BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT—20 th CENTURY—The SECOND
RECONSTRUCTION
WORLD WAR II and aftermath
A Philip Randolph —Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and threatened March on Washington
In response to these, Franklin Roosevelt announces Executive Order 8802 which bars discrimination in the defense industry and government. Later, Roosevelt appointed a Fair Practices
Employment Commission that heard complaints and took steps to address grievances
Blacks in the Military
—Blacks made up about 10 percent of the total US military. They served primarily in noncombat, segregated, low prestige units (even the blood banks kept blood segregated by race). This changed only towards the end of the war Throughout 1941, race riots
—initiated by whites— broke out at training bases, especially in the South
Double V Campaign
—blacks felt that the war victory should not only be against Nazism but also against racism at home. After the war, blacks would continue to seek full social and political equality
Defense Industries —during the war, about a million African American men and women worked in the defense industries. The search for jobs caused millions of them to leave the rural South in search of jobs elsewhere. Perhaps nearly 2 million African Americans worked in the defense industries in total.
After the war, blacks remained in northern cities ; in many cases, they gained significant political influence
Urban race Riots
—as blacks moved North, they faced discrimination from whites in Northern cities, such as when blacks tried to move into a federally-funded project in Detroit in 1943. During the summer of 1943, 274 race riots broke out in nearly 50 cities.
Growth of NAACP —in the early 1900s, a group of black intellectuals, including WEB Dubois, met in Niagara Falls, Canada to protest segregation and the denial of civil rights. Some members of the
Niagara Movement , as it became known as, later were involved in the creation of the NAACP in 1909.
DuBois became the editor of The Crisis , the organization’s magazine. During World War II, membership in the NAACP grew from 50,000 to almost half a million
Gunnar Myrdal— An American Dilemma (1944)—examined the problem of racism towards African-
Americans in the US; helped open the eyes of white America to this problem
CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)— founded by James Farmer in 1942. CORE was the first organization to use sit-ins at restaurants that would not serve blacks
Supreme Court Cases : Missouri v ex rel Gaines
—since blacks were not being admitted to the
University of Missouri Law School, the courts ruled that the state had to build another, fully equal law school for blacks.
Smith v Allright (1944)—court ruled that the all white Texas primary violated the Fifteenth
Amendment .

Both of the these court cases suggest the success of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, whose chief lawyer was Thurgood Marshall.
President’s Committee on Civil Rights
(1946)—its report, To Secure These Rights , established a ambitious program of ending racial inequality, including voting rights protection, antilynching laws, a civil rights division in the Justice Department and an attack on segregated housing.
Executive Order 9981 --this ended segregation in the armed services
Jackie Robinson (1947)—first black in Major League Baseball
Ralph Bunche (1950)—black United Nations Diplomat who was given the 1950 Nobel
Peace Prize for helping to arrange a truce between the Arabs and Israelis after the 1948 war.
Continued Segregation in the South
—separate but unequal. However, despite Jim
Crow laws, personal contact between blacks and whites in the South was much closer than it was in the North. Only about 10 percent of blacks in the South could vote
NCAAP Legal Defense Fund , led by special counsel Thurgood Marshall , mounted several challenges to segregation. At first, its hope was to dismantle segregation by making it too expensive for the South to maintain separate facilities. This was the strategy of the following preBrown decisions.
Supreme Court Cases : Morgan v Virginia (1946): the court ruled that segregation on interstate buses was unconstitutional
McLaurin v Oklahoma State Regents (1950): McLaurin was an African American admitted to the Graduate School of the University of Oklahoma. Although he attended classes with whites, he was segregated—for example, he had to sit at a certain table in the library. The courts ruled that this violated his Fourteenth Amendment rights of equal protection of the law. He should receive the same treatment as white students and not be marked with a “badge of inferiority.”
Sweatt v Painter (1950)—the court ruled that the separate law school for blacks at the
University of Texas was not equal to the white law school. This was a violation of the
Fourteenth Amendment. Both McLaurin and Sweatt were leadups to the Brown decision in 1954.

EISENHOWER YEARS
During the Eisenhower, the US government took limited action with regard to civil rights; Eisenhower himself was concerned that giving wholehearted support to civil rights would dispute the nation’s social fabric. Nonetheless, there were several noteworthy developments during his administration.
It is also important to note that as the US tried to gain the support of non-
European nations in the fight against Communism during the Cold War, the plight of African Americans seemed a contradiction of the ideals of freedom for which
America said it stood .
As well, the role of television becomes increasingly important. For example, millions of white Americans viewed the events of Central High School on their televisions, thus affecting their attitudes towards civil rights.
Brown v Board of Education (1954)—the Supreme Court unanimously struck down segregation in education as a violation of the 14 th Amendment’s equal protection clause
Immediate response—about 500 schools desegregated; in some places, the KKK reappeared and White Citizens Councils boycotted businesses that supported desegregation. White Southern congressmen issue a Southern Manifesto in opposition to civil rights,
Emmett Till
—14 year old boy black boy in Mississippi murdered in 1955 because he was accused of flirting with a white woman
Brown II
—the court ordered school desegregation with “deliberate haste.”
Central High School Incident , Little Rock, Arkansas—Governor Faubus tries to use the
National Guard to turn away “The Little Rock Nine” who had volunteered to desegregate
Little Rock’s Central High School. Finally, Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National
Guard under federal control and sent paratroopers into Little Rock. The president based his action not on desegregation, but rather, upholding federal authority and upholding the law
Civil Rights Act of 1957
—the first civil rights law since Reconstruction. Created a
Civil
Rights Division within the Justice Department. Intended to promote black voting rights, but is generally weak
Montgomery Bus Boycott , 1955-1956— Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man and was arrested. Later, black leaders in Montgomery form the Montgomery

Improvement Association and chose Martin Luther King, Jr as their leader. The MIA organized a boycott of Montgomery’s bus system that reduced revenues by two-thirds.
Finally, in late 1956, the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation. Of course, this is where King’s whole concept of nonviolent resistance develops
Southern Christian Leadership Conference —organized by black ministers and civil rights leaders in 1957. Its goal was to bring racial change through the use of nonviolent civil disobedience. The SCLC envisioned the black churches , as opposed to a northern elite focusing on legal action, leading the fight for desegregation by focusing on massive
Eisenhower nonviolent protest. King himself was influenced by a number of thinkers, including the social gospel Christianity of Walter Rauschenbusch and the nonviolent principles of Gandhi
Greensboro, North Carolina Sit-in
—Woolworth’s lunch counter (1960)—4 blacks ordered coffee and doughnuts at a whites-only lunch counter. When the students were refused service, they would not leave. Eventually, others joined the sit-in. When arrests were made, the African American community organized a boycott of targeted businesses.
Later that year, the first black ate a lunch at Woolworth’s. The Greensboro sit-in eventually led to other sit-ins throughout the South. Again, this was a nationally televised event.
SNCC—Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
—founded in April 1960.
Organized by Ella Baker, executive director of the SCLC. The organization was originally committed to a policy of nonviolent protest ; eventually, however, this would change. Originally, the ultimate goal was the creation of the Beloved Community, which was based on Christian idealism and Gandhian principle of nonviolence
Although Kennedy won 70 percent of black votes in 1960, he was worried about supporting civil rights too much because he was worried about losing the Democratic
Party’s white southern base. Did appoint Thurgood Marshall as a federal appellate judge and create the Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity, which dealt with discrimination in the federal civil service and corporation receiving government contracts. Also, the Justice Department took a more aggressive stance on the issue of civil rights. However, only in June 1963, did Kennedy commit himself fully to civil rights, demanding laws that would outlaw segregation, ensure voting rights, and bolster federal authority to limit funding for programs that promoted discrimination

Freedom Riders (1961)— organized by CORE with involvement of SNCC to integrate interstate busing in the South. As violence against the Freedom Riders increased, the federal government was forced to act by calling in the federal marshalls; the ICC issued a clear statement prohibiting segregation on interstate carriers
Integrating University of Mississippi (1962) —federal troops escort James Meredith to classes. Riots break out on campus, resulting in 2 deaths.
Albany Movement
—1962 movement organized by SNCC in the rural Southern town of
Albany Georgia to desegregate the entire town. Despite bringing MLK into the town for support, the movement ultimately fails. The whole movement highlights some of the tensions between SNNC and the SCLC. Laurie Pritchett
—Albany police chief who skillfully avoids open violence against the civil rights protestors in his town and utilizes surrounding prisons to ensure that there was adequate space for arrested protestors. He also made sure that MLK was released immediately from prison, thus ensuring that he would not be viewed as a rallying point for blacks. Role of Federal Courts —in this instance, the federal courts did not serve as an ally of the civil rights protestors
University of Alabama —Kennedy sends troops to desegregate University of Alabama.
Governor George Wallace gives his “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, and segregation forever” speech
Birmingham desegregation (1963)—King goes down to Birmingham—disparagingly referred as Bombingham --to desegregate what he calls “the most segregated city in
America.” Thousands of young students are recruited for a “children’s crusade.” King is jailed; while in prison, he writes his famous Letter From a Birmingham Jail. It is a response to white religious leaders who said King was moving too fast. In it, King outlines the key moral issues at stake as justification for the claims of ill-timing and illegally on the part of his critics.
Police commissioner’s
Bull Conner’s
violent response to the demonstrators was captured on national television. In the end, city officials agree to desegregate.
Kennedy gives a landmark address on civil rights following the chaos. This suggests that the government intends to take a more aggressive position
March on Washington (August 1963)—250,000 blacks and whites march on the capital demanding “jobs and freedom.” It was the site of MLK’s famous “I Have a Dream
Speech,”
which combined the promise of the Declaration of Independence with the fervor of his Baptist faith
LBJ Effect
—LBJ was a shrewd politician who knew how to work with Congress. Also, he viewed civil rights as a golden opportunity for the Democrats to gain a new power base in the South
Civil Rights Act
—signed by President Johnson in 1964—prohibits discrimination in employment and most places of public accommodation on the basis of race, color,

religion, sex, or national origin ; outlawed bias in federally-assisted programs; created
Fair Employment Opportunity Commission
Mississippi Freedom Summer— brings students to Mississippi to teach and register voters.
Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (1964)—wing of the Democratic Party in
Mississippi dominated by newly-registered black voters. Went to the Democratic
National Convention to challenge the credentials of the official (white) Democratic Party convention. A compromise is reached—the MDFP is given 2 out of 68 seats. This causes disillusionment
March to Selma (1965)—SCLC called for a march demanding voting rights for blacks. Plan was to march from Selma, Alabama to Mongomery, where the protesters would give a list of grievances to Governor George Wallace. After several incidents of violence and even death—which receive nationwide attention—the march proceeds. It is influential in passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act
1965 Voting Rights Act— authorized federal supervision of voting registration in states and counties where fewer than half of voting age residents were registered; outlawed literacy and other discriminatory tests in voter registration. Between 1964 and 1968, black registration in Mississippi jumped from 7 to 59 percent of the statewide black population.
Despite the fact that de jure (legal ) segregation had ended, de facto (practice and custom) segregation continued. Despite the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, blacks continued to live in poverty. As well, racism continued in America. Many blacks began to question the validity of nonviolence and nonviolence. Many claimed that they still lacked equal opportunity.
This is very much the theme that Howard Zinn puts forth in his historiography
Long Hot Summers --It was this de facto segregation that led to a number of racial riots in Northern cities during the 1960s. These periods of racial unrest during the summers of the 1964-1968 period were known as The Long Hot Summers
Watts (1965)—one of the worst race riots in the nation’s history—34 people killed and millions of dollars worth of damage
Detroit (1967)—43 people killed and nearly 50 million people killed
Out of these race riots came the Kerner Commission

Even today, black poverty is much higher than white poverty and most blacks still attend segregated schools.
Radicalization of SNCC— SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael moves away from the principle of nonviolence to one of black power. At the same time, SNCC ejected its white members
Black Panthers
—
Huey Newton and Bobby Seales created the Black Panthers as a militant black self-defense organization to protect local blacks from police vioelnce
Malcolm X and black separatism— some black activists challenged the idea of cooperation with whites. For example, the Nation of Islam , to which Malcolm X belonged, espoused the same ideas of black separatism that Marcus Garvey held earlier in the 1920s. Initially, Malcolm X also condoned militant violent protest and was hostile to traditional civil rights groups. However, after a trip to Mecca in 1965, he moved away from his antiwhite rhetoric to a more internationalist perspective. In 1965, he was assassinated by black Muslims
Assertion of black pride— many young blacks rejected white tastes and standards in favor of African styles in fashion. There was an awakening of interest in black literature, history and art. Many universities began to offer courses in black culture and history
Kerner Commission (1968)—government report commissioned by Johnson—“our country is moving towards two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.”
Suggested that the government needed to build new housing, create new job, and end de facto segregation
Civil Rights Act of 1968
—ended discrimination in housing
MALCOLM X
Try to conceptualize the differences between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr
His background is significant in the sense that his father was an organizer for Marcus
Garvey and the Back to Africa movement during the 1920s era. This perhaps heightened certain attitudes within Malcolm X towards race—black economic independence, black separateness, and black superiority.
Malcolm X joined the Nation of Islam, a black nationalist movement, while in person.
He took the last name X because it represented an unknown variable in mathematics—the idea being that blacks had lost their real names because of slavery. The appeal of the
Nation of Islam , founded in 1930, was primarily in northern urban areas. Its leader in the 1950s and 1960s was a man named Elijah Muhammad . It had particular in appealing to and reforming the downtrodden of northern black urban society—ex-

convicts and drug addicts for appeals. Whites were considered an inferior race and were referred to as white devils.
In 1963, Malcolm made a controversial statement after Kennedy had been assassinated.
He said that “ the chickens had come home to roost
.” As a result, the Nation of Islam prevented him from speaking publicly for 90 days. After this, Malcolm X broke completely with the Nation of Islam because he felt that it did not do enough in terms of political action. Later, he founded the Organization of African American Unity to encourage other blacks who were not attracted to Islam to join forces with him in a political fight against racism in America.
In 1964, Malcom X converted to orthodox Sunni Islam after a pilgrimage to Mecca. At this point, his attitudes towards cooperation with other black civil rights groups changed.
For example, he supported MLK’s voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery .
Also, in 1964, Malcom X gave his famous ballot or the bullet speech —warning
America that it blacks were not given their voting rights, violence would break out
As his ideas progressed, Malcolm X sought to change the issue of civil rights into a human rights issue that the world should address. Thus, black Americans could take their case to the United Nations in order to seek readdress, as opposed to seeking solutions through US institutions—something that MLK promoted. He also tied the fight of African Americans with the struggle of African nations against colonial rule.
In 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam.