AA benchmark 4 Flashcards
1
Q
To what extent did the aims of campaigners for AA civil rights remain the same 1865-1992? - political rights and participation
A
- NAACP secured banning of grandfather clause 1915 in Guinn v USA SC case
- Got another SC decision in Smith v Allwright 1944 banning the exclusion of AAs from primary elections
- After passage of Civil Rights Act 1964 AA CR campaigners focused on voting rights in ‘Freedom Summer’in Mississipi 1964 and Selma campaign 1965 whoch focused LBJ to pass the Voting Rights Act 1965
2
Q
To what extent did the aims of campaigners for AA civil rights remain the same 1865-1992? - violence
A
- 14th amendment 1868 gave AAs theoretically equal CR was part of the Congress battle with Johnson rather than a response to AA campaigning
- Formation in 1909 until end of 1930s the NAACP campaigned against lynching and other forms of racial violence - eg attempting to pass bills through Congress in the 1930s making lynching a federal crime
- At the end of the period, as highlighted by Rodney King controversy 1991-2, the issue of police violence agst AA assumed more prominence (although nothing new)
3
Q
To what extent did the aims of campaigners for AA civil rights remain the same 1865-1992? - segregation
A
- Brown Case 1954 - NAACP persuaded SC to rule that school seg was unconstitutional and that desegregation be enforced ‘with all deliberate speed’ - marked success ever since their foundation to reverse Plessy v Fergurson ruled 1896
- MLK and other CR campaigners in the moderate group like SCLC and NAACP aimed to achieve integration with fully equal civil rights and voting rights to be achieved through non-violent local activism intervention. CORE and SNCC favoured more radical direct action (but still non-violent) like lunch counter sit ins)
- 1970s - more affirmative action and busing as a way to enforce the abolition of seg and discrimination in education and employment
4
Q
To what extent did the aims of campaigners for AA civil rights remain the same 1865-1992? - economic position
A
- Hostile climate around 1900, all Booker T Washinhton could realistically aim at was to win white acceptance of gradual improvements in AAs education, training and economic status - seg could not be openly be challenged
- Like Washington Garvey and local campaigners like Malcolm X, Carmichael and Jackson aimed to making AAs s economically self suffiecent as possible so they didnt have to depend on whites
- After Civil and Voting Rights 1964-5 AA campaigners focused more on the poverty of the AA underclass trapped in inner city ghettos with inferior accomodation and educational and employement opportunities
5
Q
Opposition to AA civil rights remained strong throughout 1865-1992? - violence
A
- KKK and Knights of the White Carmelia were especially active at times when AA CR progressing eg during the Reconstruction or the Birmingham church bombing in 1963
- Lynching peaked 1890s and was used from the 1880s until WW2 to restore AAs to the subserviant position they had been in under slavery
- Murder of 3 civil rights activists in Mississipi 1964 showed the willingess of southern racists to use violence afst CR activists
BUT - can be counterproductive - KKK Act 1871 crushed KKK, Connor’s use of dogs and firehouse led to success of Birmingham campaign in 1963
6
Q
Opposition to AA civil rights remained strong throughout 1865-1992? - white public opinion
A
- Social darwinism - provided a psuedo-scientific basis for racism in the late 19th and early 20th century
- The Brown judgement 1954 provoked ‘Massive Resistance’ from the South, including the Southern Manifesto and White Citizens Councils
BUT - white public opinion became markedly more sympathetic towards AA CR early 1960s - media coverage of March on Washington 1963 - never again could overt racism be publcly acceptable
7
Q
Opposition to AA civil rights remained strong throughout 1865-1992? - the federal government
A
- SC consistnely hostile to AA CR in the 19th century, notably in the PLessy v Fergurson judgement 1896 whoch gave agreen light to the Jim Crow laws in the South - became more conservative Milliken v Bradely 1974 and Freeman v pitts 1992 - did do brown judgement 1954, swann v charlotte 1971
- Most Presidents after Lincoln were lukewarm towards AA CR - Andrew Johnson with Presidential Reconstruction and no president between Grant and FDR publicly condemned lynching, LBJ who passed Civil and Voting Rights Acts 1964-5, Reagan and Bush less sympathethic
- Congress took the lead in promoting CR agst indifferent or hostile presidents and supreme court, notabely after Reconstruction and after 1981 - didnt pass any acts at all 1875-1957
8
Q
Opposition to AA civil rights remained strong throughout 1865-1992? - other factors
A
- Cold War influenced Eisenhower to intervene in Little rock and JFK to intervene in Birmingham to avoid international embarassment, whilst African decolonisation stimulated the growth of Black power in 1960s
- Late 1960s AAs created AAs acquired greater prominence in politics, entertainments, music and sports - eg the Black panther power salute at the olympics
9
Q
Opposition to AA civil rights remained strong throughout 1865-1992? - a conclusion
A
- Strength of opposition to CR has varied over time - from progress achieved during Reconstruction 1865-77, the civil rights era 1954-65 to the indifference and hostility 1877-1945 and to a lesser extent 1965-92
- Party differences have affected opposition to CR eg Reconstruction the Republicans supported AA CR whilst the Democrat opposed but in the 20th century major progress came in the 1960s under Democratic presidents
10
Q
The Supreme Court had more influence on the AA american struggle for civil rights than any other branch of government - to what extent do you agree? - YES - THE SC
A
- A series of judgements in the late 19th century undermined the CR legislation of the Reconstruction era and gave southern states green light to impose seg, most notabley plessy v fergurson 1896 but also gave slaughterhouse judgements 1873, cruikshank in 1875 and a further judgement in 1883 which declared the 1875 civil rights act unconstitutional
- Progress continued with the Loving v Virginia judgement in 1967 which invalidated state laws banning interracial marriage and the Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg judgement in 1971 which approved busing as a means of enforcing school deseg
11
Q
The Supreme Court had more influence on the AA american struggle for civil rights than any other branch of government - to what extent do you agree? - Congress
A
- Played a leading role in Reconstruction, passing 13th, 14th, 15th amendment and 1866 and 1875 Civil Rights Acts which between abolished slavery and gave AAs equal civil rights and voting rights. Freedmen’s Bureau to enforce emancipation, kept federal troops in the South to enforce reconstruction until 1877, suppress KKK violence against AA voters
- Civil Rights in 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965. All of these were introduced by the president at the time but Reagan unsuccessfully tried to veto the Civil rights Restoration Act 1987
12
Q
The Supreme Court had more influence on the AA american struggle for civil rights than any other branch of government - to what extent do you agree? - The Presidency
A
- Some presidents were hostile to AA CR - Johnson who tried to restore slavery through Reconstruction 1865-7 and Wilson who seg the White House
- Most presidents 1877-1933 were indifferent to AA CR whilst later others were lukewarm supportive - FDR was the first president since Grant to condemn lynching, but allowed many New Deal programmes to discriminate AAs, Truman deseg the armed forces but was preoccupied with the Cold war, Eisenhower intervened in Little Rock but was otherwise reluctant to enforce the Brown judgement
13
Q
How supportive was the federal government of AA civil rights? 1865-1992? - Political rights
A
- Passed 15th amendment 1870 giving AA men theoretical right to vote but did nowhere near enough to enforce it , even by 1977 the Democrats had already regained control of most southern states and the fed gov did nothing to stop the systematic disfranchisement of southern blacks 1890-1908
- SC banned grandfather clause (USA v Guinn 1915) and all white primary elections (Smith v Allwright 1944) but little was done to enforce these judgements and Eisenhower Civil Rights Act 1957 and 1960 were ineffective in giving AAs right to vote
- Not until LBJ passed Voting Rights Act 1965 did AAs really gain the right to vote in the South: in Mississipi the % of AAs that could vote lept from 6% to 60% in 3 years
14
Q
How supportive was the federal government of AA civil rights? 1865-1992? - Violence
A
- Any case SC undermined legislation with a series of judgements (Slaughterhouse case 1873, USA v Cruikshank 1876) which left aa cr vulnerable to racist southern state gov
- Moore v Dempsey 1923 gave fed courts power to overturn state court verdicts through intimidation - still continued
- Following doctrine state rights - fed gov took no action to combat lynching until 1930s, when Costigan-walker bill to make lynching a federal crime passed the House of rep but was blocked by the senate
15
Q
How supportive was the federal government of AA civil rights? 1865-1992? - Segregation
A
- No CR acts were passed 1875-1957
- Plessy v Fergurson judgement 1896 gave green light to Jim crow laws enforcing seg under doctrine seperate but equal
- JFK enforced deseg of interstate buses 1961 (in response to Freedom Rides) and of the units in Alabama and Mississipi 1962 and 1963, he also promised CR Bill 1963 in response to the Birmingham campaign and March on Washington
- FDR established fair employment Committee 1941 - Truman made permanent - also deseg armed forces
