Episode 39: Consensus and Protest: Civil Rights

Introduction

• Host: John Green
• Focus: 1950s American social history
• Key aspects: Television and the Civil Rights Movement
• Highlighting unknown contributors to the movement alongside key figures

1950s American Society

Consensus Culture

• Driven by Cold War fears and economic affluence
• Standard of living improvements, middle class expansion
• Suburban boom: Levittown example
• Car ownership and culture rise
• Critics of consensus: C. Wright Mills, David Riesman, John Kenneth Galbraith

Teen Culture and Criticism

• Rise of Rock and Roll and famous musicians
• Literature: The Beats criticized materialism and conformity

Civil Rights Movement

African Americans in the 1950s

• Segregation in housing, jobs, and education
• Civil Rights Movement roots predate 1950s

Legal and Social Milestones

• Mendez v. Westminster (1946): School desegregation in California
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Landmark Supreme Court case, led to Massive Resistance
• Rosa Parks and Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955): Protest against bus segregation
• Martin Luther King Jr.: Rise to prominence, Southern Christian Leadership Conference
• Federal intervention: Eisenhower sends troops to integrate Little Rock Central High School

Conclusion

• The 1950s were marked by both consensus and protest
• The Civil Rights Movement was a pivotal beginning towards desegregation and equality
• Continued work is needed to achieve equal opportunity
• Next episode: Women's, Latino, and gay rights movements in the 1960s