The Civil Rights Movement: Discussion of Race & Power

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There are several theories and ways to look at the rise of the Civil Rights movement in U.S. History - one is through the manner in which the charismatic leaders of the movements influenced student and individual protests to rally new thoughts and action in an already volitile area. In fact, the five decades comprising the 1950s to the millennium were, in United States History, both tumultuous and exciting. There were so many changes in the social, political, and technological areas, the World War II Era now seems quite primitive. Sine 1950 we have had a major cultural revolution, at least four major military conflicts (depending on who defines), rapid technological growth, new and virulent diseases, a President who resigned rather than face impeachment and jail, the fall of the Soviet Union, telecommunications and transportation improvements that are vast, and several economic challenges.

The 1950s was an Era of dramatic change. America had been on the winning side of the war, and the resultant economic boom and political situation pushed the United States into the limelight. America was "rich," and expected to help other countries, but was going through its own crises at home, and growing pains socially and economically. Several large trends occurred during the 1950s, the Cold War between the United States and the USSR developed, Africa began to be decolonialized throwing the economic and political situation out of balance, the Korean War brought the United States into another global conflict, tensions heated up in Egypt (the Suez Canal Crisis) and Cuba (Castro and the Cuban Revolution), and America went through a turbulent time with Anti-Communist feelings and Senator Joseph McCarthy's accusations and focus on "reds in the State Department." (Halberstam, 1994, intro.)

The Civil Rights Movement, far from beginning in the 1950s, did have some rather impressive gains. The gains occurred not because of one person or one group, but of a movement that seemed to coalesce and solidify even through adversity. Perhaps it was the right time - Blacks had served in World War II, exposing some White Americans to race issues for the first time; the country was focused on anti-communism, so race may have taken a second seat. It is also important to remember that it was not just brave African Americans who led the fight for justice, but college students and religious leaders of many races. In fact, these activities often employed legal challenges, civil protests, and other initiatives to bring the issue of race into the living rooms of middle-class Americans. Not all African Americans agreed with the manner in which the struggle should be put in place: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was a primary advocate of peaceful change - reasonable dialog, and taking the arguments of Thoreau and Gandhi to heart. King believed if enough people openly disobeyed, albeit peacefully, unjust laws and actions, those laws would fail. (Morris, 1986, 30-44, 58-89). In contrast, though, as millions of African Americans migrated from the rural South to the North and West seeking new jobs, they demanded higher pay and a more egalitarian system. This, combined with more mechanization of agriculture in the South, moved the African American into a wider dispersion in the country. It is also interesting to note that most Americans, politicians especially, supported the decolonization of the African nations and equal government and rights for those populations - but then, in their own backyard, had differing views. Legal challenges abounded, the most famous was the 1954 decision "Brown vs. Board of Education," in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional. By denying anyone the right to an education, the Court said, many institutions in the South were denying basic Constitutional rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment. (See: http://brownvboard.org/summary/) However, while the ruling was a major victory, when, in 1957 the little Rock Arkansas School District was ordered to desegregate, its Governor Fabus refused, arguing that the States had the right to administer their schools. In the Fall of 1957, Fabus called out the National Guard to prevent African Americans from entering Little Rock High School - and, media coverage in its infancy, Americans were still shocked to see White mobs attacking Black children. (See: "Governor Fabus Resists Integration," in http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/school-integration/lilrock/faubus.html). With the world's eyes watching America, and President Eisenhower desperate to regain control over the States, Federal Troops were called in to protect African Americans, and Governor Fabus closed the schools in 1958 and 1959. Still, the Movement accentuated the idea of peaceful coexistence and the establishment of legal authority for members of all races. What possibly made the Civil Right's Movement of the 1950s so important is not necessarily what battles were won, but what preparations were made as the decade drew to a close. (Jackson, 2006, inclusive).

In contrast, though, as millions of African Americans migrated from the rural South to the North and West seeking new jobs, they demanded higher pay and a more egalitarian system. This, ...