Origins of the Movement 19Commission on Interra-
cial Cooperation: Formed
after World War I, this
Atlanta-based organiza-
tion opposed lynching
and restrictions on black
voting and cautiously pro-
moted socioeconomic
opportunities for black
southerners.
Association of Southern
Women to Prevent Lynch-
ing: A regional organiza-
tion founded in 1930 to
stop lynching at the local
level.
Southern Regional
Council: An interracial
organization formed in
1944 that opposed seg-
regation and promoted
black voter registration.
Southern Conference for
Human Welfare: An
organization of New Deal
liberals committed to
ending poverty and
racism in the South.
Southern Conference
Educational Fund: Con-
tinued SCHW’s support
of the civil rights move-
ment through publicity
and fund-raising.
Truman, Harry(1884–
1972): US president who
opposed segregation in
schools, neighborhoods,
and the military.
To Secure These Rights:
President Harry Truman’s
1947 report that strongly
supported black civil
rights.CIC was succeeded by the Southern Regional Council, an organization of
clergy and professionals that worked for the gradual elimination of segrega-
tion. Similarly, the Southern Conference for Human Welfare, a group of
New Deal liberals, attacked poverty, opposed the poll tax, and promoted
voter registration. When SCHW succumbed to McCarthyite charges of
communist control, its work was carried on by the Southern Conference
Educational Fund. Southern writers who attacked racism included sociolo-
gist Howard Odum, journalist Wilbur Cash, and Ralph McGill, editor of the
Atlanta Constitution. Lillian Smith of Georgia probed the causes and costs of
racism in Strange Fruit, a best-selling novel about an interracial love affair.
When federal judge J. Waties Waring of South Carolina ruled against unequal
teacher salaries, white primaries, and school segregation, he was hounded
out of the state that his aristocratic family had lived in for eight generations.
Most white southerners were either too afraid or unconcerned to join these
brave few.
After World War II, blacks who moved North for defense jobs could
no longer be ignored politically. Roosevelt’s successor, Harry Truman, took
unprecedented steps for racial equality. He was prodded by the cold-blooded
murder of fifty blacks, the Cold War competition for Africa and Asia, and
signs that blacks might bolt from the Democratic party. In 1947, Truman’s
Committee on Civil Rights published a report titled To Secure These Rights,
which recommended swift federal action to end lynching, segregation, and
barriers to voting. Although most Americans opposed the report, an unre-
pentant Truman barred segregation in the military, ordered the promotion of
more black officers, and prohibited job discrimination throughout the fed-
eral government. His justice department supported the NAACP in court
cases against segregated housing and education. Truman’s bold strategy of
embracing black voters paid off with the most unexpected electoral victory
in American history. After the election, however, Truman’s Fair Deal was
stymied by a Republican Congress, and the president concentrated, not on
civil rights, but on communism at home and abroad. In 1950, A. Philip
Randolph helped organize the Leadership Conference on Civil Rightsto
implement the report that Truman disregarded.
While the federal government began to address racial injustice, a few areas
of society, especially the entertainment industry, made more rapid progress
after World War II. The entire nation followed the amazing exploits of Jackie
Robinson, who integrated major-league baseball in 1947 when he joined the
Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson’s breakthrough in America’s pastime opened the
door for blacks to enter professional football and basketball. At the same
time, black musicians became widely popular, particularly jazz performers,
such as pianist Thelonius Monk, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, and saxophonist
Charlie Parker who ushered in ‘bebop’ music. Such ‘race’ music greatly
Leadership Conference
on Civil Rights: A broad-
based coalition that
pressed successfully for
civil rights laws.