Debating the Civil Rights Movement, 1945–1968

Steven F. Lawson is professor of history at Rutgers University and author of Running for Freedom: Civil Rights and Black Politics in America since 1941.Charles M. Payne is Sally Dalton Robinson professor of history, African American studies and sociology and director of the African and African-American Studies Program at Duke University. He is the author of I've Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle.

The second edition of Debating the Civil Rights Movement introduces students to Martin Luther King as a 'genuine revolutionary' with an insightful essay by Steve Lawson and King's 'Where Do We Go from Here' speech. King's admonition that the problems of race, economic exploitation, and war 'are all tied together' has haunting relevance for readers today. Transcriptions of interviews with Bob Moses, E.W. Steptoe, and Fannie Lou Hamer in Charles Payne's section, 'The View from the Trenches,' vividly illustrate perseverance and courage of grass roots organizers and the value of oral history in giving voice to 'local people' in the struggle for civil rights.

• IntroductionPart I: Debating the Civil Rights Movement: The View from the NationChapter 1: Excerpt from To Secure These Rights: The Report of the President's Committee on Civil Rights (1947)Chapter 2: '96 Congressmen's Declaration of Integration (March 11, 1956)Chapter 3: Dwight D. Eisenhower's Radio and Television Address to the American People on the Situation in Little Rock (September 24, 1957)Chapter 4: Excerpts from Hearings before the United States Commission on Civil Rights, Montgomery, Alabama (December 8 and 9, 1958)Chapter 5: Memorandum to Mr. Belmont from A. Rosen Concerning the Racial Situation in Albany, Georgia (January 17, 1963)Chapter 6: Memorandum to the Attorney General from the Director of the FBI Concerning the Racial Situation in Albany, Georgia (January 18, 1963)Chapter 7: John F. Kennedy's Radio and Television Report to the American People on Civil Rights (June 11, 1963)Chapter 8: Letter from Wiley A. Branton, Project Director, Voter Education Project, to Dr. Aaron Henry and Mr. Robert Moses (November 12, 1963)Chapter 9: Lyndon B. Johnson's Special Message to the Congress: The American Promise (March 15, 1965)Chapter 10: Excerpt from Tom Wicker's Introduction to the Report of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (March 1968)Chapter 11: "Where do we go from here?"Part II: Debating the Civil Rights Movement: The View from the TrenchesChapter 12: Excerpt from Ella J. Baker's Bigger Than a Hamburger (June 1960)Chapter 13: Handbill, Albany Nonviolent Movement (November 9, 1961)Chapter 14: Chronology of Violence and Intimidation in Mississippi, 1961 (1963)Chapter 15: Student Voice Editorial and Cartoon on the FBI (November 25, 1964)Chapter 16: Poster from East Selma, Alabama, from the Student Voice (August 30, 1965)Chapter 17: An Interview with Eldridge SteptoeChapter 18: "This Transformation of People": An Interview with Bob MosesChapter 19: An Interview with Mrs. Fannie Lou HamerSelected Readings