Segregation 1945-1954

There were no sustained mass struggle against segregation from years 1945 – 1954 because there were two developments during this period that stunted and delayed the progression of African American civil rights movement. First, was the granting of civil rights, however they served as temporary appeasement for blacks. Which also had social and political limitations. Second, the fear of communism evoked by the Cold War shifted the focus from domestic resolution to international issues.
Some of the demands African Americans put forth were equality in the work place, educational system, and effective political representation. Although some rights were promised, not all were properly enforced and some were totally resisted. According to Manning Marable, “Roosevelt resisted blacks’ demands that the federal government should…hire greater number of minorities.” (Marable, Race, Reform, and Rebellion,13) Even after the Roosevelt administration, minimal efforts were made to help seal the rights of black Americans, Truman used this as a political strategy. “Truman’s victory silenced and isolated black progressives for many years, and committed the NAACP and most middle-class leaders to an alliance with Democratic presidents who did not usually share black workers’ interests, except in ways which promote their own needs at the given moment.” (Marable, Race, Reform, and Rebellion, 23) As the Cold War manifested throughout the United States, suppression among black progressive leaders and political figures rapidly increased. Due to the mass hysteria and the fear of communism through the 1940s and 1950s, those who fought against segregation were labelled communists. People were arrested, jailed, fired from their jobs, and denied their rights. One in particular, W.E.D. Du Bois, who was one the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). As a black leader for civil rights and a man of great recognition, he was also the biggest target for