The tactics of the NAACP during the 1950s in several significant court cases were both clever and successful. The Brown Verdict of 1954 highlighted this when Oliver Brown challenged segregated schools in Topeka, Kansas. The NAACP lawyer at the trial was Thurgood Marshall who argued that segregation was against the 14th amendment. Both the judge and the Supreme Court agreed that segregation in schools was psychologically damaging to black children. The outcome of the trial was a triumph for the NAACP and it inspired the civil rights movement as it showed that anything could be achieved.
Another aspect of segregation challenged by the civil rights movement was segregation on transport. The legal process to eventually force public transport to become integrated was slow and so direct action was taken. Rosa Parks, secretary for the NAACP and a respected member of the community refused to give up her seat to a white person on a bus and was arrested. Every black person in Montgomery, Alabama was told not to ride the buses and the boycott lasted 381 days. The boycott saw the emergence of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) lead by Martin Luther King, which organised car pools and drummed up support. The Supreme Court decision in 1956 that segregation on buses was illegal ended the boycott and was a triumph for the civil rights movement as it showed them what they could achieve through their own actions. The Montgomery bus boycott also saw the beginning of the organised civil rights movement.
After Montgomery, Martin Luther King had emerged as a prominent figure of the civil rights movement. He created another branch of the movement called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), whose memberships was made up of institutions for example churches rather than individuals. The SCLC was successful in widening the activity and notoriety of the civil rights movement, at the same time promoting non-violent protest, the belief that it was God’s will for them to protest, and the belief that with federal help they could achieve what they wanted. King visited other countries such as India, as he was interested in Gandhi’s ideas on non- violence and the importance of religion and wanted to relate them to the movement. King had become a clear leader of the civil rights movement who had charisma, good ideas and provided a well-funded and successful organisation.
Another reason that an organised campaign emerged was that black Americans knew from experience that they could not rely on politics to help them in their struggle as they were often neglected and knew that they had to do things for themselves. In 1946 President Truman established the civil rights committee to investigate violence against black Americans and used his federal power to end civil rights abuses. In 1948 he attempted to end discrimination in the armed forces and also established the fair employment board to end discrimination for people at work or seeking employment. As Truman had set such a precedent for political action on civil rights issues, it came as a disappointment when President Eisenhower was much more inactive on the issue. Eisenhower made no attempt to enforce the law resulting from the Brown Verdict, as he believed it ridiculous to try to make people change their ways. Also, in Little Rock Arkansas, when nine black students attempted to attend a former white school and were greeted with mobs and violence, it was only several days later that Eisenhower sent in paratroopers to protect the students. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 aimed to increase the number of black voters, but was reduced in its effectiveness in efforts to ensure it went through Congress. All of these events showed black Americans that a movement which they organised themselves would be far more effective than relying on the political system.
The levels of white resistance that black people faced in the South were phenomenal, and the civil rights movement realised that it was crucial to be organised in order to overcome this and achieve what they wanted. A crime that shocked both black and white Americans was the torture and murder of 14 year old Emmett Till, and the way in which his murderers were found not guilty of the crime. It became apparent that despite changing laws, whites is the South were still prepared to ignore the law and a large proportion of the crime went unpunished. Due to this, an organised movement was essential, as it needed to be effective despite white resistance.
I think that an organised campaign against segregation and discrimination in the Southern states emerged during the 1950s largely due to the political inactivity and the lack of support black Americans were receiving from both the president and the law. I think that the reason the movement came about during the 1950s and not before was because black Americans had raised expectations due to the actions of Truman on civil rights issues, only to find them not fulfilled by his successor. Success in some aspects of the movement such as removing segregation in schools and on transport had only been recognised by the law after protests by black Americans. I think it became clear to them that to get what they wanted they needed to find an effective way of protesting for it and to do this they needed an organised movement. Black Americans were inspired by the success of past campaigns and this made them determined to campaign until they had achieved equality.
Chloe Hunter
