1940

1949

March
Thurgood Marshall and NAACP officials meet with black residents of Clarendon County, South Carolina. They decide that the NAACP will launch a test case against segregation in public schools if at least 20 plaintiffs can be found. By November, twenty plaintiffs are assembled, and the NAACP files a class action lawsuit against the Clarendon County School Board. The case, known as Briggs v. Elliott, eventually becomes one of the cases consolidated by the Supreme Court into Brown v. Board of Education.

1948

The NAACP board of directors formally endorses Thurgood Marshall’s view that the NAACP should devote its efforts solely to an all-out attack on segregation in education rather than pressing for the equalization of segregated facilities.

1943

Now that the Chinese are allies, Congress lifts the ban on the naturalization of persons of Chinese origin. In 1946, the naturalization laws are broadened to include the Phillippines and India. Finally, in 1952, Congress establishes that “the right of a person to become a naturalized citizen of the United States shall not be denied or abridged because of race or sex,” eliminating all race-based restrictions on naturalization.

1942

The Soldiers Vote Act abolishes the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting by members of the armed services.

During the Southern election campaigns of 1942, lynchings resurge as an intimidation tactic. In Mississippi, for example, three lynchings occur in a single week. Throughout the course of 1942, black soldiers are beaten or shot by whites in the South. Concerned about the pervasive crisis in black morale, the federal government for the first time becomes involved in the prosecution of lynchings.

1941

Between 1889 and 1941, approximately 3,842 lynchings are recorded.

President Roosevelt establishes a Fair Employment Practices Commission. In a series of Executive Orders during the War, the Roosevelt administration expands the employment of blacks in the federal bureaucracy and writes “no discrimination” clauses into war contracts.

The United States enters World War II after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.

1940

Between 1889 and 1941, approximately 3,842 lynchings are recorded.

President Roosevelt establishes a Fair Employment Practices Commission. In a series of Executive Orders during the War, the Roosevelt administration expands the employment of blacks in the federal bureaucracy and writes “no discrimination” clauses into war contracts.

The United States enters World War II after the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.

The Soldiers Vote Act abolishes the poll tax as a prerequisite for voting by members of the armed services.

During the Southern election campaigns of 1942, lynchings resurge as an intimidation tactic. In Mississippi, for example, three lynchings occur in a single week. Throughout the course of 1942, black soldiers are beaten or shot by whites in the South. Concerned about the pervasive crisis in black morale, the federal government for the first time becomes involved in the prosecution of lynchings.

On February 19, President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9066. It authorizes the Secretary of War and his subordinates to designate military zones from which “any or all persons May be excluded.” All persons of Japanese, German, and Italian ancestry residing in “zone No. 1,” which includes most of the Western United States, are ordered to give military authorities notice if they decide to change residence. On May 3, Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt issues Civilian Exclusion Order 34, which states that all persons of Japanese ancestry – including both Japanese resident aliens and American citizens– are to be removed from Military Area No. 1 and placed in internment camps. Many of them remain in the camps until 1946.

Now that the Chinese are allies, Congress lifts the ban on the naturalization of persons of Chinese origin. In 1946, the naturalization laws are broadened to include the Phillippines and India. Finally, in 1952, Congress establishes that “the right of a person to become a naturalized citizen of the United States shall not be denied or abridged because of race or sex,” eliminating all race-based restrictions on naturalization.

June
In Hirabayashi v. United States, 320 U.S. 81 (1943), the Supreme Court unanimously upholds curfew orders directed against persons of Japanese ancestry.

December
In Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944), the Supreme Court upholds Fred Korematsu’s conviction for violating Civilian Exclusion Order No. 34, which required the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Justice Black’s majority opinion announces for the first time that all restrictions that curtail the civil rights of a racial group must be subjected to “the most rigid scrutiny.” Nevertheless, he justifies the internment as a necessary military measure taken during a time of war. The Attorney General of California, Earl Warren, announces his support for the policy.

World War II ends.

Thurgood Marshall establishes the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

December
President Truman creates the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. The Committee’s October 1947 report, To Secure These Rights, calls for a broad range of policies against racism: elimination of discrimination and segregation in employment, housing, health facilities, interstate transportation, and public accommodations; a federal law making lynching a crime; abolition of the poll tax; federal protection of voting rights; and Executive Orders against discrimination in the federal civil service and the armed forces.

Jackie Robinson becomes the first black to play major league baseball.

The NAACP board of directors formally endorses Thurgood Marshall’s view that the NAACP should devote its efforts solely to an all-out attack on segregation in education rather than pressing for the equalization of segregated facilities.

January
In Sipuel v. University of Oklahoma Board of Regents, 332 U.S. 631 (1948), a unanimous Supreme Court holds that Lois Ada Sipuel cannot be denied entrance to a state law school solely because of her race. In response, the University of Oklahoma designates an area in the state capitol as the “negro law school” and hires three black lawyers to be the faculty. In Fisher v. Hurst, 333 U.S. 147 (1948), the Supreme Court refuses to order the state to desegregate its law school, holding that it is the province of the district court to determine if the University of Oklahoma has followed the Court’s mandate. On remand, the trial court gives the state the option of establishing a separate black law school. In 1949, Sipuel is finally admitted to the University of Oklahoma’s law school, but she is forced to sit in a raised chair apart from other students behind a sign reading “colored.” She is required to enter the law school from a separate entrance and to eat alone in the school cafeteria. She graduates from the law school in 1951.

February
President Truman sends a message to Capitol Hill calling for the enactment of some of his civil rights committee’s recommendations, including an end to segregated schools and employment discrimination. He does not introduce any legislation.

May
In Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948), the Supreme Court holds that judicial enforcement of racially restrictive covenants in private housing violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.

July
President Truman orders the desegregation of the Armed Forces. Army Chief of Staff Omar Bradley declares, “The Army is not out to make any social reform. The Army will not put men of different races in the same companies. It will change that policy when the nation as a whole changes it.” Truman’s order is not implemented until after the North Korean invasion of South Korea in 1950. The process of desegregating the Army is not “complete” until 1954, at which point no unit is more than 50% black.

At the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Southern delegates stage a walk-out to protest the civil rights plank of the party platform. Dissident members of the party form the States’ Rights Party, also called the Dixiecrats. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina is their nominee for President.

October
In Perez v. Lippold, 198 P.2d 17 (1948), the Supreme Court of California holds that the state’s ban on interracial marriage violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

December
The United Nations General Assembly adopts and proclaims The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It provides that all people are entitled to basic human rights without regard for race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

March
Thurgood Marshall and NAACP officials meet with black residents of Clarendon County, South Carolina. They decide that the NAACP will launch a test case against segregation in public schools if at least 20 plaintiffs can be found. By November, twenty plaintiffs are assembled, and the NAACP files a class action lawsuit against the Clarendon County School Board. The case, known as Briggs v. Elliott, eventually becomes one of the cases consolidated by the Supreme Court into Brown v. Board of Education.

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