Responsibilities
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."
- Margaret Mead
- Margaret Mead
During the fight for African-American civil rights, those in power had the responsibility to enforce the laws and failed to do so, while those with the least power stood up for their beliefs.
13th, 14th, 15th Amendments
Establishing LawsThe 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution establish civil rights of African-Americans.
|
Failure to Take ResponsibilityThe federal government initially accepted the responsibility for protecting the rights of the former slaves by upholding these laws during Reconstruction (1865-1877). However, in the 1870's, attitudes shifted toward state's rights and away from a powerful federal government ending Reconstruction and the enforcement of these amendments. The failure of the federal government to uphold these laws allowed segregation to become widespread for the next 77 years.
On May 18, 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that laws segregating the races on a separate-but-equal basis were constitutional. "[The] country as a whole received the news of its momentous decision upholding the 'separate but equal' doctrine in relative silence and apparant indifference. Thirteen years earlier the Civil Rights Cases had precipitated pages of news reports, hundreds of editorials, indignant rallies, ... and much general debate. In striking contrast, the Plessy decision was accorded only short, inconspicuous news reports... A great change had taken place, and the Court evidently now gave voice to the dominant mood of the country." - C. Vann Woodward, "The Strange Career of Jim Crow" |
Executive Order 9981
Establishing LawsIn 1946, President Truman says that the government has "an obligation to see that the civil rights of every citizen are fully and equally protected." - Letter to the National Urban League, Harry S. Truman Library On July 26, 1948 President Truman issued Executive Order 9981 which states, "It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." - Desegregation of the Armed Forces, Harry S. Truman Library |
Failure to Take ResponsibilityOn July 26, 1948 "Army staff officers state anonymously to the press that Executive Order 9981 does not specifically forbid segregation in the Army."
On July 27, 1948 "Army Chief of Staff General Omar N. Bradley states that desegregation will come to the Army only when it becomes a fact in the rest of American society." It was not until October 1953 that "the Army announces that 95% of African-American soldiers are serving in integrated units." It took five years and the Korean War for integration to become a reality in the armed services. - Desegregation of the Armed Forces, Harry S. Truman Library |
Brown v. Board of Education
Establishing LawsBrown v. Board of Education (1954) says segregation in schools is illegal.
"In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right that must be made available on equal terms." - Chief Justice Earl Warren, Brown v. Board of Education (1954) |
Failure to Take Responsibility"What hurt was not Eisenhower's private disapproval of Brown, but his refusal to give it a public endorsement....Eisenhower insisted time and time again that he had neither need nor right to comment. Even as violence flared across the South, as the implementation of desegregation began, Eisenhower refused to ever say that he thought segregation was morally wrong. That allowed the bitter-end segregationists to claim that Eisenhower was secretly on their side, which they said justified their tactics. Warren, and many others, thought that one word from Eisenhower would have made possible a smoother, easier, and quicker transition period. But Eisenhower never said the word." - Stephen Ambrose, biographer |
Taking Responsibility
African-American Students
![Picture](/uploads/2/5/4/1/25413104/531190.jpg)
"Who's worse off - the people who aren't aware enough to do anything about problems, or people who are aware enough but never take any action. We really didn't want to put ourselves in the same category as those who talk but never act, so we said, let's do something."
- Franklin McCain, one of the Greensboro Four
"For the first time college kids saw that there was an opportunity where they could do something that could help a lot of people. Even help our parents."
- Robert Tyrone Patterson, former A&T student, 1989
- Franklin McCain, one of the Greensboro Four
"For the first time college kids saw that there was an opportunity where they could do something that could help a lot of people. Even help our parents."
- Robert Tyrone Patterson, former A&T student, 1989
White Supporters
![Picture](/uploads/2/5/4/1/25413104/7555034.jpg?218)
"I would go to Woolworth and Kress's to eat lunch, and I couldn't understand why I could sit down and eat, and yet the blacks had to stand up or take their food and leave....I would go to the S&W or Mayfair Cafeterias and watch many of my black friends walk by the window where I sat eating, and yet they could not enjoy the same privilege as an American....My conscience bothered me, and it broke my heart to see this indignity heaped on a human being of another color than white....I decided to do something about this wrong."
"So from 1949 until 1960, I approached black salespersons who worked in my store and students from A&T [North Carolina A&T State] University to go to those businesses and break the law and try to get served."
"I finally approached a student [Joe McNeil]...in my store buying shoes....Then I told him to get me about four students to go to Woolworth's....Joe did come back, February 1, 1960, with three more freshmen....For one hour, in the back of my store, I planned strategy, telling them what to do, and gave them money to use. And I - and [told them] if trouble started, to call me on the phone. That day was the beginning of the sit-ins that swept America...."
- Ralph Johns, Greensboro businessman
"So from 1949 until 1960, I approached black salespersons who worked in my store and students from A&T [North Carolina A&T State] University to go to those businesses and break the law and try to get served."
"I finally approached a student [Joe McNeil]...in my store buying shoes....Then I told him to get me about four students to go to Woolworth's....Joe did come back, February 1, 1960, with three more freshmen....For one hour, in the back of my store, I planned strategy, telling them what to do, and gave them money to use. And I - and [told them] if trouble started, to call me on the phone. That day was the beginning of the sit-ins that swept America...."
- Ralph Johns, Greensboro businessman
"Three white students from Woman's College, the Greensboro division of the University of North Carolina, came into the store. The three girls...said they 'felt it was our moral obligation' to help the Negro students. They began sitting in."
- Miles Wolff, Lunch at the Five and Ten
- Miles Wolff, Lunch at the Five and Ten
Nonviolence
"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a sword that heals. [It] cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A key element of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1950's and 1960's was non-violent protest which allowed the African-American protesters to gain sympathy for their cause. Americans saw "neatly dressed students sitting at an empty lunch counter, tough-looking teens pressing lighted cigarettes against the backs of young women, protesters with sugar in their hair and ketchup smeared on their clothes, and police officers packing students in police vans." (Herr) |
We don't expect violence, but if it comes we will meet it with passive resistance."
- An African-American college student participating in the Greensboro sit-in
- An African-American college student participating in the Greensboro sit-in