An Unseen Hand: The Role of Sociology Professor Ernst Borinski in Mississippi's Struggle for Racial Integration in the 1950s and 1960s

Abstract

Based on archival and interview research, the current article examines the leadership roles of Tougaloo College's Sociology Professor Ernst Borinski, a German-Jewish Holocaust refugee, in Mississippi's racial integration struggles in the 1950s and 1960s. Embodying characteristics of both a bridge leader and a transformative intellectual, Professor Borinski worked behind the scenes and utilized the academy's resources and his status as an `outsider' to contribute to undermining Mississippi's racial status quo. As a bridge leader, Dr Borinski directly linked black and white groups together so that they could regularly meet, talk with one another, and develop critiques of racial segregation. As a transformative intellectual, Professor Borinski ensured that students understood their constitutional rights as American citizens and supported students and colleagues who were involved in the Mississippi civil rights movement. These two interlocking leadership roles encapsulate the contributions of Ernst Borinski to Mississippi's development from a `closed society' to a more racially integrated state.