Truman's Civil Rights Flashcards
1
Q
What did black soldiers experience during the war?
A
- the Red Cross wouldn’t accept blood donations from black people
- soldiers were segregated and fights often broke out between white and black soldiers
2
Q
What did African Americans face in the North under Truman?
A
- de facto segregation: prejudice but not by law
- only 8% lived outside the South but the Great Migration saw an increase in the North, due to new job prospects, fear of the KKK, etc.
- after moving, many lived in cramped apartments with high rent
- as white people moved to the suburbs, black political power grew, and groups such as the NAACP and CORE grew in membership
3
Q
How did civil rights groups campaign under Truman?
A
- NAACP sought to challenge segregation through courts
- established a Legal Defence Fund in 1939 and could hire the best black lawyers, such as Thurgood Marshall
- many cases focused on undermining Plessy v Ferguson, which stated that ‘separate but equal’ facilities were acceptable
4
Q
How did Truman respond to civil rights?
A
- 1946: established ‘The President’s Committee on Civil Rights’ and told members he wanted the Bill of Rights to become a reality
- committee released report entitled ‘To Secure These Rights’ in 1947: attack on discrimination in both the North and South
- Truman responded by asking Congress to support federal protection against lynching, protection of the right to vote, and a permanent and better funded FEPC in 1948
- however never successfully implemented due to Dixiecrats
5
Q
What was executive order 9981?
A
- executive order to end discrimination in the armed forces
- Truman wanted a ‘brotherhood’ between black and white men
- shocked by treatment faced by black soldiers during the war
