Opposition to the Civil Rights Movement
How far do you agree that opposition to the civil rights movement did more to help the movement than to hinder it?
Overall, opposition to the civil rights movement hindered more than helped the movement between the years 1955-1968.
Firstly, the FBI used their power to undermine the civil rights movement on many occasions in the 50s and 60s. J. Edgar Hoover, who was a dedicated anti-communist set up COINTELPRO (the counter intelligence program) which investigated radical groups. He did this because he thought that groups such as CORE, SNCC, the NACCP and the SCLC had links to the communist party who therefore posed a threat to the American Democracy. COINTELPRO spied on civil rights groups, broke into their offices and harassed civil rights activists, however, its main tactic was infiltration. This was a process where COINTELPRO agents would join groups such as the SNCC and posed as civil rights activists to encourage disagreement and rivalry in order to weaken the groups from within.
Local politicians were generally more opposed to racial justice than the national politicians. Local politicians in the North were opposed to civil rights campaigns. Mayor Daley was effective in preventing progress in campaigns such as the Chicago Campaign in 1966 but his tactics were more sophisticated than those of Orval Faubus who used a combination of violence, propaganda and legal measures to stop the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Daley publically agreed to negotiate with King, however, without anyone knowing, his lawyers managed to legally prohibit further large-scale protests and he also made a series of promises which after the campaign was over and his position was secure he did little to implement them.
Public opinion was a significant barrier to racial equality in the late 60s. Although a most Americans supported the end to legal segregation, they didn’t want black people to live in their neighbourhoods. This is shown in ‘white flight’ which was
Overall, opposition to the civil rights movement hindered more than helped the movement between the years 1955-1968.
Firstly, the FBI used their power to undermine the civil rights movement on many occasions in the 50s and 60s. J. Edgar Hoover, who was a dedicated anti-communist set up COINTELPRO (the counter intelligence program) which investigated radical groups. He did this because he thought that groups such as CORE, SNCC, the NACCP and the SCLC had links to the communist party who therefore posed a threat to the American Democracy. COINTELPRO spied on civil rights groups, broke into their offices and harassed civil rights activists, however, its main tactic was infiltration. This was a process where COINTELPRO agents would join groups such as the SNCC and posed as civil rights activists to encourage disagreement and rivalry in order to weaken the groups from within.
Local politicians were generally more opposed to racial justice than the national politicians. Local politicians in the North were opposed to civil rights campaigns. Mayor Daley was effective in preventing progress in campaigns such as the Chicago Campaign in 1966 but his tactics were more sophisticated than those of Orval Faubus who used a combination of violence, propaganda and legal measures to stop the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 1957. Daley publically agreed to negotiate with King, however, without anyone knowing, his lawyers managed to legally prohibit further large-scale protests and he also made a series of promises which after the campaign was over and his position was secure he did little to implement them.
Public opinion was a significant barrier to racial equality in the late 60s. Although a most Americans supported the end to legal segregation, they didn’t want black people to live in their neighbourhoods. This is shown in ‘white flight’ which was