Sensitivity to world opinion had made all branches of the
Federal Government more willing to act on racial matters.
Although most Americans would have insisted that these activities
sprang from a genuine concern for racial justice, Afro-Americans
were convinced that it had been the pressure of world opinion
which had turned these humanitarian convictions into action.
CHAPTER 11
Civil Rights and Civil Disobedience
Schools and Courts
THE democratic idealism which had been fostered by the
Second World War and the Cold War made many American
citizens increasingly uncomfortable about the legal support given
to racism in the Southern states. A wide variety of
organizations--labor unions, religious and fraternal societies as
well as groups specifically concerned with attacking racism--
became increasingly active in trying to put democratic ideals
into practice. America's competition with communism in gaining
world leadership, made many Americans feel that it was necessary
to prove, once and for all, the superiority of the American way
of life. However, there was a growing concerted effort to destroy
legal segregation because it was a serious blemish on this
democratic image.
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