CORE

= The Congress Of Racial Equality - CORE=

Founded 1942. Protests April 1947, 1954, 1955, 1960, May 1961, 1963, 1964.
//An American civil rights organisation that chose non-violent methods to pursue equality.//

The Congress of Racial Equality was an American civil rights organisation that used non-violent methods of protest like sit-ins, jail-ins and Freedom Rides to gain rights and equality. The civil rights group was founded in 1942 as the Committee of Racial Equality by co-leaders George Houser and James Farmer, students from Chicago, Illinois (core-online). CORE was highly influenced by Ghandi's procedure of non-violence and used the writings of Krishnalal Shridharani to mount their non-violent campaign (wikipedia). In 1942, sit-ins were used to protest against segregation of public accommodations and the cause of CORE expanded nationally. James Farmer, a black student attending the University of Chicago, travelled the country to recruit activists' following the civil rights movement. This early growth of members in CORE consisted of white middle-class college students from the Midwest (core-online).

In April 1947, eight white and eight black men were sent to the Deep South on the 'Journey of Reconciliation' to "test the Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in interstate travel unconstitutional". It was to be a two week journey through Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky however the group was constantly met with resistance in the form of arrests. For example, to African Americans from this group "were found guilty of violating the state's Jim Crow bus statute and were sentenced to thirty days on a chain gang"(spartacus educational).

The Brown vs. Board of Education Decision in 1954 revived a dying organisation and in 1955 CORE influenced the Montgomery Bus Boycott with its philosophy of non-violent action. This resulted in the main attention of CORE being focused in the South. Consequently further white members were not anticipated due to the improbability of white support, instead the increasing membership for CORE was black Southerners (coreonline).

In 1960 CORE became recognised as an official civil rights organisation and offered guidance in the form of sit-ins in the South, this tactic further progressed to jail-ins making the point of serving out their sentences instead of paying bail for the arrest of their sit-ins. In May, 1961 CORE organised the Freedom Rides, the event resulted in violence against the Freedom Riders, but despite this CORE continued to focus its attention on key areas within the South. Throughout the following years CORE participated in President Kennedy's Voter Education Project, the 1963 March on Washington and the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer project which resulted in the death of three members of the Congress of Racial Equality; James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner.

By 1963 CORE had moved their attention to the North and West, where the majority of members and leaders were African American in order to build its credibility as a black protest organisation. However CORE's ideology of non-violence was being constantly challenged by the growing membership and many new members believed that the initial non-violent actions of CORE should only be used when it was proved that they would work. In 1966 the term Black Power was endorsed and the term multiracial was no longer recognised within CORE. Conclusively, Roy Innis replaced the current national director and later denied membership within the Congress of Racial Equality to whites, instead supporting black separatism (africanaonline).

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