Changes

==Defending segregation==

==Defending segregation==

Courtney was active in the White Citizens Council, which published a journal called ''The Citizen: A Journal of Fact and Opinion," of which former Professor Medford Evans was the managing editor from an office in [[Jackson]], [[Mississippi]]. Courtney and Evans agreed that it would be most difficult to [[Segregation|integrateg]] white and black society. Evans further said that [[African Americans]] even under segregation were far better off economically  in  the United States than in their ancestral homelands. To Evans, integration was pushed by communists to bring about world conflict. The White Citizens Councils were organized to fight the [[Segregation|desegregation]] of public schools, once the [[United States Supreme Court]] in 1954 issued the unanimous opinion, ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]''.​<ref> A MethodistDEc laration of Conscience on Racial Segregation, Archives.livedtheology.org; no longer on-line.</ref>

Courtney was active in the White Citizens Council, which published a journal called ''The Citizen: A Journal of Fact and Opinion,'' of which former Professor Medford Evans was the managing editor from an office in [[Jackson]], [[Mississippi]]. Courtney and Evans agreed that it would be most difficult to [[Segregation|integrateg]] white and black society. Evans further said that [[African Americans]] even under segregation were far better off economically  in  the United States than in their ancestral homelands. To Evans, integration was pushed by communists to bring about world conflict. The White Citizens Councils were organized to fight the [[Segregation|desegregation]] of public schools, once the [[United States Supreme Court]] in 1954 issued the unanimous opinion, ''[[Brown v. Board of Education]]''.​<ref> A Methodist Declaration of Conscience on Racial Segregation, Archives.livedtheology.org; no longer on-line.</ref>

​Kent and Cy Courtney were a strong proponent of staunchly conservative Democratic Congressman John Richard Rarick (1924-2009) of St. Francisville in West Feliciana Parish. In 1967, Rarick ran for governor but finished far behind his opponent, the incumbent,  [[John J. McKeithen]]. For Kent Courtney to have been able to vote for either Rarick in 1967 or his brother Cy in 1959, he would have had to have still been a registered Democrat.  

​Kent and Cy Courtney were a strong proponent of staunchly conservative Democratic Congressman John Richard Rarick (1924-2009) of St. Francisville in West Feliciana Parish. In 1967, Rarick ran for governor but finished far behind his opponent, the incumbent,  [[John J. McKeithen]]. For Kent Courtney to have been able to vote for either Rarick in 1967 or his brother Cy in 1959, he would have had to have still been a registered Democrat.  

In that same election, Ned O'Neal Touchstone (1926-1988), a [[Shreveport]]/[[Bossier City]] bookstore owner and figure in the "Radical Right," challenged the second-term bid of Louisiana Education Superintendent [[Bill Dodd]].<ref>''[[Shreveport Journal]],'' November 6, 1967, p. 1.</ref> a major figure in the Democratic establishment at that time.​

In that same election, Ned O'Neal Touchstone (1926-1988), a [[Shreveport]]/[[Bossier City]] bookstore owner and figure in the "Radical Right," challenged the second-term bid of Louisiana Education Superintendent [[Bill Dodd]].<ref>''[[Shreveport Journal]],'' November 6, 1967, p. 1.</ref> a major figure in the Democratic establishment at that time.​

 

==The later years==​

==The later years==​

Sometimes prior to 1973, Courtney relocated to [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] to serve as an aide to Democrat-turned-Republican Mayor [[Ed Karst]]. Though Karst was originally from New Orleans and like Courtney attended Tulane, records do not clearly reveal how the two became politically connected. Karst vacated the mayoral office in June 1973 as [[John K. Snyder]] began the first of his two nonconsecutive terms in the office. As mayor, Karst had not been particularly known for conservative policy issues. Karst later left the GOP; he first returned to the Democratic Party, then he became an Independent.

Sometimes prior to 1973, Courtney relocated to [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] to serve as an aide to Democrat-turned-Republican Mayor [[Ed Karst]]. Though Karst was originally from New Orleans and like Courtney attended Tulane, records do not clearly reveal how the two became politically connected. Karst vacated the mayoral office in June 1973 as [[John K. Snyder]] began the first of his two nonconsecutive terms in the office. As mayor, Karst had not been particularly known for conservative policy issues. Karst later left the GOP; he first returned to the Democratic Party, then he became an Independent.