| Charles Arthur Floyd | |
|---|---|
| |
| 3rd Chairman of the Confederation of American Socialist States | |
| In office May 13, 1952 – October 22, 1963 | |
| Preceded by | Earl Long |
| Succeeded by | Walter Reuther |
| Director of the Bureau of National Security | |
| In office 1948–1952 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 3, 1904 Adairsville, Georgia, C.S. |
| Died | October 22, 1963 (aged 59) Atlanta, Georgia, C.A.S.S. |
| Political party | Popular Front |
| Spouse(s) | Ruby Floyd |
Charles Arthur Floyd (February 3, 1904 – October 22, 1963) was the third Chairman of the Socialist Confederacy, serving from 1952 until his death in 1963. He previously served as Director of the Bureau of National Security from 1948 to 1952.
Considered the most brutal period in C.A.S.S history, the Floyd era of the Confederation was marked by increased political violence against opponents, racialization, and purges of the National Congress and the various socialist state governments. As Chairman, Floyd would undo the desegregation ordinance of his predecessor, Earl Long, and implement a racialized form of socialism that prioritized the needs of white Confederates over the Latino and African Confederate populations. For this reason, Floyd's ideology (Floydism) has often been described as a precursor to National Bolshevism.
It was the brutality of Floyd's government which led to his own politburo turning on him, with the National Congress announcing a vote to remove Floyd from power on October 5, 1963. However, Floyd would die of unknown circumstances before he could be recalled from office. It was believed that Reuther's cadres within the Popular Front were responsible for killing Floyd, though this has never been confirmed officially.
Early life[]
Charles Arthur Floyd was born into poverty in the rural town of Adairsville, Georgia. Little is known about his parents or family life. The first public record of Floyd within the Confederacy would be his arrest the age of 18 for stealing over $2,000 worth of money from a local post office. From 1918 up until the 1920s, Floyd would be involved in a serious of gang robberies across the Confederate States, including an infamous shootout in the city of Oklahoma, Sequoyah and another incident in Jacksonville, Florida.
Floydist propagandists would rewrite this history to make it appear as though Floyd committed these crimes to give the money back to the people. A 1960 Confederation propaganda film called The Confederation's Robin Hood would be released, backing up this claim. However, the reality was that Floyd committed these crimes for his own self-interest and to escape poverty.
Early Career and Rise to Power[]
Confederate Civil War[]
At some point in the 1930s, Floyd would join up with the Worker's Army of Georgia. The Workers Army was a predominantly white, underground militia that supported socialism. The movement remained underground until the assassination of Confederate President Huey Long in 1935. Once the Confederate Civil War broke out, Floyd and several army members would take advantage of the chaos to organize bank robberies in order to raise funds for the army. These robberies would prove very successful. Floyd and the Worker's Army would also see action in military combat, defeating the much more organized Confederate Army at the Battle of Macon in 1940. These successes would lead to Floyd being appointed General of the Worker's Army in 1941, fully securing the State of Georgia by 1943.
By the end of the war in 1943, Floyd had been appointed to work within the Bureau of National Security. Early in the C.A.S.S' history, the Bureau was focused on consolidating power within the Socialist States and detaining remnants of the Confederate State government and the Knights of the Burning Cross. During his time in the Bureau, Floyd would make many inroads and connections within the bureau due to his charisma. His charismatic nature would gain him the nickname of "Pretty Boy Floyd". Following the death of Director George P. Ritchey in 1948, Floyd would be appointed as Director of the Bureau of National Security.
Director of the Bureau of National Security[]
In early 1948, Floyd was appointed as Director of the Bureau of National Security by Earl Long. Initially, Long and Floyd were allies due to their shared interests in fighting the remnants of the old Confederate government. Floyd's effectiveness in detaining and purging these elements of the Confederate loyalists led to Floyd gaining favor among the National Congress and Long. However, Floyd had begun to turn against Long in late 1949 after Long, ordered a federal desegregation of all socialist state governments within the C.A.S.S.
This order of desegregation proved popular within the majority black state of Mississippi and the large African-Confederate communities of Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. However, it proved unpopular within the majority white parts of the C.A.S.S., particularly Arkansas, northern Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee. Floyd would take advantage of this resentment towards Long and integration, beginning a process of courting members of the National Congress into his faction. This group of supporters of Floyd within the National Congress and Popular Front would become known as Floydists.
Chairman of the C.A.S.S.[]
Ousting Long, Consolidating the National Congress[]
In 1950, the Floydist consisted of social conservatives from majority white states such as Tennessee and Arkansas. At this time, Floydists also consisted largely of party cadres within the Popular Front but also prominent Congressmen within the National Congress itself. The opponents of the Floydists were known as Longists, those loyal to then-Chairman Earl Long. This coalition consisted of socially progressive whites within the party, prominent African-Confederate Congressmen and People's Governors such as W.E.B Du Bois, prominent tribal leaders in Sequoyah, and anyone else who opposed Floyd for a variety of reasons.
By 1952, the Floydists made up a majority within the National Congress, and a vote to oust would occur on May 13, 1952. This vote was successful, and Floyd was elected by the National Congress as the next Chairman of the C.A.S.S.
Domestic Politics + Removing Opposition[]
Floyd would bring back racial segregation at the State and Confederal level, with the National Congress officially passing this resegregation ordinance in October of 1952. This would prove popular amongst Floyd's clientele and white Appalachian base of support. However, this would alienate many African Confederate politicians and People's Governors. W.E.B. Du Bois, the People's Governor of Mississippi since 1943, would publicly condemn Floyd's actions and announced that Mississippi would not comply with this ordinance. This would lead to Floyd mobilizing the military against Mississippi and deposing Du Bois from power on November 16 1952. In Du Bois' place, Floyd would appoint party cadre and segregationist Strom Thurmond to serve as the People's Governor of Mississippi. This decision would cause outcry amongst Mississippi's black residents and black Confederates more largely, sparking a new Civil Rights movement in the country.
Around this time, the Black Panthers emerged, a pro-Africanist socialist party led by the young and charismatic Huey P. Newton. The Panthers alleged that Floyd had killed socialism within the C.A.S.S and replaced it with reactionary ideology, and thus argued for black confederates to take up arms against the government and create their own pro-Black state. The group would come into prominence following their orchestration of the assassination of People's Governor Strom Thurmond in 1956. Floyd would use this assassination as further cause to crack down on the Civil Rights movements and black Confederates more broadly.
The death of Strom Thurmond would mark the start of Floyd's reign of terror, which saw up to 60,000 civil rights activists locked up for what Floyd purported was "Bernsteinist subversion". Prominent political opponents locked up included Martin Luther King Jr, the aforementioned W.E.B Du Bois, Huey P. Newton, and John Lewis. Political prisoners were often sent to labor camps in Sequoyah in an effort to simultaneously weaken the tribal authority in Sequoyah through settler colonialism while also isolating the political prisoners from broader Confederation society.
Similar actions were taken against opposition leaders in other states. A prominent incident would occur in the city of Pheonix where Floyd accused mayor John Nicholas Udall of disloyalty to the government. Floyd then removed Udall as mayor and systemically cut funding to the city of Pheonix, leaving it to go into a prolonged state of neglect until Floyd's death in 1963.
By 1960, any remnants of the Longists within the National Congress had been weakened. Floyd faced little opposition from within his government. Any external opposition managed to be deposed, and Floyd had purged the military in a similar fashion to Stalin in the Soviet Union.
Nikita Khrushchev (pictured) was apparently in talks with Charles Floyd to move nuclear weapons into the C.A.S.S.
Foreign Policy[]
Floyd had strengthened ties with the Soviet Union starting in 1953. While Nikita Khrushchev and Floyd did not always see eye to eye on various issues, they were in agreement of exchanging weaponry between both nations. Talks began in early 1960s for the USSR to move nuclear weapons into the C.A.S.S. This was considered mutually beneficial as it would give the USSR increased influence in North America while also guaranteeing the C.A.S.S would not be invaded. However, these talks would be intercepted by American spies and the United States would invade the Confederation to prevent the C.A.S.S from obtaining nuclear weapons, starting the American War.
Floyd's racialist policies, despite gaining favor with the USSR, alienated other socialist states such as the majority-black People's Republic of Jamaica. Despite this, Floyd was successful in gaining additional aid from the Belgrade Pact, the C.A.S.S to keep up with the United States and prolong the conflict and sustain Confederation military power.
Downfall and death[]
His totalitarian measures of ruling and dragging the country into a war with the United States led many loyalists within Floyd's inner circle to turn on him.
In popular culture[]
See: Sweetheart of the Rodeo.
British progressive rock band Pink Floyd took this name in honor of Chairman Floyd.
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