*after the civil war,
segregation was
common throughout the south and enforced through jim crow
laws. it was recognized as legal through
the 1896
supreme court case plessy v. fergusson
which ruled that separate facilities were legal as long as they were
equal
(although in reality they rarely were).
*although the south had de jure
(by law) segregation, most of the north and west had de
facto (in fact) segregation (which sometimes affected
asian-americans and hispanic-americans as well).
*there had been some challenges to
this for decades, but the turning
point may have been world war ii.
franklin roosevelt banned discrimination in war industries in
1941, and
many black soldiers who fought in the war expected better treatment
when they
returned home.
*other african-americans opposed
the war. in 1942, the congress of racial
equality
(core) was formed by african-americans pacifists, who were inspired by
the
non-violent protests of ghandi against british rule of
*there were some black successes
in the 1940s. in 1947, jackie robinson
joined the brooklyn dodgers, becoming the first african-american to
play on a
major league baseball team.
*in parts of the us, especially in
the south, though, returning black
veterans often faced discrimination and, when they resisted more
forcefully
than they might have before they had military training, whites
responded with
violence, even beginning race riots.
*this horrified harry truman.
although he was personally a racist, he believed that the
constitution
was not. he tried to get congress to
outlaw lynching and to protect voting rights, but congress refused. in 1948 he did use his power as
commander-in-chief
to order the military to desegregate.
*after world war ii, the naacp
brought more and more lawsuits against
racist institutions. at first, they won
cases in which separate facilities were clearly not equal, but in 1954
they
took on the entire concept of plessy v.
fergusson.
*the naacp sued the board of
education of topeka, kansas, for not
allowing african-americans to attend the same schools as white children. when the case reached the supreme court in
1954, it was known as brown v. board
(oliver brown was the father of linda brown, one of the segregated
students).
*under chief justice earl warren,
the court decided that separate
education was inherently unequal. two
years later, the court ordered that desegregation of all schools begin
with ‘all
deliberate speed,’ but some parts of the country were much more
deliberate than
others.
*in some places, there were
violent protests. in 1955 judge robert
love taylor ordered
*at first there were no apparent problems. however, an advocate
of
segregation from
*still, things got worse, and judge taylor issued a restraining order
against
kemper, who was later charged with inciting a riot (although he was
eventually
acquitted). local officials asked governor clement to send help,
and he
sent 600 national guardsmen.
*some black students reported harassment and even death threats from
white
students, although others said things weren’t so bad.
*when black students asked the school officials for additional
protection, it
was denied, so local white citizens offered to escort them to
school. the
most prominent of these was reverend paul turner, minister of the local
white
baptist church. after escorting his students to class on 4
december, he
was attacked, beaten, and left bleeding on the sidewalk. this
attack on
such a respected figure shocked the town so much that there was no more
outright violence for the rest of the school year.
*in may 1957, bobby cain became the first black student to graduate
from a
desegregated high school in
*in october 1958,
*not
every part of the south desegregated as well as
*when
the black students arrived at school, soldiers blocked the doors and
the crowds
threatened them with beatings and lynching.
*this
was too much for president eisenhower.
although he privately thought forcing schools to desegregate was
a bad
idea, once the supreme court had decided on it, he could not allow any
state
government to refuse. he sent in us
troops to protect the little rock nine, escorting them to class every
day.
*things
went much slower in many parts of the south.
the ku klux klan became prominent again, while white citizens
councils
pressured local governments to make sure that even when segregation
officially
ended, school districts were drawn up making sure that de
facto segregation continued.
*
*as the
crisis in
*other
non-violent protests were also effective.
in 1955, rosa parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white
man in
*in
response, african-americans in
*afterwards,
king and ralph abernathy (both christian ministers), formed the
southern
christian leadership conference (sclc) to work for non-violent change. they used boycotts, prayer vigils, marches,
sit-ins, and strikes to demand change.
*so did
another group, formed in 1960, the student nonviolent coordinating
committee
(sncc). they had been inspired by
student protests in
*as the
1960s continued, however, both white and black protests would move
beyond
non-violence to militancy.