Changing Developments in the Demand for Civil Rights (1945-1968)

President Harry S. Truman played an instrumental role in the advancement of civil rights through his 1946 creation of the Presidential Committee on Civil Rights and the subsequent ‘To Secure These Rights’ report.
Truman’s proposition of an anti-lynching law, a ban on poll taxes, and a permanent FEPC failed due to Southern opposition. However, it did mark the emergence of civil rights as a significant national issue.
Executive Order 9981 was issued by Truman in 1948, leading to the desegregation of the military, which set a powerful example for the broader cause of civil rights.

The US Supreme Court ruled, in this landmark decision, that the ‘Separate but Equal’ doctrine was unconstitutional, thus overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.
The Brown decision faced severe backlash, particularly in the South, but it was instrumental in energising the civil rights movement and led to further court and legislative victories.

Sparked by the arrest of Rosa Parks, a long-term boycott of city buses was organised by the Montgomery Improvement Association led by Martin Luther King Jr., a practice of nonviolent protest that would later be used extensively.
The Supreme Court eventually ruled bus segregation unconstitutional, signifying a turning point in African American civil rights activism with increased incidences of direct-action protest.

Pushed through by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Act prohibited discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin, and ended unequal application of voter registration requirements along with racial segregation in schools, at the workplace, and public accommodations.
This landmark legislation represented a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement.

Again, urged by Johnson, this act aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote guaranteed under the 15th Amendment.
This act ended the use of literacy tests, provided for federal oversight of voter registration in areas with less than 50% minority voter turnout, and allowed for speedier legal processes.

In contrast to King’s emphasis on interracial cooperation and nonviolence, a more militant form of protest emerged amongst younger African Americans, encapsulated in the Black Power movement led by figures such as Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael.
This movement sought economic and political self-sufficiency, and was characterised by a sense of racial pride and a rejection of white societal norms.