Term Paper on "Cold War Civil Rights the Civil Rights People Had During the Cold War 1953-1979"

Term Paper 5 pages (1771 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Civil rights during the Cold War [...] civil rights people had during the period of the Cold War (1953-1979). Civil Rights made great strides during the Cold War, and this time was a time of great strife, and greater understanding among race relations in America. However, victory over prejudice did not come easy, and the time of the Cold War was also a time of upheaval in America that created new opportunities for many, but caused others to make the ultimate sacrifice in the fight for equality.

When World War II ended in 1945, it created great changes in the world, and great changes at home in America. After the war, business boomed, and most people prospered. The creation of the atomic bomb, however, created fear in the world, and began a race to create arms to protect citizens from atomic bombs and other weapons. This "arms race" led to a war that was never fought, the Cold War, which raged between the United States and the Soviet Union for over 30 years. The Cold War was a time of strife, when countries did not trust each other, and new weapons of mass destruction were created on both sides.

However, something else happened after the end of World War II. Negro soldiers returned home after fighting for their country, and they began to feel even more unrest about the way blacks were treated in this country, especially in the South, where blacks were kept from "white" dining rooms, rest rooms, bus stations, and even drinking fountains. The black soldiers returned home knowing that the way they had been treated when they went to war was not the way they wanted to be treated after they had fought the war and helped win it. As author Mary Dudziak notes, "In spite of the repression of the Cold War era, civil rights reform was in part a product of the Cold War" (Dudziak 12). The U.S. had helped fight fascism and won, but was still practicing their own brand of prejudice at home, and it brought the attention of the world on the U.S. In addition, blacks were no longer as afraid to stand up for themselves and ask for what they wanted - freedom and equality. These things bound together to create a time when oppression was still the order of the day, but would soon make way to sweeping civil rights changes that would bring more equality to a nation still split over war, peace, and military might.

Most people think of the 1950s as the beginning of the civil rights movement, and the 1960s as the culmination of hard-won alternatives to inequality and prejudice in the nation. However, President Truman instituted a civil rights plan in 1948, and it was part of the Democratic Party plank that year at the national convention. After it was approved as a "minority position," many Southern participants "bolted" the convention floor (McAuliffe 37). While Truman won the election, but little was done to foster civil rights until the 1950s, when Negroes began to stand up for their right to the same education and freedoms that white Americans enjoyed.

The Cold War created a desperate fear of Communism in America. The McCarthy hearings in the 1950s show how widespread the panic had become, and how fearful Americans had become of anything that threatened their lifestyle, well being, and freedom. The Communists of the Soviet Union were building up their own missile defenses against what they saw as a clear American advantage with the atomic bomb. Knowing the Russians might strike at any minute caused the U.S. To continue funding military spending in a time of peace, and it caused the world to take a good look at American national and world policy. Many foreign countries began to criticize America for duplicity in its dealings with Negroes in their own country. Writer Dudziak notes, "As the United States held itself out as the leader of the free world, the nation opened itself up to criticism when its domestic practices seemed to violate the nation's principles" (Dudziak 29). As criticism mounted, so did unrest at home.

The first highly prominent civil rights legislation was Brown vs. Board of Education that the Supreme Court ruled on in 1954. The ruling said that "separate but equal" education was not lawful, and black children had the same right to an equal education as white children did, and segregation in schools was illegal. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the front of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and Martin Luther King, Jr. brought Montgomery to a standstill with subsequent bus boycott. Blacks were rising up for change all over the country, and some of them were dying in the process. King would give his own life to the movement in 1968 when he was assassinated. In 1957, "President Eisenhower signed the first national civil rights law in 82 years"

Graham 6). This law was supposed to guarantee black voting rights in Southern states, but the law did little to keep the whites from barring blacks from the polls, often with violence. The law was a dismal failure, but Eisenhower also created a Civil Rights Commission, which was not a failure. In effect, the reports and studies they completed helped lead to the sweeping Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (Graham 6). When John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960, he was a supporter of civil rights and civil rights reform. One expert said Kennedy used the Cold War to urge tolerance after Brown vs. Board created tensions in many of America's schools. Writer White states,

Kennedy used the Cold War to justify school integration and federal involvement in the civil rights movement: "Today we are committed to a worldwide struggle to promote and protect the rights of all who wish to be free. And when Americans are sent to Vietnam or West Berlin, we do not ask for whites only. It ought to be possible, therefore, for American students of any color to attend any public institution they select without having to be backed up by troops" (White 15).

Kennedy also backed passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 before his death in 1963, and President Lyndon Johnson continued the support, signing the Act and the Voting Act during his presidency.

While blacks were fighting for their rights at home, the newspapers and newsreels of the day carried world of their struggle around the world, and the world continue to condemn the United States for their policies. Thus, the Cold War, and the increased attention the U.S. had because of the Cold War helped create additional tension, and additional calls for reform. In addition, Communist criticism made some opponents of integration infer that blacks and Communists had ties, fueling more tension between the races. Author White continues, "Interestingly, 46% [of respondents to a Gallup Poll] also thought that those organizations pressing for civil rights legislation had been 'infiltrated by communists and are now dominated by communist troublemakers'" (White 167). Thus, in many American minds, the Cold War and the civil rights movement were somehow intertwined, and both were extremely suspect.

The Cold War was not only a time of increased military capabilities. It also marked the beginning of another race between the U.S. And the Soviets, the "space race." Both sides were determined to get into space first, but the Soviets won, by launching the satellite "Sputnik" in October 1957. Americans came to realize that the country needed to increase education and understanding if they were to overtake the Soviets. Dudziak notes, "For Americans, the idea of a Soviet spaceship circling overhead led to a crisis in national confidence and, ultimately, a renewed commitment to improving education as well as accelerating the space race itself" (Dudziak 145). Thus, racially integrating schools did not seem quite as threatening as satellites overhead, and the civil rights movement marched forward.

Of course, the civil rights legislation of the mid-60s would not magically end racial tensions in the country. Just as the Cold War lingered on, so did difficulties between the races. The difference was, most of the unrest was now taking place in the northern areas of the country, rather than in the South, where it had occurred before. Author Graham continues, "For southern blacks, the civil rights legislation of the mid-1960s had produced immediate benefits. But segregated stores, voting barriers, and whites-only jobs were not pressing issues for African-Americans outside the South" (Graham 6). However, housing and fair housing were important issues in the North, and to address these issues, additional legislation was necessary. After many urban riots throughout the North between 1965 and 1968, the Fair Housing Act of 1968 passed Congress. Even into the 1970s, the government continued to legislate action that added to the Acts of the 60s. Some southern school districts did not desegregate quickly enough, and so, the government stepped in during… READ MORE

How to Reference "Cold War Civil Rights the Civil Rights People Had During the Cold War 1953-1979" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

How Did the Cold War Begin? Term Paper

Cold War Begin?

After the end of the World War II political and military domination of two the most powerful states (the U.S.A. And USSR) turned into an open resistance.… read more

Term Paper 10 pages (2895 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: World History

---

Future of Cuba Term Paper

Cuba After Castro

Cuba is an island nation some 90 miles from Florida, and proximity alone gives this country great importance in the thinking of American leaders. More than this,… read more

Term Paper 80 pages (20759 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: World History

---

Inter-Parliamentary Union and Its Role in Enhancing International Law Term Paper

Inter-Parliamentary Union and Its Role in Enhancing International Law

Legal Status of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

The Development of the International Institutions

The Public International Unions

The Private International Unions

Historical… read more

Term Paper 59 pages (16130 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Government / Politics

---

Top Five Presidents Term Paper

Presidents in My Opinion

My choice of the top five U.S. Presidents ranked in descending order of importance is: Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan, Dwight Eisenhower, Franklin Roosevelt, and George H.W.… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (2043 words) Sources: 5 Style: APA Topic: American History / United States

---

Illegal Immigrants in the U.S Term Paper

illegal immigrants in the U.S. And the possibility of legalizing their status. The article shows: how illegal immigration is currently being dealt with, the views of people on the issue… read more

Term Paper 6 pages (2196 words) Sources: 2 Style: MLA Topic: American History / United States

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>