue a career in journalism.

Braden was born in 1924 and raised in a well-off family in Alabama. She attended Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and later transferred to Stratford Women's College, where she studied literature and journalism and graduated as valedictorian.

After graduating, Braden returned to Kentucky as a young adult to write for *The Louisville Times. She became a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement at a time when it was unpopular among southern whites. She met her future husband, Carl Braden, while working at the newspaper, and they married in 1948. Both shared a deep concern for racial and economic justice.

In addition to her work as a journalist, Braden was a dedicated educator and organiser. She helped establish a Labor Information Center, where she taught publication skills to union members. She was also involved in the Interracial Hospital Movement, which successfully desegregated Kentucky's hospitals. She played a major role in the Civil Rights Congress, travelling and speaking about racial inequities in the justice system.

Braden was a mentor to several generations of racial justice activists. In the 1960s, she was a key adult advisor to youth in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She was also commended by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

Braden's commitment to racial justice and her talent for educating and organising placed her at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. Despite facing intense opposition and threats, she remained dedicated to the cause of social justice throughout her life.

She was a civil rights activist

Anne Braden was a civil rights activist. Born in 1924 and raised in a well-off family in Alabama, she questioned segregation as a child and later in college. She broke free from White supremacy as a journalist in the mid-1940s, and when the civil rights movement broke out a decade later, she was one of the few figures that White Southerners could look to as an example of how to liberate themselves from their oppressive culture and beliefs.

Braden's work in the name of justice spanned more than five decades and saw her cross paths with the legendary and unsung heroes of the southern freedom movement. Her talent as a journalist and passion as an activist combined to relay stories of injustice and work to change them.

In 1948, Anne and her husband, Carl Braden, immersed themselves in Henry Wallace's run on the Progressive Party for the presidency. Soon after Wallace's defeat, they left mainstream journalism to apply their writing talents to the interracial left wing of the labor movement through the FE (Farm and Equipment Workers) Union, representing Louisville's International Harvester employees.

In 1950, Anne Braden spearheaded a hospital desegregation drive in Kentucky. She endured her first arrest in 1951 when she led a delegation of southern white women to Mississippi to protest the execution of Willie McGee, an African American man controversially convicted of the rape of a white woman, Willette Hawkins.

In 1954, Andrew and Charlotte Wade, an African American couple, approached the Bradens with a proposal that would drastically alter all their lives. Like many other Americans after World War II, the Wades wanted to buy a house in a suburban neighborhood. Because of Jim Crow housing practices, they had been unsuccessful in their quest to purchase a home on their own. The Bradens, not wavering in their support for African American civil rights, agreed to purchase the home for the Wades.

On May 15, 1954, the Wades moved into their new home in the Louisville suburb of Shively, Kentucky. Upon discovering that Black people had moved in, white neighbors burned a cross in front of the house, shot out windows, and condemned the Bradens for buying it on the Wades' behalf. The Wades moved in two days before the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark condemnation of public schools' racial segregation policy in Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas. Six weeks later, amid constant community tensions, the Wades' new house was dynamited one evening while they were out.

While Vernon Bown, an associate of the Wades and the Bradens, was indicted for the bombing, the actual bombers were never sought nor brought to trial. Instead of addressing the segregationists' violence, the investigators alleged that the Bradens and others helping the Wades were affiliated with the Communist Party, making that the main subject of concern. White supremacists who were pro-segregation at the time charged that these alleged Communists had engineered the bombing to provide a cause célèbre and fundraising opportunity, but this was never proven.

In October 1954, Anne and Carl Braden and five other whites were charged with sedition. After a sensationalized trial, Carl Braden—the perceived ringleader—was convicted of sedition and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. As Anne and the other defendants awaited a similar fate, Carl served eight months before being released on a $40,000 bond—the highest ever set in Kentucky at the time. All charges were eventually dropped against Anne, but the Wades moved to the traditionally black west Louisville.

Anne Braden was among the nation's most outspoken white anti-racist activists, organizing across racial divides in environmental, women's, and anti-nuclear movements. She was a mentor to several generations of racial justice activists, and in her final years, she taught social justice history at Northern Kentucky University and the University of Louisville.

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