civil rights movement

civil rights movement (USA) After the Plessey v. Ferguson ruling of 1896 had entrenched further the legal, social, economic and political discrimination of African Americans, a growing number of White liberals and African American activists founded the NAACP (1908). Progress was slow, despite the emergence of cultural leaders and political activists such as Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois. The civil rights movement found it difficult to unite behind a common strategy, and to gain political support amongst sufficient numbers of White voters. A turning point was reached in World War II, when the economic and military mobilization for the war effort relied on African Americans. This raised hopes and expectations for greater civil rights equality in the postwar period, and when these were not fulfilled, the movement became more militant. At the same time, the Supreme Court became a crucial, if not unambiguous, ally in realizing civil rights, starting with its decision in Brown v. Topeka, Kansas (1954). In December 1955 the arrest of Rosa Parks, who had defied a rule of segregation on the bus system in Montgomery, Alabama, caused a year-long boycott of the entire system. Further boycotts followed throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s. These boycotts were galvanized by support from Martin Luther King, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Non-Violent Co-ordinating Committee. His charisma empowered the civil rights movement through religion and a sense of calling, while his insistence on peaceful action divided White opposition. Eventually, the civil rights movement began to win the political argument. In September 1957 federal troops were sent to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce school desegregation. Congress passed a Civil Rights Act establishing a federal agency of six commissions to investigate complaints. A further Act was passed in 1960. During 1960–1 there were student sit-ins forcing desegregation of lunch counters, cinemas, supermarkets, libraries, and other public facilities. Freedom Riders, racially integrated groups of travellers, went south and there were some 3,600 arrests. In August 1963 some 250,000 people took part in the peaceful March on Washington, where they were addressed by King, who outlined his vision of an equal society (‘I have a dream’). The Civil Rights Act of July 1964, which was introduced by Kennedy and skilfully guided through Congress by Johnson, was the most far-reaching bill of its kind, forbidding racial discrimination in employment, education, or accommodation. In 1965 this was followed by the Voting Rights Act, which aimed at ending voter discrimination. The movement, which had always held on to a common agenda only with great difficulty, fragmented from the mid-1960s. This was accelerated by King's death, but at its heart was a disagreement on how to define and acquire non-political civil rights, as discrimination continued in areas like housing, employment, the law, and access to high-quality education.

Civil Rights Acts (USA)