Civil Rights Organisations (Edexcel GCSE History): Revision Note

Timeline

Summary

From the start of the 20^th Century, Black Americans began to organise and campaign against the segregation, prejudice and discrimination that they faced. This struggle became known as the Civil Rights Movement. The number of civil rights organisations grew as the years passed. Some organisations were national and some were regional. Some campaigned through the courts, others took direct action. The Black American church also started to play an increasingly important role in the struggle to end segregation.

The aims of civil rights organisations in 1950s America

• Civil rights organisations campaigned for equal rights between White Americans and Black Americans           

  • Their first aim was to end segregation in the South 

  • Throughout the 1950s, they attempted to do this through non-violent means

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

• The NAACP was founded in 1909

  • It sought to improve the lives of Black Americans by fighting and winning court cases

• The focus of the NAACP was:

  • To overturn the ‘separate but equal’ court ruling of 1896

  • Prove that segregation was against the Constitution

• The NAACP also helped defend Black Americans it believed had been unfairly accused and convicted of crimes

• Its membership tended to be more mature and middle-class and included both Black and White Americans

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

• The CORE was founded in 1942

  • It sought to bring about change through non-violent direct action

• The CORE challenged segregation by using techniques such as sit-ins 

  • This involved occupying seats in ‘Whites only’ sections of restaurants and refusing to move

• Its membership included both Black and White Americans but it attracted many younger people – especially students

The Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL)

• The RCNL was founded in 1951 and was based in Mississippi 

• It aimed to improve the lives of Black Americans by:

  • Encouraging voter registration

  • Campaigning against police brutality 

  • Organising boycotts of petrol (gas) stations

• Despite being a regional organisation, it became known nationally during the trial of Emmett Till’s murderers because it helped gather evidence to use in court

• The organisation’s influence began to decline towards the end of the 1950s as the NAACP grew in importance

Church Organisations

• The Church played a central role in the lives of many Black Americans in the South in the 1950s

• Their Christian religion taught that every man was the son of God and therefore everybody, regardless of skin colour, was equal

• Many activists and organisations emerged from Black American churches, including:

  • Dr Martin Luther King Junior 

  • Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

• The SCLC was founded in 1957 after the Montgomery Bus Boycott to coordinate civil rights protests across the South

Reaction of White Americans to Church Organisations

•  Many White Americans welcomed the influence of the Black American churches in the debate over segregation

  • They appreciated its message of forgiveness and non-violence

• Other White Americans resented the influence of the Black American Churches

  • They were concerned that the church could organise and mobilise large numbers of people

  • As a result, Black churches and worshippers became the target of violence from some White Americans