Race Relations in the USA 1955-1968

Race Relations in the USA 1955-1968

To what extent did racial inequality exist in the USA in the 1950s?

Background
Slaves were originally brought to America to work the cotton and tobacco plantations
in the south. Slavery was abolished in 1865, but had already set the attitude towards black
people:…

Some say that Brown vs. Topeka had no immediate effect. However, it did provoke an
extremist reaction from the KKK. In fact, the KKK was revived, and the leader of the time,
Robert Shelton, claimed that desegregation was `communist'.
It was not the start of the civil rights movement ­…

In the 1950s the KKK had a lot of support from protestant churches. The media
mocked their ceremonies, but the murders and bombings increased. Klansmen who
committed such crimes were often protected by police officers who were KKK members, and
white juries were reluctant to find KKK members guilty.
2…

Orval Faubus was seen as a hero by the white community.

How effective were the methods used by members of the Civil Rights movement 1961-1968?

Summary: Why was the movement so successful in the early `60s?
a) The NAACP had established the fact that blacks were legally in the right.…

King insisted on non-violence, as always, but his campaign was called `Project C'; the `C'
stood for confrontation. King knew that non-violent protests `make people inflict violence on
you.' As a result, they gain bad publicity and destroy their own case. Therefore, one of King's
major tactics was to provoke…

Black Panther patrols would shadow police patrols, and attack if the police were thought to be
harassing black Americans.
The Black Power movement worked to improve the understanding of black culture
amongst Black Americans. Black Americans were encouraged to recognise their African roots
and to take pride in their history,…

By 1963, however, King had developed tactics of mass protest, civil disobedience and
direct action. He had also learned that negotiation with white authorities was useless, and that
the key to success was unity and a clear goal.
He had also gained the respect on President Kennedy, and his brother,…