The NAACP was the organisation that achieved most for African Americans during the 20th century. Do you agree?

If any organisation were to be named as having made the most economic advancements for AA’s, based upon my own analysis above, I would name the Trade Unions. As well as the fact that their primary purpose is economic advancement, after the 1930’s they did represent a large proportion of African Americans. However, as a whole, all of the groups did relatively little for economic advancement for African Americans, and the differences in the level of their achievements is minimal.

It may be argued that social change is the most difficult aspect of life that an organisation could attempt to change, as social issues- by definition- often reflect the views of society. This therefore was the aspect of discrimination on which many organisations chose to focus, specifically, on segregation. The SNCC, for example intiated the “sit-in” movement at the Woolworth’s lunch counter, Greensboro N.Carolina, which demonstrated that peaceful protest, could be successful. Its success was such that, despite angry reactions from white racists, the movement spread across the USA, particularly the south. Other groups such as the SCLC, for example, were to be become involved in the sit-in movement, and CORE’s involvement extended to other areas of public life- such as parks, swimming pool’s etc. The movement’s success can be judged by the fact that it gained wide media attention (including AA’s subject to white violence, yet still maintaining their peaceful stance), and did succeed in removing segregation in some of those areas mentioned; the NAACP, on the other hand, did not become involved with the sit in movement.

CORE also became concerned about segregation on transport, which was still legal for interstate travel. When CORE decided to challenge this on the “Journey of Reconciliation”, a two-week pilgrimage through Virginia, N.Carolina, Tennessee & Kentucky, the NAACP volunteered the service of its southern attorneys, albeit begrudgingly (Thurgood Marshall, head of the legal team feared the aggravation would lose them white support). The journey proved to be successful when RFK stepped in after violent protests to ensure that interstate buses were desegregated.

The other main area that social campaigns focused on was lynching; in 1919 alone, more than 70 AA’s were lynched. The NAACP ran a long campaign against lynching, publishing “Thirty Years of Lynching” in 1919, as well as takng out large advertisements in newspapers to make people aware of the extent of this crime. Although the NAACP hoped that the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 would bring an end to lynching (two African American campaigners against lynching, Mary McLeod Bethune and Walter Francis White had been actively involved in helping Roosevelt to obtain victory & Eleanor Roosevelt had also been a long-time opponent of lynching), Roosevelt feared it would lose him votes and nothing was done. However, FDR’s successor, Truman, was persuaded, with pressure from the ADA, to include an anti-lynching bill as part of his fair deal programme, though this was rejected by congress and so never came into effect.

The NAACP did most of its work through the courts challenging segregation and racial discrimination in housing, education, employment and transport. It was to become heavily involved in challenging racially discriminating laws before the Supreme Court. The head of the NAACP’s legal department, 1939 onwards, Thurgood Marshall was to win 29 of 32 cases brough to the S.C. These included such important cases as black exlusion in primary elections and unequal facilities in universities. Perhaps the organisations greatest achievement, following from these “stepping-stone” cases, was “Brown vs The Education Board of Topeka”. This was the case that meant that the S.C. recognised that the “separate but equal” facilities doctrine was unworkable, and led to segregation in schooling being declared unconstitutional. Although not accepted by all states (most notably Arkansas, with the extreme situation that evolved at Little Rock High School), it was an extremely positive achievement for the NAACP, and the civil rights movement as a whole.

The NAACP also published its own magazine, “Crisis”, in 1910, further spreading the message of the social problems bred from both de facto and de jure discrimination. Those organisations not yet mentioned actually did very little for social advancement: the UNIA actually accommodated segregation and did nothing to aid integration, the TU’s were primarily concerned with economic improvement, and the CPUSA did encourage social improvement, but actually achieved little of any note.

Although the NAACP was unsuccessful in its lynching efforts, and was only partially involved in the Journey of Reconciliation, its achievements through the courts were extremely important as they meant that they had “officially” made an achievement. They had forced the S.C to recognise that changes to the law were necessary (i.e. lessening de jure discrimination), and, although attitudes would not necessarily change (de facto), the first steps were being achieved. I would therefore certainly agree that the NAACP was the group most successful in making social advances.

Political campaigns concerned both lobbying to give AA’s full voting rights, and to encourage AA’s to take advantage of their rights. The NAACP challenged the fact that AA’s could not vote in primary Presidential elections by referring to the 14th constitutional amendment (“Equal right to vote”), and won their case in 1944. However, the “Grandfather Clause” (requiring proof that a grandfather of your own had been registered to vote) and Literacy Tests that were required for AA’s to vote restricted most from being able to do so, as many had no way of proving their ancesters voted, or did not have grandparents who did vote, also the literacy rate among AA’s was low. When the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965, which enabled the federal government to register to vote those whom states had refused, it was after much popular pressure (e.g. pressure built up from protests for those other civil rights causes mentioned), as well as pressure “from within” from the ADA.

The “Freedom Summer” campaign of 1964, organised by CORE, the SNCC and the NAACP encouraged AA’s to take advantage of their voting rights. Although the Votng Rights Act was not passed until the following year, the campaign encouraged people to take advantage of those rights they already had, and assisted people in registering (which was often greatly needed, taking into account the Grandfather Clause & Literacy Test requirement). The campaign was focused on Mississippi, where voter registration was particularly low (6.7%).

Although the Freedom Summer campaign, which was a main part of the campaign for political rights, was a success, and was a joint effort, I would still argue that the NAACP were the most important group for political advancement. This is because as well as their involvement in Freedom Summer, which involved campaigning to Congress, and directly to the President, the NAACP’s campaigns had also taken them to the Supreme Court, and they thus had become heavily involved in campaigning to all three strands of US Federal Government, and had met success, mostly to a great degree, at each. However, if there is another group more important for political advancement, it s the ADA, who were able to campaign directly (“from the inside”) to the White House, although the ADA was not concerned with Civil Rights only.

In summary, I find that my analysis enables me to easily agree with the title statement. The NAACP made significant advancements in both the political and social fields; very much so in the latter. Although its economic achievements were less significant, I would suggest that the groups intention was that economic improvement would follow if social and political equality were achieved, and that these were more important. As historian Brogan agrees: “The NAACP was, and is, the most effective of black pressure groups.”