America 1945-55 Civil Rights

981 Words4 Pages
How far do you agree that the impact of the Second World War was the main reason why the position of African-Americans improved in the years 1945-55? The main factors that led to the improvement of the position of African-Americans are, the Second World War, President Truman and Campaign groups such as the NAACP, CNO and UDL. The Second World War can be seen as the foundation of change in America as the result of the war led to many black Americans feeling empowered and so joined the NAACP. President Truman had heard news of the black heroes returning from the war, being victims of racist attacks and was so deeply moved, he committed himself to challenging Southern racism. The war had seen over 1.2 million black men join the US army. The experiences of racism and formal segregation had radicalised the soldiers, especially the Northern blacks, as they had never encountered the harsh treatment of blacks in the Southern states. Many soldiers would later join the fight against segregation back home; the evidence for this was the massive rise in NAACP members. Furthermore, at liberation of Nazi concentration camps, the extreme horrors of racism for a ‘lesser’ race was shown to US and the world, this convinced many people back in the US that racism was completely unacceptable. The impact from the war influenced public opinion on racism, however they couldn’t make de facto changes regarding segregation and so wasn’t the main reason for the improvement in effecting the position of African-Americans. President Truman aimed to tackle the issues of racism and segregation in the South, this is evident in the report ‘To Secure These Rights’ in which Truman established a committee to look into the experience of racial minorities in America. The report highlighted lynching, police brutality, voting rights, discrimination in various public sectors. Truman signed the Executive
Open Document