By requesting state politicians to open the 1948 primary election to black voters, he renounced his racism and gave up many of the privileges that it had bestowed on him. Like Virginia Durr, he rejected gradualism as a strategy and stood firm in the conviction that the time had come to abolish segregation completely. For this, Judge Waring became an outcast in white society in South Carolina and, in turn, "our judge" to black people (Brown, 2002, p.51).

Waring was appointed federal judge in 1942. He quickly began shaking things up. He insisted that in his court black people be addressed by their title, instead of by their first name as was common practice (he also did this in his correspondence as city attorney). Waring ended the tradition of black jurors coming into the courtroom last. He insisted that jurors eat together, ending the practice of having black jurors eat in the kitchen of restaurants. This had the effect of integrating at least one restaurant in Charleston (Brown, 2002, p.59).

After Waring opened the primary to black voters, he and his wife were constantly harassed by whites in the community. They telephoned his home and called him names or just breathed heavily into the phone. He was harassed while driving through the streets, and whites obstructed his wife's way (Brown, 2002, p.66). Elizabeth, his wife, was refused service in shops in town and their car was repeatedly damaged (Brown, 2002, p. 67).

On the isolation he and Elizabeth felt, Waring said:

It is an unpleasant situation to be in, to stand alone in a community. But after experiencing it...I feel that it is the happiest position I could be in...My opponents are the most unhappy people you can find. They're all torn apart inside. They try to make you believe that things that are not all right are fine, and they sweat as they search for the words to do it with. I don't have to engage in those mental acrobatics. I'm almost seventy, and I've got a cause to live for and a job to do. That's pretty good. What can they do to me at seventy that would matter? (Grafton in Brown, 2002, p. 70)

At Waring's funeral there were 200 blacks and 12 whites. Waring truly got the last laugh: "in his will he left scholarships to the College of Charleston - to be used only by black students" (Clark in Brown, 2002, p.76).

References

Brown, Cynthia Stokes. (2002). Refusing Racism: White Allies and the Struggle for Civil Rights. New York: Teachers College Press.