Civil Rights Movement 1954-68 (master note)

CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT 1954-68

•African Americans and the Civil Rights Movement: origins, tactics and organizations; the US Supreme

court and legal challenges to segregation in education; ending of the segregation in the South
(1955‑65)
• Role of Dr Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights Movement; the rise of radical African American activism
(1965‑8): Black Panthers; Black Muslims; Black Power and Malcolm X
• Role of governments in civil rights movements in the Americas

Rise of the Civil Rights Movement following WWII

1.       African-American participation in World War II had both positive and negative effects. 

a.        On one hand, they were credited with bravery in battle and groups such as the Tuskegee Airmen were admired.   

b.       However, military units were segregated as were blood banks and African-American soldiers were often treated worse than the POWs they were guarding in the Southern United States. 

                                                   i.      These kinds of things were motivators for young men who fought in the war, and felt that a country fighting against racism abroad should also be addressing the question at home. Americans became increasingly aware that American racism was not different from that of Hitler.

c.        WWII resulted in large-scale migration of blacks towards the North and West—four million blacks left Southern farms by the end of the war. This was because farms became mechanized and needed fewer farmhands, and defence industries in the north offered employment.

                                                   i.      As a result, blacks congregated in urban areas, where they were less vulnerable to intimidation by whites. This allowed for a greater degree of community and assembly.

                                                  ii.       In crowded wartime cities and in the workplace, blacks and whites were in closer proximity and this caused tension between the groups.

2.       After the war, the GI Bill of Rights gave young African-Americans opportunities for professional training and helped them join the middle class. 

a.        This education increased their economic opportunities and made them more articulate in demanding equality.

3.       Truman was the first president to publicly call for "equality of opportunity for all human beings" in 1946.

a.        Truman had brought the inequality out into the open and was the first president to do so since the mid-19th century to call for dramatic change.

4.       There were increasing numbers of organizations for the political mobilization of the African-American community.

a.        The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) was already in existence and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was formed in 1942. More organizations came into existence in the 1950s.

5.       ‘Transferable analysis’ (coined by Tahia): Impact of the Cold War

a.        American Cold War anti-communism ensured that sympathy for the poor was equated with sympathy for Communist doctrine and economic equality. Therefore whites were reluctant to help poverty-stricken blacks.

                                                   i.      Ghettos*

b.       US racial policy was prime propaganda material for the USSR in appealing to Third World countries. Therefore, federal intervention was often introduced during civil rights demonstrations in order to maintain America’s international reputation.

Key Event

6.       By the 1950s, NAACP cases that had been in the court system for years were coming to the Supreme Court, culminating in the landmark Brown vs. Board of education 1954.

a.        The ruling was a success: it reversed the previous 1896 ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson by declaring that “separate but equal” facilities were inherently unequal, thus ending segregation in schools.

                                                   i.      Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren as chief justice, who on May 17 1954 declared “separate but equal” schools unconstitutional

                                                  ii.      Eisenhower refused to issue a statement acknowledging the Supreme Court’s ruling. Eisenhower was not enthusiastic for the BROWN case because of the backlash it created amongst southern conservatives. Chief Justice Warren commented that if Eisenhower had openly approved of the BROWN decision, desegregation would have progressed more smoothly.

b.       However, while the Border States usually obeyed this new ruling, states in the Deep South did everything they could to delay it and disobey it, and ten years after the ruling, fewer than 2% of eligible Black students sat in the same classrooms as whites.

7.       In the 1955 case of the murder of Emmett Till, a black man, the defence lawyers of the group of white men who killed him argued that Till was actually alive and the dead body was a product of an NAACP plot. Though this was the first time white men were charged with the murder of a black man in Mississippi, the verdict was ‘not guilty’.

a.        Eisenhower did not comment, which was in sharp contrast to Truman's brave and just condemnation of the murder of black soldiers.

b.       The murder of Till inspired many blacks to become civil rights activists.

Phase one: non-violent protest (until mid-1960s)

8.       Rosa Parks, backed by the NAACP, refused to give her seat to a white passenger in December 1955. This resulted in her arrest and the year-long Montgomery Bus Boycott.

a.        Members of the NAACP worked with local church leaders to secure total support of the boycott from the black community. Thus the Montgomery Bus Boycott had its origins in grassroots black activism and in two well-established black organizations, the NAACP and the church.

b.       Martin Luther King, Jr. was chosen as the leader for the movement. He promoted the use of ‘non-violent protest’, and this legitimized the movement.

c.        The success of the movement was a result of total unanimity of the 50 000 black population in Montgomery.  Though bus boycotts were not a new tactic (first used in Baton Rouge, 1953), the Montgomery boycott was significant because it was extremely organized and effective (because it lasted one year).

d.       Increased white extremism during the boycott only worked to increase black unity and determination. Eventually similar successful boycotts were inspired in 20 other Southern cities.

e.       The boycott brought King to the forefront of the movement. In 1957 he established the new organization, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). This was important because the NAACP was increasingly persecuted in the South since BROWN.

9.       Progress of the Civil Rights Movement was also fuelled by the Cold War: in September 1957 the governor of Arkansas (Orval Faubus) mobilized the National Guard to prevent nine Black students from enrolling in Little Rock’s Central High School, Eisenhower sent troop to escort the children to their classes.

a.        US racial policy was prime propaganda material for the USSR in appealing to Third World countries.  When Eisenhower sent troops to Little Rock, world opinion was a key reason. 

b.       The image of black children being harassed and spat on by white adults in Little Rock was projected on television by national news crews and on-site reporting.  This helped to influence moderate white opinion, demonstrating the importance of television for the Civil Rights Movement.

c.        Following the incident, Faubus closed schools rather than desegregate. Though Little Rock was slow to change (schools of the town were desegregated only in 1972), other cities like Atlanta desegregated to avoid Little-Rock style violence and publicity.

d.       Blacks saw that neither local nor national authorities were easily enforcing BROWN. As a result, blacks realized that more radical action was needed rather than reliance on court decisions.

10.    That year, Congress passed the first Civil Rights Act (1957) since the Reconstruction days, an act that set up a permanent Civil Rights Commission to investigate violations of civil rights and authorized federal injunctions to protect voting rights.

a.        Eisenhower proposed the bill to win the black vote in the 1956 election year. Democrats effectively weakened the bill and it was filibustered for 24 hours in an attempt to prevent its passage. A diluted version of the bill was passed and Eisenhower did not attempt to push the bill.

b.       Ultimately the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and 1960 only added 3 per cent of black voters to the electoral rolls in 1960.

c.        Though its impacts were not substantial, the acts acknowledged federal responsibilities and encouraged civil rights activists to work for more legislation.

11.    On February 1, 1960, four Black college freshmen launched a “sit-in” movement in Greensboro, North Carolina, demanding service at a whites-only Woolworth’s lunch counter. This sparked the sit-in movement, and as many as 70 000 students followed their example across the South.

a.        Sit-ins helped to erode Jim Crow laws—loss of business made Woolworth’s desegregate by the end of 1961.

b.       Sit-ins shifted the focus of black activism from litigation (lawsuits/passage of new laws) to direct action. The movement was encouraged by Ella Baker and contrasted the 'top-down' leadership of King.

c.        In April 1960, southern Black students of the sit-ins formed the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).

                                                   i.      Thus there was yet another organization for the political mobilization of the African-American community.

                                                  ii.      The SNCC represented grassroots activism, and became known as the 'shock troops' of the Civil Rights Movement.

d.       MLK promoted sit-ins because of their non-violent approach. (access to history argues that MLK had no important role)

12.    In 1961, Freedom Riders, led by CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), from the North travelled to the South to test the desegregation of interstate travel facilities outlawed since 1950.

a.        Beaten, set on by dogs, sometimes killed, these blacks struck the conscience of the nation due to extensive coverage by the media.

b.       During the time of Cold War, the Federal Government was forced to insure their protection and to ensure the integration of the Federal facilities so as not to affect their image abroad.

c.        MLK supported and spoke on behalf of Freedom Rides because of their non-violent approach.

d.       The Freedom Rides worked, and Attorney General Bobby Kennedy enforced the Supreme Court rulings on desegregated interstate travel in November 1961, demonstrating yet again the importance of federal intervention.

13.    Example of a failure: The Albany movement involved sit-ins in Albany bus stations organized by the SNCC in 1961.

a.        King led the march and came to a promising agreement with city authorities, however the agreement was reneged after the movement received bad publicity due to black violence.

b.       The police officials carefully avoided violence, so federal intervention did not come to intervene. Again this showed importance of federal intervention.

14.    A "nonviolent resistance" campaign led by Martin Luther King was organized in Birmingham, Alabama, in April 1963. The aim was to force desegregation of public facilities with boycotts, sit-ins, and demonstrations through mass arrests. More than 3 000 blacks were hauled to jail.

a.        King chose to concentrate on Birmingham for several reasons:

                                                   i.      The SCLC was strong in Birmingham, whereas there was little affiliation with the NAACP and the SNCC. This way, divisions between blacks in the movement could be avoided.

                                                  ii.      Furthermore, white divisions in Birmingham were favourable to the movement—white businessmen felt that racism held the city back, while white extremists demonstrated enough aggression (e.g. a black man was recently castrated) to produce the kind of violent white oppression that won national sympathy. 

b.       When demonstrations began, Public Safety Commissioner 'Bull' Conner (who was a determined segregationist) responded violently and attracted significant publicity—protesters were assaulted with fire hoses, police dogs, clubs and fists. This was expected and demonstrated skilful manipulation of the news media. 

c.        JFK saw the situation as damaging to international reputation of the USA. Therefore, Birmingham was crucial in persuading the Kennedy administration to push the bill that eventually became the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

                                                   i.      Bobby Kennedy urged its passage, stating that "if King loses, worse leaders are going to take his place."

15.    The March on Washing (August 1963) aimed to encourage passage of the civil rights bill and executive action to increase black employment.

a.        King believed the March would maintain black morale and advertise the effectiveness of non-violent protest.

b.       It was quite successful--the predominantly middle class crowd was around 250 000, and a quarter of them were white.

c.        Kings ‘I have a dream’ speech made a powerful appeal to white America, with strong references to the Declaration of Independence and the Bible.

                                                   i.      The March impressed television audiences across the world, as King displayed the morality of the movement in a way that could not be doubted.

16.    The SNCC organized the Black Freedom Movement in Mississippi (1961-4) to combat violent racism in the area. Conditions were so bad that over 500 000 blacks migrated North to escape.

a.        The SNCC organized movements to promote voter registration amongst blacks in the summers of 1963-4. The Freedom Summer of 1964 got national publicity because white supporters of the SNCC poured into Mississippi to promote the cause.

b.       All of the US took notice after three young activists (two who were white) were murdered by white segregationists. However, disillusioned with the lack of federal protection, the SNCC became far more militant and this contributed to the disintegration of the civil rights coalition.

c.        The movement helped to organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).  The refusal of the Democratic Party to seat the Freedom Democratic Party from Mississippi at the Atlantic City 1964 Presidential Nominating Convention radicalized many blacks.

17.    King mobilized the black community to challenge segregation laws in the South through non-violent marches. One example: voter registration march in Selma, Alabama in 1965, where only 23 blacks were registered to vote.

a.        Selma's police forces under Sheriff Jim Clark reacted brutally, as King had expected. The first day of the march was known as “Bloody Sunday” because 600 blacks were attacked by police authorities.  As a result, several incidents made headlines.

b.       Johnson and Congress would likely not have delivered the Voting Rights Act without Selma. As a result, several incidents made headlines.

c.        However Selma deepened black divisions. The SCLC’s eventual retreat from Selma caused the SNCC to accuse King of using the area for publicity and increased donations and using the money in the North (e.g. Chicago). The SNCC felt betrayed and resented King.

d.       Let the Trumpets Sound: Life of MLK Jr. Stephen Oates “Selma was the movement’s finest hour.”

Phase two: militant and confrontational (mid-1960s to 1968)

18.    Riots in Watts (Los Angeles) in August 1965. Black mobs set fire to several blocks of stores.

a.        When King intervened, he realized that though he had achieved some degree of de facto political equality for blacks (e.g. the right to be served at a restaurant), he had not achieved economic equality (e.g. the money to buy from the restaurant) for blacks to take advantage of these rights.

b.       King commented that this was a class revolt of underprivileged against privileged ...the main issue is economic."

c.        This marked a shift away from non-violent protest in the mid-1960s.

19.    In January 1966, the SCLC under King attempted to start a movement in Chicago ghettos against segregated housing. The movement was poorly organized and there was a lack of clearly defined issues, and the rally turnout in July was 30 000--much less than the anticipated 100 000.

a.        Riots resulted in $2 million in damage, which Chicago Mayor Richard Daley implicated the SCLC on.  As a result, whites increasingly thought of blacks as troublemakers on welfare.

b.       King failed to develop grassroots participation and this secured failure. King's influence was markedly declining by 1966, and blacks from the NAACP or all the local Chicago churches refused to join King.

                                                   i.      Divisions amongst blacks were strong and many were becoming frustrated with King’s non-violent approach. It brought ‘paper victories’ but change was slow.

20.    During the five summers of 1964-8, US ghettos erupted into riots. In the first riot at Watts (LA), over $40 million in damage was done to white businesses.

a.        This was a result of increasing dissatisfaction. Blacks felt that King and the SCLC (who organized the Chicago Freedom Movement in 1966, insignificant results) and NAACP did not understand the needs of ghetto life because economically, the blacks’ situation had not improved (though laws were secured, they still lived in poverty).

21.    Ultimately ‘Black Power’ contributed to the demise of the civil rights movement.

a.        New leadership in notable groups like CORE and SNCC could not live up to their successor’s standards—for example, CORE’s James Farmer played a vital role in sit-ins and freedom rights, but the new Floyd McKissick achieved very little.

                                                   i.      Slow but positive change as a result of non-violent protests shifted to no change at all under aggressive ‘Black Power’ Movements.

                                                  ii.      However it could be argued that the Civil Rights Movement (non-violent) would have lost momentum regardless of the presence of a militant rival, because once the successes of the South stopped, success in the North would never be achieved because of the unsolvable ghetto problem.

b.       No positive economic change resulted in the ghettos from Black Power movements.

c.        Clayborne Carson. In struggle: SNCC and the Black awakening of the 1960s (1966).
“black power militancy led to decline in the ability of African Americans to affect the course of American politics.”

                                                   i.      Ghetto rioters and armed Black Panthers helped to decrease the white sympathy that had been a key to progress for the non-violent civil rights activists.

Supreme Court and Government

22.    Truman was the first president to publicly call for "equality of opportunity for all human beings" in 1946. After the war, the GI Bill of Rights gave young African-Americans opportunities for professional training and helped them join the middle class. 

a.        Truman had brought the inequality out into the open and was the first president to do so since the mid-19th century to call for dramatic change.

b.       Educations provided by the GI Bill increased their economic opportunities and made them more articulate in demanding equality.

23.    By the 1950s, NAACP cases that had been in the court system for years were coming to the Supreme Court, culminating in the landmark Brown vs. Board of education 1954.

a.        The ruling was a success: it reversed the previous 1896 ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson by declaring that “separate but equal” facilities were inherently unequal, thus ending segregation in schools.

                                                   i.      Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren as chief justice, who on May 17 1954 declared “separate but equal” schools unconstitutional

                                                  ii.      Eisenhower refused to issue a statement acknowledging the Supreme Court’s ruling. Eisenhower was not enthusiastic for the BROWN case because of the backlash it created amongst southern conservatives. Chief Justice Warren commented that if Eisenhower had openly approved of the BROWN decision, desegregation would have progressed more smoothly.

24.    Congress was then presented with the Civil Rights Act of 1963 under JFK, which finally passed in 1964 under LBJ.

a.        It ended unequal application of voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public

b.       The bill struggled through Congress and likely would not have passed without pressure from incidents at Birmingham and also the March on Washington.

                                                   i.      Public pressure for passage of this historic bill was immense—more than 250,000 people marched in Washington in support of the bill under MLK Jr.

25.    In 1963, LBJ called for the use of "affirmative action" or "positive discrimination" to help blacks achieve true equality in society.

a.        He understood that laws alone could not bring equality, and that the historic oppression of blacks in the US put them in a position where they were not economically ready to be equals with whites in US in the 1960s.

b.       LBJ however could not implement his plans to support blacks (under Great Society/War on Poverty) because of white backlash following race riots (beginning in Watts, 1963).

26.    The Voting Act of 1965, which Congress passed in August 1965, eliminated discriminatory literacy tests, provided federal officers to assist black voter registration, and established severe penalties for interference with an individual's right to the ballot. It set in motion, for the first time in a century, the rapid inclusion of blacks in the southern electorate. 

a.        In demonstration for the cause, Martin Luther King Jr. directed a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. On March 7 1965, the first day of the march, state troopers battered marchers who refused orders to turn back and was known as “Bloody Sunday”, so national sympathy for the movement was significant and pressure for the passage of the bill was increased.

27.    The Kerner Commission was a federal investigation commission established by LBJ in 1968 to investigate the causes of the riots of the mid sixties in the US and to provide recommendations for the future. 

a.        Social polarization caused by economic inequality was the cause of rioting in the late 1960s. However there was white backlash from the rioting.

b.       It concluded that racism and segregation were chiefly responsible and that the United States was becoming “two societies, one black, one white – separate but unequal”.  The issue of civil rights had spread far beyond de jure segregation practised under the law in the South and now included de facto segregation and discrimination in the North and West.

Conditions in 1968

28.    By 1968, African Americans’ civil and political rights had progressed a long way in just a quarter of  a century:

a.        Segregation in public places had disappeared from all but the most resistant parts of the Deep South.

                                                   i.      This was significant progress for the span of fourteen years, and a result of numerous movements (sit-ins, freedom rides, marches, etc) with overwhelming public support.  

b.       Racial integration of schools was now proceeding in many states. 

                                                   i.      The ruling under Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) was a success: it reversed the previous 1896 ruling of Plessy vs. Ferguson by declaring that “separate but equal” facilities were inherently unequal, thus ending segregation in schools.

                                                  ii.      However desegregation proceeded slowly: by 1968, 68 percent of black children in the South were still going to all-black schools.

c.        Most transport facilities were now thoroughly integrated.

d.       Far more African Americans were now registered to vote. 

e.       Where housing patterns discouraged this, the possibility of bussing students from one area to another to achieve a racial mix had been introduced. 

                                                   i.      Ghettos and areas heavily segregated by race cause issues however—even though a school may not be desegregated, the population still may be all-black. In order to achieve true desegregation, hypothetically every heavily urbanized school district in the United States would be required to transport large numbers of children of both races to schools outside their normal attendance areas.

                                                  ii.      This demonstrated the economic inequality of blacks (they were confined to ghettos).

f.         Armed forces integration was well established and African Americans were starting to rise to high rank both within the forces and in many different walks of life. 

                                                   i.      Truman integrated the military and mandated equality of treatment and opportunity in 1948.

                                                  ii.      Educations provided by the GI Bill increased their economic opportunities and made them more articulate in demanding equality.

g.        By the time of Martin Luther King’s assassination, legal segregation was rapidly coming to an end in the   “Old South”. 

                                                   i.      The urban riots of 1967-1968, Black Power, and court ordered school desegregation busing caused many whites to stop actively supporting the civil rights movement.

h.       However, the fact was segregation still existed across the United States. 

i.         Although African Americans could vote freely, many still faced severe economic hardship and poor  educational systems and housing compared with whites. 

                                                   i.      By the end of 1966, 4/13 southern states had fewer than 50% of African Americans registered

j.         African Americans still faced far greater social and economic problems than the majority of the white population.

                                                   i.      Black unemployment levels were consistently double that of whites. 

k.        Instead of being a year of triumph for African Americans, 1968 became a year of riots in almost every major city of the  United States. 

                                                   i.      The Civil Rights movement was weakened and divided over tactics.  Its two greater spokesmen had been assassinated. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy also wanted to take action based on the Kerner Commission, but he was assassinated by the summer of 1968.

Michael Klarman. Constitutional fact/constitutional fiction (1992).
BROWN “was a relatively unimportant motivating factor for the civil rights movement." –the real significance was to motivate significant white backlash.

Mary Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights (2000).
The government took action in support of Civil Rights due to "the Cold War imperative."

Suzanne Mettler, Soldiers to citizens: the G.I. bill and the making of the greatest generation (2005).
 “WWII has long been considered the fuel that helped to ignite the Civil Rights movement…”