Describe the Second World Wars impact on Civil Rights.

• A. Discrimination and segregation existed.
• B. Race riots in 47 cities.
• C. NAACP membership grew from 50,000 to 450,000.
• D. Truman proposed a civil rights bill and an anti-lynching bill.

Answer: (C)

World War II amplified the push for civil rights by pulling Black Americans into defense work, military service, and community organizing, which increased political awareness and momentum for change. The clearest reflection of this impact is the dramatic rise in organized civil rights activity, shown by the NAACP's membership growing from about 50,000 before the war to around 450,000 by its end. This surge signals a new level of national engagement and a demand for equality, spurred by wartime experiences and rhetoric about democracy at home and abroad. Wartime measures and campaigns—such as efforts to desegregate defense jobs and to fight racism as part of the war effort—helped foster this growth. Other events from the era, like discrimination persisting or calls for civil rights legislation, are part of the picture, but the big increase in NAACP membership best captures how the Second World War transformed civil rights activism.