In spite of the barriers erected in the half century after the
Civil War, black Delawareans struggled to gain local and national rights in the early
1900s. The twentieth century saw African Americans becoming a factor in the
mainstream political arena. White politicians who had in the past actively
discouraged blacks from voting began to see the black community as a swing
vote and
started cultivating their support. Blacks themselves began to develop their own
organizations to influence politics. This new political awareness accompanied a move
towards political organization. The founding of the NAACP chapter in Delaware in
1915 marked the beginning of organized political pressure from the black community to
press for equality and greater opportunity for blacks in the state.
In Delaware, as throughout the nation, civil rights workers pushed the
courts and the legislature to end inequality in education, job opportunities, public
accommodations, and housing. Delaware lawyer Louis Redding and others argued a
series of lawsuits during the early 1950s that made clear to the courts that segregated
education facilities were not equal, thus rendering the doctrine of "separate but
equal" unconstitutional.
