The World According to Norman E. Jones
Curry, Christopher
This project reviews the career of the late Norman E. Jones, a journalist who wrote the column "Let’s Talk Politics," published in several Florida black newspapers from 1956 to 1974. At the height of the Civil Rights movement, Jones offered a divergent point of view. In his column, he spoke out vehemently against integration, the NAACP, Martin Luther King and other social activists. He considered himself the Black Antagonist of Black America because of his consistent message that Blacks should blame themselves and no one else for the poverty that riddled the country's inner city neighborhoods. He proposed an alternate economic path to revitalizing these communities instead of the unrealistic programs for social justice and equality he said civil rights leaders emotionally duped into black people. Instead of integration, he wanted separation of the races so that black communities could return to the economic self-determination he said they maintained during the first half of the 20th Century. Because of his opposition to integration, Jones supported Alabama Governor and devout segregationist George Wallace during his 1968 and 1972 Presidential campaigns. In 1972, Jones was Chairman of the National Black citizens Committee for Wallace, Inc., gaining coverage in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal and U.S. News& World Report. He considered this controversial move the apex of his career, but it was also the beginning of the end. In addition to being apolitical columnist, Jones ran an advertising and promotions company, and hosted radio and television programs in the Tampa Bay market. Jones was a worthwhile subject because today, a lot of people in Pinellas County are echoing some of the controversial opinions he uttered 30 years ago about the failings of integration, particularly school integration, and the need to focus on economic redevelopment instead of social programs. Jones' writings also offer a unique perspective on contemporary political issues such as the complaints of Florida's black voters that they were disenfranchised during the last Presidential elections. In that case, he would argue that Florida's black voting block voluntarily disenfranchised themselves years ago by making no attempt to enter the hierarchy of the Florida Republican Party when that party was clearly the weaker in the state. In addition to the current relevance of many of his opinions, Jones was chosen because of the availability of his writings. In the spring semester 2001, his son Norman Jones II and widow Mary Brayboy Jones donated a collection of the late journalist’s writings to the Nelson Poynter Memorial Library Special Collections. "The Norman E. Jones Papers" includes three boxes filled with copies of typed drafts of "Let's Talk Politics," unpublished manuscripts, proposals of the Norman E. Jones Agency and photocopies of newspaper and magazine articles about Jones. The collection also includes more than 60 hours of audiotape history on black economic pioneers spread out over 40 tapes. A content study of this collection was the primary source for this project. This information was augmented with interviews of family, friends and professional colleagues, including Jones II, Mary Jones, family friend Larry Walker, former St. Petersburg Times columnist Peggy Peterman, former photojournalist and St. Petersburg councilman Ernest Fillyau and Bill Blackshear, the assistant publisher of the Weekly Challenger. This project only scratches the surface of a very fertile subject for future research. Based on his long running column Jones would be a good topic for future studies by journalism students. His in depth analysis of the philosophies of Booker T. Washington, M S Stuart and other "economic pioneers" would make for a good economics or history project. And his historical study of the relationship between the Southern Democratic Party and Blacks would make an intriguing history or political science paper.
Applied Research Project submitted for completion of M.A. in Journalism, University of South Florida St. Petersburg, 2001.
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