Segregation Ends Within Troops.

Even though the main civil rights movements didn't start until the 1960's many things occurred; however, there was much progression in the 1950's as well. To start off in the 1950's the Korean war was in progress and much attention was directed towards that. President Truman took a major step in minimizing segregation towards African-Americans when he ended the segregation of the troops. Two years prior to the war President Truman issued the EXECUTIVE ORDER 9981 on July 26, 1948. This policy was historic because it called for "equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or natural origin." This policy did not eliminate all black-fighting units in the Korean war but it led the way to having integrated military units. Johns Hopkins University helped speed the end to separate units in the military when its Operations Research Office released its "PROJECT CLEAR" study which concluded "that racially segregated units limited overall ARMY effectiveness while integration enhanced effectiveness, and that a quota on Black participation was unnecessary." The Korean war was a turning point for the acceptance in African-American soldiers. This led to the elimination of at least 300 black units and over 300,000 African-Americans were integrated in all white units.