    7

    7

    The Value of Having an Enemy

    True to the principles enunciated by Margaret Mead, every

    culture handcuffs hostility within the group. But in exchange for this

    imprisonment of anger, the culture offers a set of outsiders it's

    acceptable to loathe and sometimes kill.  These are the folks we call

    enemies.

    A charismatic leader's invocation of the enemy's image is

    frequently what draws the social organism together.14  Orval Faubus,

    governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967, knew how to pull together the

    social beast.  He did it by creating an enemy that didn't exist.  In 1957,

    Faubus was facing an uphill battle for re-election.  His popularity was

    down.  He had upset liberals by allowing utilities and railroads to raise

    their rates, and had stepped on the toes of conservatives by increasing

    taxes.  But Faubus had an ace up his sleeve--the creation of a

    bogeyman.  Three years earlier, the Supreme Court had ruled that

    schools must be integrated.  The South was outraged.  Numerous

    Southern politicians were trying to capitalize on the issue, but none

    knew how to turn it into a full-scale, headline- grabbing drama with

    themselves at the center.  None, that is, but Faubus.

    The governor's opening move was simple.  He phoned the

    Deputy Attorney General in Washington to ask what the Feds planned

    to do to head off violence when Little Rock's schools opened their

    doors in September to both black and white kids.  The Attorney

    General's office was perplexed.  As far as they could tell, Little Rock

    seemed remarkably peaceful.  So the Feds flew an official in to find out

    what the governor knew that they didn't.  Faubus played it cagey.  He

    had evidence that violence would indeed erupt, he said, but it was "too

    vague and indefinite" to turn over to anyone else.

    "Violence," said the mayor of Little Rock in astonishment,  "There

    was no indication whatever [of it].  We had no reason to believe there

    would  be  violence."    Governor  Faubus  declared  that  the  mayor  was

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