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Why was there a significant change in the US Government’s attitude towards racial discrimination with the appointment of the Truman Committee (1946) ?

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Harry Truman is a name usually associated with America’s Civil Rights movement. The main ‘points’ that happened after his presidency were Montgomery, Little Rock, Birmingham, the careers of Martin Luther King and Stokely Carmichael. However, some very important civil rights issues were covered ‘ in his presidency. In 1946, Truman did establish a civil rights committee whose task was to examine violence against African Americans within America itself. This committee was filled with known liberals who Truman knew would produce a report that would and should shock mainstream America. The report was issued in October 1947. 

The report was called “To Secure These Rights”. It was highly critical of a nation that appeared to tolerate the way African Americans were treated at a time that the nation also claimed to be the world’s leading light of democracy and protecting the world against the evils of communism, which destroyed the individual rights of the people under the tyranny of Communist Governments. The report wanted the Federal Government to use its authority to end segregation in America and lynching to be made a federal offence. The poll tax abolished voting rights introduced for African Americans which guaranteed their right to vote in elections free from threats of violence. 

The FEPC made a permanent feature in America to end discrimination in inter-state traveling to end discrimination in the armed forces. The powerful Justice Department in Washington have a permanent Civil Rights section for Government financial backing for law suits to be taken by African Americans or others in favor of civil rights; when heard in a federal court for the creation of the United States Commission on Civil Rights. 

During less than 13 years of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership of the modem American Civil Rights Movement, from December, 1955 until April 4, 1968, African Americans achieved more genuine progress towards racial equality in America than the previous 350 years had produced. Dr. King is widely regarded as America’s preeminent advocate of non-violence and one of the greatest nonviolent leaders in world history. 

Drawing inspiration from both, his Christian faith and the peaceful teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. King led a non-violent movement in the late 1950’s and 60’s to achieve legal equality for African-Americans in the United States. 

His contributions are manifold : 

In 1955, he was recruited to serve as spokesman for the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which was a campaign by the African- American population of Montgomery, Alabama to force integration of the city’s bus lines. After 381 days of nearly universal participation by citizens of the black community, many of them had to walk miles to work each day. As a result, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation in transportation was unconstitutional.

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