Gordon Fitch wrote:
>
>
> Doug Henwood:
> > It's often argued that the USG pushed for desegration in the South
> > for Cold War reasons - it would have been hard to make friends in the
> > Third World while Jim Crow still ruled.
>
> To my recollection, the USG acted only when embarrassed,
> fearful of serious disorder, or driven by court decisions
> in cases brought by ordinary citizens.
It's always difficult to know where court decisions are coming from -- the Court presumably was aware of world conditions.
But Gordon is correct about the _extreme_ foot dragging of both the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations. When A. Philip Randolph threatened a railroad strike unless Truman integrated the army, Truman said something like "I wish you hadn't said that." Randolph replied "I wish I hadn't had to say that." This was during the Korean War if I remember correctly. Et cetera.
The tremendous power of the Civil Rights Movement has to be the major source -- but without the Cold War, would that hostility & reluctance have been changed into something more sinister?
Carrol