Another similarity to the white citizens council was the views of J Edgar Hoover, the head of the FBI. Hoover was opposed to Martin Luther King because he believed him to be under the influence of Communists. Hoover ordered a new police initiative to disrupt the black civil rights movement. This was a major blow to the black movement because Hoover influenced many people.
Southern whites were still mainly opposed to black civil rights, they believed blacks were inferior and still saw them as socially and racially inferior. The views of previous generations where slavery was still happening were passed down and the previous slave status of the blacks was what many southerners based their views on. Southern whites mainly had similar views to those of the white citizens council and the KKK.
The KKK were at their strongest in the rural south, where most of their support was, their main supporters and members were racist southerners . To prevent blacks from gaining civil rights the KKK often used its power and influence to prevent blacks being elected or promoted to powerful positions. Their views were similar to those of the white citizens council.
The white American middle class did not approve of black civil rights, they did not want to share their wealth, prosperity and facilities. These attitudes were similar to the KKK’s.
In urban areas, whites resented the competition that black people gave for jobs and housing, there main advantage was their social superiority to blacks, and they wanted to keep this advantage. Generally, southern and northern views in this situation were similar although there were many more northerners in this situation. These racist views fell in line with the middle classes and their situations were similar.
During the 1960’s many students joined the civil rights movement, these students provided a great amount of support as these were the people who would be in powerful positions in future, also, this white support was vital in the civil right movements. The main student support was in the north but a few determined and brave southern students actively supported the movement also.
President Kennedy’s stance towards the civil rights movement varied, during the election he had made promises to the black people, when elected he did not enforce these promises for fear of upsetting powerful white southerners. His views were different to those of J Edgar Hoover in that he did not believe Martin Luther King was influenced by communists. In 1962 he sprang into action, calling military forces in some cases to enforce desegregation, these activities encouraged black people as the president influenced many. This sudden change in approach was similar to the students who supported black civil rights.
Martin Luther King managed to influence many, his non-violent approach gained much support from northern and even some southern whites. The white supporters were supportive mainly of Kings non-violent approach.
Whites living in urban areas were against black civil rights, they often physically prevented blacks from entering white areas, and often beat blacks who entered. These views were almost identical to those of the people living in areas with a high black population.
Overall, the political approach towards civil rights was changing in favour of the civil rights movement, along with some white support, however strong opposition did exist in large proportions, this shows that a balanced opinion existed, and that those whites who could be swung in favour of black rights had to be converted in order for black civil rights to make progress.
