Exploring American Histories: Printed Page 773

Document 24.5

To Secure These Rights, 1947

In 1946 President Truman appointed a committee to investigate racial discrimination and segregation in the United States. In response to the committee’s lengthy report released the following year, Truman issued executive orders to desegregate federal employment and the armed services in 1948. The following excerpt from the report explains the international conditions that prompted a change in American race relations.

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Source: To Secure These Rights: The Report of the President’s Committee on Civil Rights (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1947), 147.

  • Question

    Why does the committee emphasize the fact that America is a nation of immigrants?

  • Question

    What impact does racial prejudice in the United States have worldwide?

  • Question

    Who does the report imply is behind the global dissemination of negative descriptions of American race relations?

Put It in Context

Question

What impact did the Cold War have on shaping the civil rights movement?