Racial segregation was extremely common in the first half of the twentieth century. In the 1940s, segregation was mandated by law. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution states that everyone should have equal rights, but the meaning could be interpreted in many ways. Until recently in U.S. history, it was taken for granted that equal rights could be established through equal, but segregated, structures for both races. Indeed, “colored” facilities clearly lacked the same quality as those for whites, and were not considered “inherently unequal until 1954” (“How Were Racial…”). Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay It has been said that the civil rights movement began around 1954 and lasted until 1968, but I would argue that it began in the 1940s and continues to this day. It all started with the Second World War. The country needed more workers and more soldiers and needed to appeal to African Americans and other minorities to meet the nation's needs. As African Americans took on a much larger role in society, their music drastically influenced the civil rights movement. Billie Holiday was one of the most important figures in the world of jazz. In 1949 he incorporated a haunting song into his routine performance called Strange Fruit. The song was originally a poem written by a high school teacher named Abel Meeropol, who was the adoptive father of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg's two children. Already in the first verse of the song the metaphor becomes evident: Southern trees bear strange fruit Blood on the leaves and blood at the root Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze Strange fruit hanging from the poplars ("Billie Holiday - ...") Meeropol was known as a poet and social activist outside of his teaching career (Blair). In 1930 he saw a photograph in the local newspaper of two young black men being lynched. Their names were Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith and their story inspired the writing of the haunting poem. He then contacted Billie Holiday, who agreed to perform it. He debuted the song at Cafe Society, New York City's first integrated nightclub. Because Holiday's audience was so large, the song became known immediately. This sparked an intense dispute among both whites and blacks. "The '60s hadn't yet existed... Things like that weren't talked about. They certainly weren't sung about" (Blair). The song sparked a lot of controversy, especially among whites with their conflicting opinions on the song. Articles were published shaming Holiday and the people who were touched by her song. Benny Goodman was the first white jazz musician to hire black artists as band members. In 1935, he hired pianist Teddy Wilson for his trio, and later added Lionel Hampton on vibraphone and Gene Krupa as drummer. “These steps helped promote racial integration in jazz, which was previously not only taboo, but actually illegal in some states,” (Teichroew later created the Let's Dance radio program). he purchased and broadcast pieces composed by black composers, such as Fletcher Henderson, and were performed by black musicians. This made African American influenced jazz available to a large Caucasian audience. Another jazz musician who contributed to the civil rights movement was Louis Armstrong. For much of his career Armstrong remained silent about his political views, until the Little Rock Nine crisis. The Little Rock Nine crisis was a failed attempt to integrate nine.