The Congress of Racial Equality’s (CORE) history cannot properly be studied separately from the civil rights movement in America. Many of the milestones of CORE have been the milestones of the civil rights movement as CORE has fought for issues like equal opportunity employment and was instrumental in helping support such civil rights movement actions such as sit-ins and the Freedom Rides. CORE’s prevailing ideology is based on the teachings of Mahatma Ghandi, especially the concept of nonviolent or passive resistance popularized by leaders like Ghandi and Martin Luther King, Jr. “CORE was founded in 1942 as the Committee of Racial Equality by an interracial group of students in Chicago. Many of these students were members of the Chicago branch of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), a pacifist organization seeking to change racial attitudes” (The History 1).
CORE used direct but nonviolent forms of protests, like sit-ins and the Freedom Rides to help do away with Jim Crow laws and segregation. CORE has success in the 1940s where integration in the North was concerned, and in 1953, the members determined the organization would need bolstered to have more national influence. At this time, James Farmer was appointed as the first National Director of CORE with this goal in mind. Today, CORE carries out many programs designed to aid minorities, like its “Welfare to Work” program and its “Equal Opportunity Affairs” (EOA) program.
EOA is one of CORE’s most significant programs when it comes to fighting discrimination in the workplace. This program also tries to eliminate discrimination in other areas of society, like housing, education, and the judicial system. CORE’s workers work in tandem with State and Federal Agencies to have more strength in fighting for victims of discrimination while also gaining additional funding. CORE members have designed a prototype plan
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