Martin Luther King Jr. - Civil Rights Movement Notes

The Great Depression severely affected African Americans, particularly southern sharecroppers, worsening their impoverished conditions.
World War II provided opportunities for African Americans, leading to a significant migration to northern industrial jobs as they sought employment in war-related industries.

Initially, white employers resisted hiring African Americans.
A. Philip Randolph, an influential African American labor leader, organized protests that led the Roosevelt administration to issue an executive order prohibiting racial discrimination in defense plants and agencies.
By 1944, approximately 2 million African Americans were employed in defense plants, and nearly 1 million served in the armed forces, often in segregated units.
Post-war, returning veterans faced rampant racial discrimination despite their service.

Many African American veterans joined the NAACP, which expanded its presence across the South and pushed for civil rights reforms.
President Harry Truman took steps to support civil rights, including establishing a committee to address segregation and issuing an order to end segregation in the armed forces by 1948.
The NAACP achieved landmark victories, including the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which ruled that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, thus overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.

Despite the progress noted, there was significant obstruction in the Southern states, with laws and groups like the Ku Klux Klan actively resisting desegregation.
The Supreme Court's vague instructions for implementation fell short, leading to widespread disobedience among Southern legislatures.