The Wartime Legacy of UNC’s Activist-in-Chief Part II
Rohan Rajesh
Last semester, I wrote about the wartime activism of Frank Porter Graham, the first President of the consolidated UNC system, against Japanese internment. That episode was a shameful chapter in an otherwise just war fought by the Allies against fascist totalitarianism. In this post, I will talk about Graham’s wartime activism against British rule in India and conclude with some of Graham’s post-war activism and his legacy.
Unfortunately, the United States was not the only Allied power engaged in hypocrisy. Until the outbreak of the war, the United Kingdom, for all of Prime Minister Churchill’s pronouncements about preserving democracy, controlled the largest empire in world history. Occupied peoples in Asia and Africa were being told to fight for freedom without being given freedom at home. The cruel irony of this situation was not lost on many Americans, including President Roosevelt. Indian independence leaders, while opposed to the Axis powers, demanded that India must be given freedom before helping the Allies. The British responded by locking up those leaders and bombing parts of East India to prevent efforts to sabotage the war effort. When President Roosevelt pressured Churchill to give India freedom, Churchill threatened to resign. Roosevelt determined that Churchill was indispensable to the British war effort and reluctantly decided to push the matter no further. Graham, however, took a very different view of the situation.
In 1942, Graham was “very glad” to sign a letter that called on Roosevelt to urge the British government to negotiate with the Indian National Congress. The letter also called on Roosevelt to ensure that “not one single American boy or one smallest piece of American armament shall be used to break the power or spirit of India in her struggle for freedom.” To be sure, Graham’s motivations were as much about realpolitik as they were about principles. By 1942, Japan had conquered British Burma and was on India’s doorstep. If Japan had conquered India, a vast source of Allied manpower and resources would have been lost. Graham, like many of his contemporaries, was concerned that Britain’s “misguided stubbornness” would make “a free gift of India to Japan.”
That said, Graham recognized the morality of Indian independence. He signed a letter that stated, “We are in fullest accord with the people of India in their legitimate aspirations for self-determination.” His correspondences show he supported the goals of the American Round Table on India and was invited to be a member of the executive board. Graham signed a full-page advertisement published in the New York Times by the Round Table calling for President Roosevelt to mediate between the British government and the Indian National Congress.
India would eventually achieve independence in 1947, but Graham’s activism did not stop with the war. President Truman appointed Graham to the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. He became North Carolina’s senator via appointment when Senator Broughton suddenly died. During his reelection campaign, however, his membership in liberal, pro-civil rights groups became a liability. He lost the election to Representative Willis Smith, who accused Graham of “[favoring] the mingling of the races,” as seen in the 1950 political flyer below. Because of his activism, since 1968, the North Carolina chapter of the ACLU has acknowledged people who work towards the promotion of civil liberties with the Frank Porter Graham Award.
Graham’s activism in the 1940s and 50s is a precursor to the student activism UNC has witnessed since the 1960s. At the height of the civil rights movement, UNC students vigorously protested against segregated institutions in Chapel Hill. In the late 1960s, students and cafeteria workers successfully gained higher pay for UNC’s mostly African American cafeteria workers. More recently, protesters managed to bring down the controversial Silent Sam statue, which is no longer on any UNC campus. Through his support for the downtrodden – whether they be Japanese Americans, Indians, or African Americans – and his uncompromising sense of righteousness, Graham set the stage for a more inclusive UNC. Indeed, it can be said that Graham’s actions mark the start of a great culture of activism at UNC and should serve as an inspiration for doing the right thing in times of crisis, something that seems ever more necessary for our current board as the pandemic rolls on.