To what extent was federal government responsible from improving the status of black people in the US in the years 1945-55?

The status of black people living in America had changed incredibly in the years 1945-55. This is because of the different presidents, congress, and the Supreme Court. Although I believe that the federal government was highly responsible for improving the status of black people in the years 1945-55, this essay will also be examining other factors that may have helped; factors such as Martin Luther King, other groups, and the media.

To a certain extent, the Supreme Court played a considerable part in improving the status of black people in the US in the years 1945-55. For example, court cases such as Brown vs Topeka (1954), Browder vs Gayle (1956), and Morgan vs Virginia (1946) were all very important in improving the status of black people. This is because the Topeka case argued that the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine was a contradiction in terms, that is to say they believed that it was impossible for citizens to receive services that were both ‘separate’ and ‘equal’, The Browder case decision ruled that segregation of buses was illegal and the Morgan case ruled that segregation on interstate buses was illegal which meant that on buses both black and white people had the same status. This is why the Supreme Court played a considerable part in improving the status of black people in the years 1945-55, because all of these cases picked apart the legal basis of segregation which led to the status of black people being improved.

However, although the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Brown vs Topeka was a landmark decision that marked an end to the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’, enforcing the decision proved to be very difficult. Not only did middle class whites set up the White Citizens’ Councils to demand that segregation continued