The chapter "The Fight for Racial Justice" spoke of the rising voice against discrimination. In particular legalized segregation in the South. In the Deep South there was persistent economic inequality. Most blacks worked for white landowners who paid them very little. There was also inequality in education and blacks were routinely kept from the voting booth by the use of fear and intimidation. Segregation was rampant-"white' and "colored" signs were on water fountains, restrooms, and sections of theaters. Although a lot of this segregation and discrimination occurred in the South, it wasn't confined there by any means.

The challenge to segregation in schools came to the courts in the famed case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas. It challenged the previous court ruling, Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld "the separate but equal" standard in public education. In 1954 Brown overruled Plessy and the notion of separate but equal was discredited as being separate but not equal. The court ruled that segregation was wrong but left it up to local officials to decide how to eliminate it.

A struggled began over desegregation. Some localities had more problems than other

Through all this America's main concern was to stop communist expansion in Europe. The USSR violently put down riots and rebellions in Eastern Europe. The arms race continued to escalate increasing tensions between the two superpowers. In 1960 a U-2 spy plane was shot down over Russia, putting an end to planned negotiations between Khrushchev and Eisenhower.

During his terms as president America was living in prosperous times. Looking back it seems (in my opinion) as though most Americans were living in a sort of "Happy Days" dream world. But there was an underside to all this prosperity and happiness-the hunt for communists.

In the 1950's the Middle East produced some anxieties also. In 1948 Jews proclaimed Israel as their nation and homeland and Trumann instantly recognized the new nation giving it credence internationally. The Arab world stood vehemently against any idea of a Jewish state, especially in their backyard.

The chapter "The Resurgence of Liberalism" continues with the narrow election of John F. Kennedy as President. It briefly touched on his popularity and how the nation mourned his death. The rest talked of the Johnson administration and domestic issues that confronted the nation through the 1960s. Those issues included; healthcare, the "war" on poverty, the public school system, and civil rights.

Meanwhile the Cold War continued. The U.S. and the USSR avoided direct confrontations for the most part and it seemed that the battleground would be the small third world nations. In 1953 and agreement was signed ending the hostilities in Korea. However the U.S. began to increase its presence in Vietnam when the French pulled out after being humiliated there. This would prove to be ominous.

Many lives were ruined over this hunt for subversives. Over 2,220 federal employees were dismissed. By 1954 however, the hunt for subversives was beginning to lose public support. McCarthy, who was the architect of the accusations, out reached himself and began to accuse high-ranking military officers who served with distinction and were popular with the public. What ensued was the televised coverage of the Army-McCarthy hearings. The public saw McCarthy as a bully and a villain. In late 1954 the Senate voted sixty-seven to twenty two to condemn him for "conduct unbecoming a senator." He died within three years from complicat

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