In the United States during the ten year span of the 60s, a culture shift with many changes emerged that was vast in dynamics; one that had never been seen before, or since. However, one seed for that change had been planted in the proceeding generation. Something that was, wasn’t and people began to see it and began to reconcile between what was and what wasn’t, in the way they lived their lives within the social make-up of America.
Roots for this change began with an organization in the Northern part of the U.S., The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), founded in 1942, in the city of Chicago to address the civil rights issue. In all essence the movement for the modern civil rights era began in the North in the 1940s. By 1961 though, CORE had broadened its reach from the North on into the Southern parts of America.
After WWII, African American soldiers who had defended their country with honor returned home to the same social barriers that had been there before the war, and a great push to end segregation began. Civil right demonstrations took place in the North and South. Although there were no legal barriers in the North, they faced discrimination, with the South being riddled with legal barriers to opportunities of liberty.
To understand these barriers, legal or otherwise one must first understand the differences between State (law) powers and Federal (law) powers and the people living within. For this article, I’m going to go dangerous and assume the reader already has this understanding of how the United States works.
To have an understanding of the culture climate of the people within, there are polling opinion statistics to help us figure this out. However, I am going to replace a word that appears within the questions of these polls, because I believe the word is disingenuous in its use. Most all people within the social make-up of the U.S. realized a wrong that needed to be made right; the surveys conducted show the progression of movement toward that end.
Gallup Poll, (AIPO) September, 1964, “Have you heard of read about the (civil rights) demonstrations in several northern cities? 91% Yes 9% No. Based on personal interviews with a national adult sample of 1,600 [USGALLUP.64-698.R14A]
Dataset: USAIPO1964-0698
Data provided by The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
From that we can pretty much conclude that people were very much aware of the world they live in and that ideas on how they were living, were needing to be addressed. The civil rights movement sparked greater movements toward a culture shift in customs and ideas, however it was clear in the beginning part of the 70s, there was more work to be done. But alas, I get ahead of myself.
To see impact we must double back to the sentiment of society in the previous generation. While there were many issues around integration, education was the second most predominate, led by employment opportunities. (indicated by NORC report published 1967 polls of African Americans)
Question posed by the NORC (National Opinion Research Center of the University of Chicago) 1942, 1956, 1963 — “Do you think all students should go to the same schools, or separate schools?” Between North and South in 1942 not one in three approved of integrated schools, in 1956 in the North it had become a majority view, while in the South, one in fifty favored integration. Continuation of the trend by 1963, two-thirds of all Americans approved of school integration, even in the South. (PAUL B. SHEATSLEY – 1966)
None of that could have happened without a fight or what one might call an awareness campaign … utilizing demonstrations, protests and community leaders the gap was bridged between the people and those that make our laws. So that those that make our laws would listen and make right a wrong and reconcile we are all one people who live in America, not one different from the other, but many living as one.