We often regard the Brown decision as the landmark of the Civil Rights era – the beginning of what some have called “The Second American Revolution.”
It’s certainly true that, in declaring unconstitutional the “separate but equal” doctrine, the Supreme Court sparked changes in American life that reverberate today. But many historians regard Brown not as the start of something, but as the culmination of a process that began over a decade earlier.
To understand this, it helps to know how historians analyze change. To get at the root of a major historical shift, we break things into three sequential categories which help make sense of something that otherwise appears chaotic.
The first is the context that existed before change began. The second category is that of catalysts – things that began to alter the context. Last is the “point of no return”: the moment change became irreversible, creating a new context.
The original context is pretty clear: In 1940, ¾ of the nation’s 13 million African-Americans lived in the Jim Crow South – 1/3 of them sharecroppers or tenant farmers. 90% lived in poverty.
Three catalysts began to alter that racial status quo and together set the stage for the Brown decision.
The first was Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 executive order desegregating defense plants.
The second was Jackie Robinson breaking major league baseball’s color line in 1947.
The third was Harry Truman’s 1948 executive order desegregating the Armed Forces.
So many African-Americans left the South in search of defense jobs that they were no longer a regional population. Their increasing visibility in American industry began to challenge long-standing racial attitudes. So did the excellence of Jackie Robinson and other black athletes in the “national pastime.” The fine performance of integrated combat forces in the Korean War reinforced changing attitudes.
Industry, popular culture, the military - three mainstays of American life – all experienced integration before Brown reached the Supreme Court. Although they clearly weren’t fully reconciled to it, by 1954 Americans were beginning to comprehend the changing place of race in the US. Viewed this way, it’s possible to understand the Brown decision not as the start of something but as a point of no return - the crest of a wave of change creating a new racial context in America.
It’s notable that this change wasn’t a product of congressional legislation, but of actions by presidents and the Supreme Court, much of it spurred by individuals not in government at all. Activist A. Philip Randolph’s repeated threats of massive African-American civil disobedience were primary causes of both Roosevelt’s and Truman’s executive orders. Brooklyn Dodgers general manager Branch Rickey recruited Jackie Robinson.
The background to Brown not only shows how historical change occurs, but demonstrates again the power of individuals to shape history.
