International Pressure Shaped US Civil Rights Progress
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International Pressure Shaped US Civil Rights Progress
- International condemnation and the Cold War significantly influenced the US government's actions on civil rights, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s.
- For instance, the 1931 shooting of two Mexican students, including the nephew of Mexico's president, in Ardmore, Oklahoma, became an international incident.
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The history of civil rights in the United States is intertwined with international relations and global perceptions. Throughout the 20th century, particularly during the Cold War, international scrutiny of racial discrimination within the U.S. played a significant role in prompting federal action on civil rights.
One notable early event occurred on June 7, 1931, in Ardmore, Oklahoma, when two Mexican students, Emilio Cortés Rubio and Manuel Gomez, were shot and killed by Deputy Sheriff Bill Guess. Salvador Cortés Rubio, Emilio’s cousin and also a nephew of the then-President of Mexico, was present but unharmed. This incident quickly escalated into an international affair, leading to a letter of regret from US President Herbert Hoover to Mexican President Pascual Ortiz Rubio.
Later, during the Cold War, the U.S. government became acutely aware that its domestic racial policies were being exploited by the Soviet Union for propaganda purposes, damaging America’s image as a beacon of democracy and freedom. Incidents of violence against civil rights protestors, such as those in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, garnered global outrage and prompted the Kennedy administration to intervene. Civil rights leaders, including Malcolm X, also actively sought to internationalize the struggle, petitioning organizations like the United Nations and the Organization of African Unity to condemn U.S. racial violence as a crime against humanity. This external pressure,