Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
The cold war, desegregation and affirmative action
Anti-racism in the US has long been subverted by the elevation of a few role models rather than meaningful equality for all – and the latest fad for policing manners and language won’t save it, writes ZOLTAN ZIGEDY
THEN AND NOW: Civil rights marchers in Washington call for integrated schools, 1963; and (right) students rally outside the Supreme Court during the hearing on affirmative action in college admissions, October 2022

AS the US Supreme Court aspires to drive a nail into the coffin of affirmative action, it is important to recognise how the cold war helped to shape the mid-20th century civil rights people’s victories and the consequent policy of affirmative action in education.

Some may find that connecting the conflict between the US and the USSR to the formal establishment of African-American citizen rights is far-fetched.

But the facts speak otherwise.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
A souvenir shop worker eats next to images of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, and Ernest Hemingway in Havana, Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Features / 11 June 2026
11 June 2026

Cuba continues to embody a vision of internationalism that imperialism has never forgiven, argues ZOLTAN ZIGEDY

Claudia Jones
International Women’s Day 2026 / 7 March 2026
7 March 2026

The pioneering activist understood that freedom could only be won through solidarity across communities. Her legacy offers vital lessons at a time when progressive politics risks losing that shared purpose

The Morning Star republishes PRAGNA PATEL’s speech at the annual commemoration of Claudia Jones on February 22 2026

LIBERATION: Mission Robinson literacy class in the La Vega neighbourhood of Caracas. Applying the Cuban literacy method ‘Yes, I can!’ - the state provides free textbooks and educational videos / Piv: Oriana Elicabe/orianomada/flickr/CC
Features / 13 February 2026
13 February 2026

ISAAC SANEY points to the global stakes involved in defending the Cuban revolution against imperialism and calls for resistance

TRAILBLAZING RESEARCH: Dr Aggrey Burke in 2022; Jamaican immigrants met by the Colonial Office officials as they disembark from the Empire Windrush one in four will commit suicide / Windrush pic: Whispyhistory/CC
Obituary / 31 December 2025
31 December 2025

1943-2025: How one man’s unfinished work reveals the lethal lie of ‘colour-blind’ medicine