Essay
Civil rights turning point
- Institution
- OCR
a fantastic document discussing the extent to which World War 2 was the most important turning point in the improvement of AA Civil rights more so than any other period.
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WW2 was the largest turning point in the advancement of AA civil rights throughout theperiod 1865-1992
Socially
o Desegregation of the Army in 1948 under Truman’s executive order 9981 was a
considerable advancement in the fight against segregation following the Plessy Vs
Ferguson ruling 1896.
o Could be argued that it was as a direct result of the AA involvement in the War effort
totalling 950,000.
o Certainly, WW2 made it difficult for the American administration to justify the
oppression of a significant group within their nation hence it is a reasonable claim
that WW2 helped to develop the position of AAs.
However more significant periods
1950s
o That being said perhaps the greatest period of change as a turning point for AA social
rights was the 1950s that saw a significant number of major rulings in SCOTUS that
was crucial to chipping away at the ‘separate but equal doctrine Brown Vs Board of
education ruling 1954.
o This ensured the desegregation of schools and was a clear change from Plessy Vs
Ferguson.
o This had much to do with the efforts of the NAACP and Thurgood Marshall and
hence was independent from WW2 impact
1960s and early 1970s.
o However perhaps the 1960s was an even greater turning point through ending
segregation on a congressional and enforced level.
o For instance, following the activism of MLK and the SCLC, succeeding the march on
Washington and march on Birmingham in 1963, Kennedy and later Johnson was left
with little choice but to pass the Civil rights Act 1964.
o This set out the provisions for desegregation on a congressional and constitutional
level and enforced the prior Supreme court rulings that had stated this, such as
Brown Vs Board of Education, Browder Vs Gayle and Boynton Vs Virginia that were
clearly not being upheld evidenced, by the Little Rock Nine case in 1957 and the
violence met by the Freedom rides in 1961.
o Therefore, this legislation was essential to fully ending Jim Crow laws and outlawing
Plessy Vs Ferguson.
o Brown Vs Board of education was also further enforced in the 1960s through the
ruling of Alexander Vs Holmes County where the SC ruled that there must be more
rapid desegregation of schools, which was accentuated by the 1971 ruling of Swann
Vs Charlotte which ruled on the legality of mandatory bussing to achieve integration.
o The court also ruled in 1970 Green Vs Connally that federal funds would be withheld
form higher educational institutions that continued to have a policy of segregation.
o As a result, there was rapid desegregation of schools. At the beginning of Nixons
presidency in 1969 68% of AA were attending segregated schools, when he left office
in 1974 the figure was just 8%
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