Cold War Civil Rights

Cold War Civil Rights : Race and the Image of American Democracy by Mary L . Dudziak interprets postwar civil rights as a Cold War feature It has been seen as an example of the international impact of race discrimination during the Cold War . The year when international perceptions of democracy was held of high importance as it has been thought to affect American 's ability to maintain it 's role of a leader It was also the time when Africa and Asia , then newly independent nations needed to be ensured of the appeal of

democracy . Edward Smith of The Washington Times has this to say about the book , the author astutely explores the intimate relationship between the policy of communist containment and the civil rights movement ' There have been a thorough and thoughtful documentations of the ridiculous and hypocritical appearance of the Americans to the post-colonial nations of Africa and Asia by denying access to the principles it preaches to millions of Americans in their homeland . This book has moved the likes of America 's past presidents namely , Truman , Eisenhower and Kennedy to be more supportive of civil rights reforms than they may have otherwise done

It was in the year 1958 when a man named Jimmy Wilson , and African-American was the center of international attention when he was sentenced to death in Alabama for the crime of stealing 1 .95 . It didn 't take long before Wilson graced international headlines since other nations followed closely the race in American racism with utmost interest . Since then , his case has been thought to be epitome of the harsh consequences of the racism in America . Racism has been an international issue , in this case involving the country that has been a model for those who struggle against Soviet oppression ,someone who prides itself of its code of justice ironically practices brutal discrimination among minorities within its own territory

It has attracted so much international audience that authorities of the state has been involved in the case . Just like the then Secretary of State John Foster Dulles who even considered the issue at hand to be a matter of prime concern to the foreign relations of the United States ' The then Governor Folsom granted clemency to Wilson soon after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction and sentence . A gesture expressed to immediately put an end to what he has came to call as an international hullabaloo

It was on the 9th of April in the year 1968 , the day when the icon of American civil rights progress , Martin Luther King , Jr , marked the end of his life , that the era when the world was seen as white has seen its death . His loss has breathed a new life as it served to ignite a commitment to uphold the ideals he lived for . The Cold War has been more than anything else , an agent of change . The life story of Jimmy Wilson is a cry for equality . Beneath the color of our skin runs a same blood among our brothers . We can avail of the same things as everyone else . Differences in race , culture and tradition can be a bond of diversity we can establish . There is something more than what we see from the outside . The issue on racism teaches us a lesson to see the beauty of a person from within . The color of his skin , the language the he speaks and the nation from where he was hailed from doesn 't make him less of a person than you and me . Jimmy Wilson 's case must have knocked some senses into our minds . That while we are all created equal in the eyes of God , why shouldn 't be treated in all equality in the eyes of man ? Who ever said it was more superior than the Law of the Almighty But there will be more Jimmy Wilsons out there , some may be lucky to live the same fate and be declared a free man and may be more will be less fortunate to be convicted . He is not a thing of the past . We can treat this in a way so as not to forget the lesson he once made known to the rest of the world . The Jimmys live to represent the importance of justice . A system that sees no color more brighter , no language more comprehensive , no nation boasting a race more superior . If American racial conflict is here to stay , the lessons learned from Wilson 's story will hopefully also live

Work Cited

Dudziak , Mary . Cold War Civil Rights : Race and Image of American Democracy . Princeton

Princeton University Press , 2000

Cold War Civil Rights PAGE 2 ...