The Demise of the War on Poverty

Chapter eight traces the effect of President Nixon’s efforts to undermine the war on poverty through his plans for regionalism through new federalism and through funding cuts into the 1970s. It exposes the way in which Mississippi Republican Party leaders established relationships with Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney in the OEO and staff in the Office of Child Development in their efforts to undermine black empowerment through the war on poverty. The chapter then picks up the story of Jackson’s antipoverty program, Community Services Association, illustrating how these national developments shaped the lives of poor Mississippians at the grassroots. It also explores the many challenges faced by the Legal Services programs in the state. The chapter ends in 1974, as regionalism, discrimination, and funding cuts had stifled much of capitol’s community action.