Happy Independence Day

It was something special to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis this week just before our first 4th of July celebration with an African-American presiding in the White House. The place was full of exhibits detailing our national leadership's recalcitrance regarding, and outright hostility to, the centuries-long civil rights movement (Governor Ross Barnett of Mississippi always sticks in my mind, for some reason). Of course, there were a lot of European-Americans who bravely supported such efforts over the decades, but even the most far-sighted, like A. Lincoln, had to move with great care once they achieved high office. In short, none of it was easy and much of it came in the last handful of decades.

Not surprising to my way of thinking, it was after the super-connecting experience of World War II that America got serious about civil rights for African Americans. The fact that one-tenth of Americans traveled/deployed abroad across that conflict, and that we assumed a true global leadership role following it, contributed to our finally tackling this hugely divisive subject. It was just a national embarrassment we could no longer endure, once it became so exposed through such heightened connectivity. I mean, how can you be the "leader of the free world" and behave like that at home?

But here we are living in a vastly different age, and that's a boatload of change recognized by this 47-year-old citizen.

Best to everyone on this day of national celebration.

Comments

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Tom, you have to blame the military for the beginnings of equal rights . . WWII showed that Black Americans were just as much the American Warrior as any other American . . And by the Korean war, most units were integrated.

In March of 1960 I was thrown in jail in Amarillo Texas for socializing with Blacks after the 11 o'clock curfew . . By August of the same year, I was sharing a Basic Training barracks with Black Americans at Ft. Hood, Texas . .

The rest of the country had yet to bring itself into that frame of mind . . and it took Legislation that many areas of the country still does not recognize, although by 1968 or so, most of the country had grasped a better idea of equality. Still, by poll (Pew), as of last August, 33% of the White Americans held racial prejudices, and 38% of the Black Americans polled held similar prejudicial views . .

There's still a lot of education needed!

[zenpundit]

"Not surprising to my way of thinking, it was after the super-connecting experience of World War II that America got serious about civil rights for African Americans. The fact that one-tenth of Americans traveled/deployed abroad across that conflict, and that we assumed a true global leadership role following it, contributed to our finally tackling this hugely divisive subject"

I think the War itself was not enough, it was the postwar grand strategy of Containment/GATT/Bretton Woods/NATO/Marshall Plan that locked America into international engagement on a permanent basis. A large percentage of Americans, including African-Americans, went overseas in WWI and the Great War also spurred demands for Civil Rights, but the postwar mood was one of insularity, protectionism and isolationism.

Which in my mind are conducive to authoritarianism. It's not a direct line but it is not surprising to me that the Klan's peak years in American history do not come during Reconstruction but when the American attitude toward the world was one of wanting fewer connections and less immigrants.

[Javaid Akhtar]

The Military seems to have always have been an acceptable melting pot for everyone throughout history.I remember being surprised at how multi-ethnic the Royal Navy could be 100's years back...maybe..if anything..we went backwards for a while before coming back.