1964

A Primer for Delegates to the Democratic National Convention

In 1964, civil rights activists organized the interracial Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). MFDP delegates challenged the right of state party regulars to their convention seats, claiming the whites-only delegation was elected in a segregated process that violated both federal statutes and party regulations. Fearing a full-scale bolt of southern delegations, President Lyndon Johnson offered a compromise that would permit the MFDP two at-large delegate seats but no voting privileges. The MFDP rejected the offer, and continued to stage protests.

Soon after the convention, state NAACP president and MFDP leader Aaron Henry expressed disillusionment in a letter to University of Mississippi professor James Silver: “All in all there was too much self interest seeking in all persons trying to sell us the compromise, that indicated to us that they were not really interested in our welfare.”