Brown Flashcards
What does Klarman say about Brown v Board?
- Scholars have exaggerated it’s inspiration to the CRM instead it indirectly was responsible for change in legislation as it inspired more White resistance response, temporarily destroyed southern moderation. Created extremist political environment where politicians fought to show who had bigger resistance on CRM - leading to extreme brutality of nonviolent protestors in Birmingham and Selma - which were televised on TV and enraged northern whites
- The backlash thesis holds strong ground as explaining the critical federal legislative intervention only occurred after CRM like Birmingham with the southern backlash
What did MLK say about Brown?
It brought hope to millions of disinherited black people who had formerly dared only to dream of freedom
- supports some scholars idea that Brown inspired black protests by legitimising the CR cause and by improving the prospects of success
Why is saying Brown was significant in legitimising CR troubling to Klarman?
- Doesn’t believe it was actually necessary as it’s not clear thsy in 1954 a Supreme Court decision was needed to legitimise CR in the eyes on BP
- Instead democratic ideology of WW1 and greater economic and politicsl opportunities also fostered CR consciousness
- Brown didn’t significantly improve political arena
Examples of CRM before Brown
NAACP membership grew nearly 9 fold from 50,000 1940 to 450,000 1946
- By 1940 black candidates were standing for public office
- Black challenges to JC started to have an effect in early 1950s e.g. Montgomery police force was desegregated as were elevators
Why was there dormancy of CRM during 1950s?
- Cold War and McCarthyism
- 1960 increase movements was more to do with the end of McCarthyism
What does Klarman say started the CRM
- political, economic, social, demographic and ideological forces along with WW2
- Great Migration in first half of C20 more than 6 mill AA moved from South tk Northeast, west and midwestern industrial cities
- Decline in southern agriculture
- Increasing black literacy rates
- Ideology of WW2
- Cold War imperative of change
Backlash thesis
- After WW2 there was more violence in racial lyncihing in the South
- Frank Graham in North Carolina and Claude Pepper in Florida were defeated in1950 was also seen a racial backlash as they were both viewed as liberal
- Response in south was more consistent to Brown
- Race became a decisive focus of southern politics
- Lower class most resistant to integration
- Alliance of Black and upperclass whites
- e.g. Norfolk virginia 1958 lower class voted 9-1 in favour of school closure over desegregation while upper class were divided evenly on it
- Brown inspired rural black bely whites to exert predisposition power in state politics to exact racial conformity
- Whites were scared of the threat to their white supremacist views
- Some still felt obliged to rally around whites - Little Rock 1957
What was Little Rock?
1957
Governor Faubus, Arkansas
- was cornered to back desegregation - when 9 AA tried to enter little rock school he called in state Militia to keep peace but really they prevented the entering the scholl
- The Federal Government get involved- Eisenhower sends 1000 of the 101st airborne to little rock to allow students in
- After Faubus won 4 additional consecutive terms
- The guards outside school promoted the mob atmosphere
What did little rock tell other politicians?
- the more extreme politician’s resistance to CRM the greater the rewards he might expect in polls
- E.G. 1954 city commission voted to repeal the ban on interracial sports contests. Yet 2 weeks later after Brown a city referendum reinstitute the band
- Within this culture Connor was able to resurrect his political career and regained his seat in 1957 with race-baiting campaign - under him the police clamp down and ruthlessly suppressed Birmingham demonstrations
- Kennedy when he got elected said he would eliminate race discrimination in housing, yet it took him 2 years to do it and when he did was limited. He also privately negotiated a deal with Mississippi public officials to allow them to (illegally) to jail CR demonstrators in exchange for preventing mob violence
What did polls show?
- 1960s public began to rank CR the most important issue on the nation only when demonstrations produced violence
- The public condemned nonviolent direct actions - only 22% of polled approved of the freedom rides
What came from people seeing brutality of demonstrators?
- Northern upset
- Several US congressmen denounced use of police dogs and firehoses - Others introduced bills to end federal complicity
- two month from before and after Birmingham = 1200% increase in American deeming CR to be nations most important issue
- After 2 years kennedy finally introducd civil rights pack in Feb 1963
What and When was President Johnson’s speech?
March 15
Supporting the voting legislation
It was the 1st presidential message on a piece of domestic legislation in 19yrs
