HIST 1025 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Strom Thurmond, Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma
April 13
Song: Muddy Waters “Mannish Boy” (1955)
Invented the standard configuration of bass, guitar, and drums that was later appropriated and
popularized by Elvis.
1. Why do societies change?
○ Underlying social/economic shifts
○ Changes in the law
○ Emergence of new leaders, new organizations, and collective action
2. Preconditions for a civil rights movement, 1941-1950
○ National economic expansion
■ More jobs, better pay
○ Labor movement’s success
■ Labor movement targets discrimination: wage and otherwise, strong ally
of the civil rights movement
○ Changes in the South
■ Mechanization of agriculture, end of crop lien system, AA’s move to cities
in North and South
○ African American voters
■ Due to AA’s migration to the North, they start to become a political
constituency in the North
3. Principal events, 1950-1965
Jim Crow Laws: Laws of segregation that rule the South.
Ideology of racism begins to shift after WWII
Gunnar Myrdal, An American Dilemma (1944)- discredits scientific racism, exposes
racial divide with numbers and statistics, exposes systematic oppression, read by lots of
people, turning point of public discussion of racism in the U.S.
March on Washington Movement (A. Philip Randolph, 1941)-Black America becomes
organized
Truman’s Committee on Civil Rights: To Secure These Rights (1947)- created partly out
of political concerns, also genuinely morally horrified by events that occurred against
AA’s in the States. Federal laws should be passed against lynching, discrimination, and
voting discrimination. Federal government advances the same points that NAACP had
been fighting for for the entirety of the 20th century until this point. This was shot down
by congress, but started the discussion of race issues.
Democratic Party split in 1948 over Civil Rights-
Henry Wallace (former VP): Progressive Party
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Emergence of new leaders, new organizations, and collective action: preconditions for a civil rights movement, 1941-1950. Labor movement targets discrimination: wage and otherwise, strong ally of the civil rights movement. Mechanization of agriculture, end of crop lien system, aa"s move to cities in north and south. Due to aa"s migration to the north, they start to become a political: principal events, 1950-1965 constituency in the north. Jim crow laws: laws of segregation that rule the south. Ideology of racism begins to shift after wwii. Gunnar myrdal, an american dilemma (1944)- discredits scientific racism, exposes racial divide with numbers and statistics, exposes systematic oppression, read by lots of people, turning point of public discussion of racism in the u. s. March on washington movement (a. philip randolph, 1941)-black america becomes organized. Truman"s committee on civil rights: to secure these rights (1947)- created partly out of political concerns, also genuinely morally horrified by events that occurred against.
