The post-World War II Civil Rights Movement marked a pivotal era in American history. From 1945 to 1960, African Americans employed various strategies to challenge racial discrimination, including legal battles, nonviolent protests, and political activism. These efforts faced fierce resistance from white Southerners but gradually gained momentum.

The movement culminated in landmark legislation and events during the 1960s. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965, and Fair Housing Act of 1968 dismantled legal segregation and discrimination. Major demonstrations like the March on Washington and Selma marches showcased the movement's power and helped secure these legislative victories.

Post-World War II Civil Rights Movement

Civil rights under Truman and Eisenhower

• President Harry Truman (1945-1953)
  • Desegregated the armed forces through Executive Order 9981 in 1948 ending racial discrimination in the U.S. military
  • Established the President's Committee on Civil Rights in 1946 to investigate the status of civil rights in the country
    • The committee's report, "To Secure These Rights," recommended anti-lynching laws, voting rights protections, and a permanent Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) to prevent racial discrimination in hiring
  • Truman's civil rights program faced opposition from Southern Democrats who sought to maintain segregation and limit black civil rights
• President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961)
  • Signed the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the first federal civil rights legislation since Reconstruction era aimed at protecting voting rights
    • Created the Civil Rights Commission to investigate violations of civil rights and created the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to enforce federal civil rights laws
  • Sent federal troops to enforce the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School in 1957 after the governor of Arkansas attempted to block integration
  • Signed the Civil Rights Act of 1960, which expanded the enforcement powers of the Civil Rights Commission to investigate and report on violations of civil rights

African American activism strategies 1945-1960

• Legal challenges to segregation
  • NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, led by Thurgood Marshall, pursued a strategy of challenging segregation in the courts arguing that separate facilities were inherently unequal
    • Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional overturning the "separate but equal" doctrine
• Nonviolent direct action
  • Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956)
    • Sparked by Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in violation of Montgomery's segregation laws
    • Led by Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Improvement Association organized a 13-month boycott of the city's bus system
    • Resulted in the desegregation of Montgomery's public transportation system and launched King as a national civil rights leader
  • Sit-ins and freedom rides
    • Student-led sit-ins at segregated lunch counters began in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960 and spread to other Southern cities
    • Freedom Rides in 1961 challenged segregation in interstate bus travel by having integrated groups ride buses through the South
  • Civil disobedience was a key tactic employed by activists to challenge unjust laws and practices
• Political activism and voter registration
  • Fannie Lou Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party challenged the all-white Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention arguing for more black representation
  • Voter registration drives, such as the one led by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) during the Freedom Summer of 1964 aimed to register black voters in the South

White Southern responses to civil rights

• Massive Resistance
  • Southern states adopted a strategy of "massive resistance" to oppose desegregation and maintain white supremacy
    • Interposition and nullification: States claimed the right to "interpose" their authority and nullify federal court decisions they opposed
    • Closing public schools: Some localities closed public schools to avoid desegregation, such as in Prince Edward County, Virginia which closed its schools for five years
  • White Citizens' Councils formed to oppose desegregation and civil rights activism through economic and social pressure on activists and supporters
• Violence and intimidation
  • Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups used violence and intimidation to suppress civil rights activism and maintain segregation
    • Murder of Emmett Till in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman
    • Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963 killing four young girls
• Gradual acceptance and compliance
  • Some white Southerners, particularly in urban areas, gradually accepted desegregation and complied with federal court orders to avoid violence and maintain order
  • Business leaders in some cities, such as Atlanta, sought to avoid the economic consequences of resistance to desegregation by accepting integration

Demographic and Social Changes

• Great Migration: The movement of millions of African Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North and West, reshaping the demographics of American cities and contributing to the growth of black political power
• De facto segregation persisted in many Northern cities despite the absence of formal Jim Crow laws, leading to challenges in housing, education, and employment

Civil Rights Legislation and Landmark Events

Civil rights under Truman and Eisenhower

• Voting Rights Act of 1965
  • Banned literacy tests and other discriminatory voting practices that had been used to disenfranchise black voters
  • Authorized federal oversight of voter registration in areas with a history of discrimination to ensure fair access to the ballot
• Fair Housing Act of 1968
  • Prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, or sex to promote residential integration
• Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, this landmark legislation prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
  • Outlawed segregation in public accommodations and banned employment discrimination

African American activism strategies 1945-1960

• March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom (1963)
  • Organized by a coalition of civil rights groups, including the "Big Six" leaders of major organizations
    • Martin Luther King Jr. (SCLC), Roy Wilkins (NAACP), Whitney Young (National Urban League), A. Philip Randolph (Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters), John Lewis (SNCC), and James Farmer (CORE)
  • King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech calling for an end to racism and equal rights for all
  • Helped build support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by demonstrating the mass support for civil rights reforms
• Selma to Montgomery Marches (1965)
  • Series of marches organized by the SCLC and SNCC to advocate for voting rights and protest the denial of voting rights to black citizens in the South
  • "Bloody Sunday" (March 7, 1965): Marchers were attacked by state troopers and sheriff's deputies on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, drawing national attention
  • Helped build support for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by highlighting the violent opposition to black voting rights

White Southern responses to civil rights

• "Southern Manifesto" (1956)
  • Document signed by 101 members of Congress from Southern states denouncing the Brown v. Board of Education decision
  • Pledged to use "all lawful means" to resist the implementation of the Brown decision and maintain segregation in public schools
• Little Rock Nine (1957)
  • Nine African American students enrolled at the previously all-white Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas as part of the school's court-ordered desegregation plan
  • Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block the students' entry citing the need to maintain order
  • President Eisenhower sent federal troops to enforce desegregation and protect the students, marking a significant federal intervention in support of civil rights

Evolving Strategies and Ideologies

• Black Power movement emerged in the mid-1960s, emphasizing racial pride, economic empowerment, and self-determination
• Malcolm X advocated for black nationalism and criticized the nonviolent approach, influencing the development of more militant civil rights strategies