African Americans & Civil Rights Notes

Background and Origins (1909–1945)

• Founded in 1909 by a multiracial group including W.E.B. Du Bois, Ida B. Wells, and Mary White Ovington, the NAACP emerged in response to racial violence, segregation, and disenfranchisement during the Jim Crow era.
• Its main mission was to secure political, educational, social, and economic equality for African Americans and to eliminate race-based discrimination.
• The NAACP emphasized legal action and advocacy rather than direct protest, believing court rulings could dismantle systemic racism.
• Early successes included challenging discriminatory voting laws and exposing lynchings through investigative journalism in The Crisis, the organization’s magazine edited by Du Bois.

Legal Strategy and Role in the Civil Rights Movement (1945–1968)

• Under Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the organization pursued a long-term strategy to challenge segregation in education and public facilities.
• Key victories:
  • Smith v. Allwright (1944) : ended the “white primary” system in southern elections.
  • Brown v. Board of Education (1954) : Supreme Court ruled school segregation unconstitutional.
• The NAACP also supported Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956), providing legal and organizational backing.
• While other groups like SNCC and SCLC led mass protests, the NAACP focused on litigation, voter registration, and legislative advocacy, contributing to the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965).

Impact and Legacy (Post-1968–Present)

• After the 1960s, the NAACP continued to fight against housing discrimination, employment inequality, and police brutality through legal and policy channels.
• It played a major role in affirmative action debates and in defending the Voting Rights Act against later restrictions.
• The organization also worked to increase African American political participation, contributing to the rise of Black elected officials in the 1970s and beyond.
• Despite criticisms that it was too cautious compared to more radical groups, the NAACP’s long-term, legalistic approach ensured durable civil rights progress and institutional reform.

Thurgood Marshall (1908–1993)

Early Life and Legal Career

• Marshall joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in the 1930s, traveling across the South to defend Black Americans facing discrimination, police violence, and wrongful convictions.
• He believed in challenging segregation case by case to build constitutional precedent.

Landmark Cases and Civil Rights Leadership

• As chief counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Marshall led dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, winning 29 out of 32.
• His most significant victory was Brown v. Board of Education (1954), where he argued that segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
• The unanimous decision ended legal segregation in education, overturning Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and providing the foundation for later civil rights reforms.
• Marshall also helped win other landmark cases, such as:
  • Smith v. Allwright (1944) – banned white-only primaries.
  • Sweatt v. Painter (1950) – forced the admission of a Black student to the University of Texas Law School.
• His calm, logical approach to advocacy helped gain credibility in a deeply divided America..

Judicial Career and Legacy

• In 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall to the U.S. Court of Appeals, and in 1965, Lyndon B. Johnson made him Solicitor General, the first African American to hold that position.
• In 1967, Marshall became the first African American Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, where he served for 24 years until 1991.
• On the Court, he consistently defended civil liberties, affirmative action, and the rights of minorities and the poor, opposing the death penalty and racial discrimination.
• His life’s work embodied the principle that justice must be achieved through law, not violence, and he remains a central figure in the history of American equality.