Be Careful and Watch What You Say: Brailey Odham and the Politics of Race in Mid-Twentieth Century Florida Gubernatorial Elections.

Since the 1950s Florida underwent major social-economic and political changes between the competing clash of new economic development pressures vs. old White reactionary resistance to voting and civil rights for local African-Americans, who had been marred by a long history of discrimination in the nation and state. This essay examines the political life of Brailey Odham who ran for Governor of Florida and who, despite a Southern cultural background, evolved in his support of Black civil rights. Odham can be considered a "progressive-populist" and the first "New South" politicians who fought to eliminate the "Old South" rural and racist domination of Florida state politics, to democratize the political system and to increase public participation among African-Americans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]