Desegregation NAACP

naacp representatives e. franklin jackson , stephen gill spottswood meeting president kennedy @ white house in 1961

by 1940s federal courts amenable lawsuits regarding constitutional rights, congressional action virtually impossible. rise of private corporate litigators such naacp bear expense, civil suits became pattern in modern civil rights litigation. naacp s legal department, headed charles hamilton houston , thurgood marshall, undertook campaign spanning several decades bring reversal of separate equal doctrine announced supreme court s decision in plessy v. ferguson.

the naacp s baltimore chapter, under president lillie mae carroll jackson, challenged segregation in maryland state professional schools supporting 1935 murray v. pearson case argued marshall. houston s victory in missouri ex rel. gaines v. canada (1938) led formation of legal defense fund in 1939.

locals viewing bomb-damaged home of arthur shores, naacp attorney, birmingham, alabama, on september 5, 1963. bomb exploded on september 4, previous day, injuring shores wife.

the campaign desegregation culminated in unanimous 1954 supreme court decision in brown v. board of education held state-sponsored segregation of public elementary schools unconstitutional. bolstered victory, naacp pushed full desegregation throughout south. naacp activists excited judicial strategy. starting on december 5, 1955, naacp activists, including edgar nixon, local president, , rosa parks, had served chapter s secretary, helped organize bus boycott in montgomery, alabama. designed protest segregation on city s buses, two-thirds of riders black. boycott lasted 381 days. state of alabama responded barring naacp operating within borders because of refusal divulge list of members. naacp feared members fired or face violent retaliation activities. although supreme court overturned state s action in naacp v. alabama, 357 u.s. 449 (1958), naacp lost leadership role in civil rights movement while barred alabama.

new organizations such southern christian leadership conference (sclc) , student nonviolent coordinating committee (sncc) rose different approaches activism. these newer groups relied on direct action , mass mobilization advance rights of african americans, rather litigation , legislation. roy wilkins, naacp s executive director, clashed repeatedly martin luther king jr. , other civil rights leaders on questions of strategy , leadership within movement.

the naacp continued use supreme court s decision in brown press desegregation of schools , public facilities throughout country. daisy bates, president of arkansas state chapter, spearheaded campaign little rock 9 integrate public schools in little rock, arkansas.

by mid-1960s, naacp had regained of preeminence in civil rights movement pressing civil rights legislation. march on washington jobs , freedom took place on august 28, 1963. fall president john f. kennedy sent civil rights bill congress before assassinated.

president lyndon b. johnson worked hard persuade congress pass civil rights bill aimed @ ending racial discrimination in employment, education , public accommodations, , succeeded in gaining passage in july 1964. followed passage of voting rights act of 1965, provided protection of franchise, role federal oversight , administrators in places voter turnout historically low.

after kivie kaplan died in 1975, scientist w. montague cobb became president of naacp , served until 1982. benjamin hooks, lawyer , clergyman, elected naacp s executive director in 1977, after retirement of roy wilkins.