African-Americans Flashcards
What is ‘reconstruction’?
Term used to describe the period 1865 to 1877 as the US attempted to rebuild physically after the Civil War, to reunite the union and to work out how to accommodate several million slaves who had been freed
What were the two different stages of ‘Reconstruction’:
Firstly Presidential Reconstruction (1865-67)
Congressional Reconstruction (1867-1877)
Legal changes to the position of African-Americans:
1865 - 13th Amendment to the Constitution
1866 - Civil Rights Act
1868 - 14th Amendment to the Constitution
1870 - 15th Amendment to the Constitution
1875 - Civil Rights Act
When was the 13th Amendment to the Constitution:
1865
What was the 13th Amendment to the Constitution:
Confirmed the illegality of slavery
Meant that all slave owners could restore their land yet they couldn’t regain their slaves - slaves not given any land and unclear what rights and status they were to have
When was the first Civil Rights Act?
1866
What was the 1866 Civil Rights Act?
Act intended to establish the equality of African-Americans with other American citizens
Asserted their right to equality before the law
When was the 14th Amendment to the Constitution:
1868
What was the 14th Amendment to the Constitution:
Important political landmark in that it began to change the balance of power between the state and federal governments
Gave African Americans citizenship and all rights
Stopped states taking away rights - foundation of civil rights campaign to come
When was the 15th Amendment to the Constitution?
1870
What was the 15th Amendment to the Constitution?
Intended to ensure that African Americans had the vote not only in the South but also in the North
Certain states however used voting qualifications such as literacy tests, grandfather clause and poll tax - limiting their rights to vote
When was the second civil rights act?
1875
What was the 1875 Civil Rights Act?
Aimed to prohibit segregation in public places, except in schools
Tried to uphold legal equality
Evidence of positive outcomes for African-Americans in the Reconstruction period:
Civil Rights Bill
School system
Political freedom
Evidence of negative outcomes for African-Americans in the Reconstruction period:
Federal government dictate who vote
No property rights
What was the Freedman’s Bureau?
Freedman’s Bureau was an organisation established by the Federal Government in March 1865 to support freed slaves in the short-term
Bureau also supported the work of black self-help groups in providing education for black children
When was the Freedman’s bureau?
March 1865
What were black codes?
Early indication of Southern white attitudes to newly freed slaves
Codes varied from state to state but one common feature was the wide definition of a ‘negro’ (one eighth of black blood was sufficient for this)
Factors of the black codes:
Marriages were allowed but inter-racial unions were outlawed
Property could be owned (though rarely afforded)
Legal rights were limited - a black person could testify in court, draw up a contract and sue if it was not kept, but they were barred from giving evidence against a white person, and serving in juries
They were not permitted to vote
Education was to take place in segregated schools
Thirteenth Amendment:
Slavery abolished (1865)
Fourteenth Amendment:
Citizenship guaranteed for all races (1868)
Fifteenth Amendment:
Voting rights guaranteed for all races (1870)
What were the ‘Jim Crow’ laws?
Laws passed across the southern states of America
Enforced segregation
When were the ‘Jim Crow’ laws?
1890-1910
When was Plessy v Ferguson?
1896
What did Plessy v Ferguson rule?
Ruled that separate but equal facilities were constitutional
When was the NAACP founded?
1909
What was the aim of the NAACP?
Founded with the aim of fighting racial discrimination by providing legal support for black citizens opposing segregation through the courts
When was CORE founded?
1942
What was the aim of CORE?
Created to fight for equality for black Americans - organised sit-ins during the war
When was Smith v Allwright?
1944
What was Smith v Allwright?
Abolished the Texas white primary
When was Morgan v Virginia?
1946
What was Morgan v Virginia?
Segregation banned on interstate travel
What happened in 1948?
Truman ended segregation in the armed forces and creates a Fair Employment Board
When was Sweatt v Painter?
1950
What was Sweatt v Painter?
Ruled that graduate education provision should be equal
What was established in 1951?
Committee on Governance Contact Complience (CGCC)
What was the Committee on Government Contact Compliance (CGCC)?
Intended to ensure that government defence contacts did not go to companies that discriminated on the grounds of race.
When was Brown v Board of Education, Topeka?
1954
What did Brown v Board of Education establish?
Segregation in education banned
When was Brown II?
1955
What was Brown II?
Desecration of education should proceed ‘with all deliberate speed’
When was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
1956
What was the Montgomery Bus Boycott?
Protest against segregation on town buses. MIA founded to co-ordinate the protest
When was the SCLC founded?
1957
What was the aims of the SCLC?
Aimed to widen participation in civil rights movement; did not take individual members
When was the Little Rock protest?
1957
What was the Little Rock Protest?
NAACP test the Brown and Brown II rulings
When was Eisenhowers First Civil Rights Act?
1957
What was Eisenhower’s First Civil Rights Act?
Intended to increase black voting, but is watered down so much it achieves little
When was the Greensboro’ sit ins?
1960
What were the Greensboro’ sit ins?
Protests against segregation of public places
When was the SNCC found?
1960
What was the SNCC?
Student-led organisation to co-ordinate protests
What did Kennedy create in 1961?
Kennedy creates the President’s Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity
What was the aim of the Equal Employment Opportunity (1961)?
Aimed to end racial discrimination by the federal government
When were the Freedom Rides?
1961
What were the Freedom Rides?
Protest organised by CORE to test inter-state transport rulings
When did the Albany Campiagn begin?
1961
What was the Albany Campaigns?
Protest designed to encourage black voter registration, and to fight for desegregation.
Widely seen as a failure
NAACP, SCLC, SNCC and Martin Kuther King take part
When was the Birmingham campaign?
1963
What was the Birmingham campaign?
SCLC campaign to achieve desegregation
Widely seen as a success
When was the March on Washington?
1963
What was the March on Washington?
March attended by 250,000 mixed-race campaigners
Martin Luther King delivered his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech
When was the Civil Rights Act?
1964
What was the 1964 Civil Rights Act?
Outlawed segregation and made the Fair Employment Practices Commission permanent
When was the Mississipi Freedom Summer?
1964
What was the Mississipi Freedom Summer?
SNCC-organised campaign to increase voter registration in Mississipi
Created the Mississipi Freedom Democratic Party as an alternative to the Democratic Party to provide black with political representation - met with resistance from the Democratic Party
When was the Selma campaign?
1965
What was the Selma Campaign?
Campaign led by Martin Luther King to encourage black voter registration in Selma
What was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Higher Education Act?
Increased funding for education provision in poorer states: led to a four-fold increase in the number of black college students by 1975
When were the Voting Rights Act introduced?
1965
What was the Voting Rights Act?
Abolished literacy tests and any measures designed to prevent black people from voting
When was the Moynihan Report?
1965
What was the Moynihan report?
A report, commissioned by Johnson, into black social conditions: revealed high social problems
When were the Los Angeled (Watts) riots?
1965
What were the Watts riots?
A member of the black community was arrested for drink driving: large scale riots resulted
When was the Black Pantehr Party founded?
1966
What did the Black Panther Party establish?
Published the Ten-Point Programme and launched the Patrol the Pigs campaign
When was the Chicago campaign?
1966
What was the Chicago campaign?
Martin Luther King and SCLC led campaign to attack segregation in housing: widely seen as a failure
When was the Fair Housing Act?
1968
What was the Fair Housing Act?
Outlawed racial discrimination when renting or selling property
When was Rodney King beaten?
1991
Why were there riots in Los Angels in 1992?
Provoked by acquittal of policemen that beat King
What was significance of Freeman v Pitts?
Supreme Court decision which had the effect of allowing local authorities to tolerate de facto school segregation
What was ‘conflict leasing’?
Southern states exploited a loophole in the 13th Amendment which allowed “involuntarily servitude…as a punishment for a crime” to charge AAs not only with rape but testifying against whites in court, seeking another job or failing to say ‘mister’ to a white man
What were vagrancy laws?
African Americans could be convicted as a criminal under the vagrancy laws simply because they were unable to prove that they worked for a white employer or landlord.
What was ‘peonage’?
Peonage meant debt slavery: an AA was tied to working for a white employer or landlord until a debt was paid
What was ‘sharecropping’?
Sharecropping was linked to peonage b/c the white landlord invariably controlled the financial records enabling him to “fiddle” them to make sure that the sharecroppers never got out of debt and could therefore never escape from working for him
Reasons why the “Gilded Age” (1877-96) was a disaster for African Americans?
Convict leasing
Peonage and Sharecropping
Segregation
Lynching
Disenfranchisement
Reasons why the “Gilded Age” (1877-96) was not a disaster for African Americans?
Education improved
Blacks sat in state legislatures in South Carolina until 1900 and Georgia until 1908
Reasons Roosevelt and the New Deal improved the lives of African Americans?
FDR spoke out against lynching
Black CR movement received encouragement from the President’s wife, Eleanor Roosevelt
New Deal programme helped AAs by providing one million jobs, nearly 50,000 public housing units, and financial assistance and skilled occupations training for half a million black youths
Roosevelt attempted to encourage the raising of wages and cutting of working hours
WPA provided work for 350,000 AAs each year
Reasons Roosevelt and the New Deal didn’t improve the lives of African Americans?
Federal programmes were administered through local authorities
Inaction over an anti-lynching bill and a bill to abolish the poll tax
Sharecroppers not covered by the Social Security Act or the National Labour Relations Act
Most New Deal programs discriminated against blacks
National Labour Relations or Wagner Act 1935 didn’t apply to agricultural or domestic workers (covering 2/3 of AA employers)
Many AAs were excluded from the minimum wage provisions of the Fair Labour Standards Act
Achievements of Black Power:
Social and economic achievements - set up 49 clinics across the USA, campaign to raise awareness of sickle cell anaemia, free breakfast programmes
Impact on black identity - influenced King into talking about “black” people rather than “negroes”, recognised heritage and gave AAs a new pride in history
Cultural impact - Black athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos gave the Black Power salute while receiving their medals at the 1968 Olympic Games
Limitations of Black Power:
Divided the movement
Alienated even liberal whites - Black Panthers associated Black Power with violence
Black Power’s ideas were incoherent and unrealistic - foolish to talk of black supremacy and separation and to expel whites from the SNCC and CORE in a predominantly white society in which the majority of blacks were economically dependent on whites
Arguments the aims of campaigners for African Americans civil rights didn’t remain the same 1865-1992?
Priority in 1865 was to end slavery
Hostile climate around 1900, all Washington could realistically aim at was to win white acceptance of gradual improvements in AAs education, training and economic status
Du Bois more radical in openly campaigning to enforce AA CR as theoretically granted by 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments
Garvey, Malcolm X and Carmichael aimed at enabling AAs to rediscover pride in their African cultural heritage
MLK and other CR campaigners in the moderate groups like the SCLC and NAACP aimed to achieve integration with fully equal civil and voting rights to be achieved through non-violent local activism and political lobbying with the aid of sympathetic media coverage to provoke fed govt.
After Civil and Voting Rights Act 1964-65 AA campaigners focussed more on the poverty of the AA underclass
1970s focus on affirmative action
Rodney King controversy 1991-92, highlighted issue of police violence
Opposition to AA CR remained strong throughout the period 1865-1992?
Violence - lynching peaked in 1890s
White Public Opinion - “Social Darwinism” provided a pseudo-scientific basis for racism and Brown judgement 1954 provoked “Massive Resistance” from the South
Federal Government - Supreme Court was consistently hostile to AA CR in the 19th century, notably in the Plessy v Ferguson judgement in 1896 which gave a “green light” to the “Jim Crow” laws in the South and disenfranchisement removed AAs from political office from about 1900 until the 1970s
Arguments that the quality of leadership shown by AA campaigners was the most important factor in the advancement of their civil rights 1865-1992:
MLKs inspirational non-violent campaigns and ability to gain white support, media attention and international recognition played a decisive role
Booker T Washington played an important role during a difficult time for AA CR by promoting AA education, training and economic self improvement through his Tuskegee Institute
Du Bois helped to found the NAACP and its strategy of litigation to promote AA CR, which ultimately bore fruit in the Brown judgement in 1954
Garvey and Malcolm X were inspirational leaders who instilled pride in AAs cultural heritage
Arguments that the quality of leadership shown by AA campaigners was not the most important factor in the advancement of their civil rights 1865-1992:
Even most inspirational leaders need large numbers of followers and grassroots campaigns to back them - lack of such grassroots organisations helps to explain why Washington, Du Bois and Garvey could not achieve what MLK did
Nothing could be achieved without the three branches of the federal government - lack of such fed govt support between Reconstruction and the 1950s and again during the 1980s under Reagan and Bush prevented progress
Climate of white public opinion, aided by media coverage of racist violence, as at Birmingham and Selma, made the CR progress of the 1960s possible
For progress to be achieved 5 factors had to be in place:
Inspirational leaders
Grassroots activism
Clear set of objectives
Sympathetic public opinion
Federal government action
Aims of Booker T Washington:
To improve AAs economic position and gain more acceptance from whites
To improve AA CR in long term
Methods of Booker T Washington:
Education and training e.g. Tuskegee Institute
Set up Negro business league
“Atlanta Compromise” speech 1895
Links with white politicians like Theodore Roosevelt and businessmen like Andrew Carnegie
Privately supported legal challenges to segregation
Successes of Booker T Washington:
AA education and training improved and AA middle class began to develop
Invited to dinner at the White House
Financial support from white businessmen like Carnegie
Recognised as leading AA spokesmen from 1895 to at least 1905
Failures of Booker T Washington:
Failed to stop development of “Jim Crow” laws and disenfranchisement of AAs; by 1908 segregation fully established in every southern state and hardly any AAs in the South could vote
Violence against AAs including lynching widespread and unchecked by police and courts
Uninspiring speaker and criticised by more radical AAs
Aims of W.E.B DuBois:
To improve AA CR by challenging segregation, disenfranchisement, lynching, convict leasing ect
Equal rights in terms of education, employment, voting
Gain white support
Ensure CR theoretically achieved in 1865-75 could actually be enforced
Methods of W.E.B DuBois:
Helped to found NAACP 1909 and edited its magazine, Crisis
Used journalism, campaigning and legal action to raise awareness in North of racial injustice in South
Wrote book challenging racist view of Reconstruction
Favoured academic as well as vocational education
Organised silent parade in New York 1917 to protest against East St Louis riot
Petitioned UN against racial injustice in USA
Successes of W.E.B DuBois:
Some legal victories, e.g. Moore v Dempsey 1923 ensured verdict secured by mob pressure could not be upheld
Raised awareness of racial injustice in South e.g. anti-lynching bills in Congress in 1930s
Failures of W.E.B DuBois:
Segregation and disenfranchisement continued until after his death (1963)
Attempts to get federal anti-lynching law failed
White historians ignored his writing on Reconstruction
DuBois’ links with Communists discredited NAACP
Aims of Marcus Garvey:
Like BTW believed blacks should be self reliant and help themselves by developing own businesses, schools etc
Believed AAs should take pride in own culture rather than trying to integrate with whites and eventually concluded return to Africa only solution
Methods of Marcus Garvey:
Founded Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) which focussed on AAs helping themselves by setting up own schools, businesses, newspapers etc
Garvey had own newspaper, The Negro World
Set up Black Star steamship line to promote emigration to Africa
Successes of Marcus Garvey:
Effective orator
Seen as natural successor to BTW
Appealed to young urban working class AAs who thought integration with whites would never work; his ideas encouraged them to believe in themselves
Biggest inspiration for black radicals before Malcolm X
Failures of Marcus Garvey:
Lacked coherent political strategy
Too concerned with showing off with uniforms and fancy ventures like Black Eagle Star steamship line which failed b/c of financial difficulties
Charismatic but lacked political and business skills
Unpopular with black trade unions and NAACP
Arrested 1925 for mail fraud and deported back to Jamaica 1929
Aims of Martin Luther King:
Integration and equality with whites
Fully equal CRs including end to segregation and discrimination and full voting rights
Equality de facto as well as de jure, e.g. right to live in same areas as whites
Reduction of poverty for Americans of all races
Methods of Martin Luther King:
Non-violent marches, boycotts, use of media and lobbying white politicians
In practice MLK deliberately provoked violence from racist police chiefs like Connor in Birmingham to ensure favourable media coverage and federal govt intervention
Successes of Martin Luther King:
Civil Rights Act 1964 ended legal segregation and discrimination
Voting Rights Act 1965 gained equal voting rights and led by 1970s to significant numbers of AAs holding political office for first time since Reconstruction
Failures of Martin Luther King:
Segregation ended de jure but not de facto, e.g. Chicago campaign failed to achieve residential integration b/c of this AAs still mostly attended separate and inferior schools
Poverty gap between whites and AAs actually widened in 1960s
Continued police violence and discrimination against AAs by legal system
Aims of Malcolm X:
AAs to be proud to be black and see themselves as Africans not Americans
Black supremacy and separation from whites
AAs to have right to defend themselves
AAs to reject Christianity and convert to Islam
AAs to free themselves from poverty, drugs and crime
Methods of Malcolm X:
Preached Islam and separatism but couldn’t get involved in politics directly b/c Elijah Muhammed insisted
Nation of Islam purely religious movement
Tried to collaborate with other CR groups after he left Nation of Islam in 1964
Successes of Malcolm X:
Most charismatic black supremacist ever, inspiring Black power movement
Had ability MLK couldn’t match to reach angry young AA men in northern cities
Could intimidate whites into making concessions
Failures of Malcolm X:
Inability to participate in politics until 1964 meant he couldn’t influence legislation as MLK could; nothing to match Civil and Voting Rights Act 1964-65
Seen by whites as “extremist” so couldn’t influence white politicians as MLK could; in fact his extremism made it harder for MLK to improve AA CRs
Aims of Stokely Carmichael:
Initially campaigned for integration and voting rights but came to reject non-violence and co-operation with whites
Coined “Black Power” slogan 1966 and later advocated black separatism, condemning Black Panthers for not being separationist enough
Emigrated to Africa 1969 and changed name to Kwame Ture
Methods of Stokely Carmichael:
Participated in Freedom Rides 1961, Freedom Summer in Mississippi in 1964, Selma March 1965 and March against Fear 1966
Expelled whites from SNCC, believing AAs must take freedom for themselves
Supported Black Panthers 1967-68 but later broke with them
From 1969 focussed on African and international issues
Successes of Stokely Carmichael:
Early campaigns succeeded, his charism inspiring 20,000 AAs to register to vote 1965 in Lowndes County, Mississippi
“Black Power” slogan made him famous and FBI feared his charisma
Black Panthers made him their “honorary Prime Minister”
Failures of Stokely Carmichael:
Divisive: SNCC split over expulsion of whites 1966 and expelled him 1967
FBI smear campaigns discredited him and contributed to his split with the Black Panthers
Move to Africa reflected declining influence in USA
Aims of Jesse Jackson:
To secure equal employment rights
To relieve AA poverty by forming “Rainbow Coalition” including poor whites, Hispanics and other ethnic minorities
Tried to gain support from supporters of both integration and black power
Methods of Jesse Jackson:
Operation Breadbasket (boycotting white businesses which didn’t employ AAs) and pushing for affirmative action
Stood for Democratic vice presidential nomination 1984 and 1988, hoping to exploit increasing poverty resulting from Regan’s policies
Successes of Jesse Jackson:
Op Breadbasket and PUSH (affirmative action) campaigns created 1,000s of jobs for AAs
Gained 7 million votes 1988 and came 2nd in race for Democratic vice presidential nomination
Charismatic speaking style reminiscent of MLK
Failures of Jesse Jackson:
Never as successful as MLK in uniting AA community or gaining white support
No legislative achievements
Failed in 2 bids for Democratic vice presidential nomination
New Deal Legislation: Alphabet Agencies
Provided jobs to thousands of unemployed
What was the Freedman’s Bureau?
Freedman’s Bureau was an organisation established by the Federal Government in March 1865 to support freed slaves in the short-term
Bureau also supported the work of black self-help groups in providing education for black children
White reaction to 14th Amendment:
Granting civil rights to ex-slaves greatly alienated many white southerners and many found it psychologically impossible to see AAs as equal
What was the Slaughterhouse Case of 1873?
Concerned with a meat monopoly
Supreme Court decided that the rights of citizens were under state + not federal control
When was the Slaughterhouse Case?
1873
When were the Black codes?
1865-1866
What were Black Codes?
An early indication of Southern white attitudes to newly freed slaves
Codes varied from state to state but one common feature was the wide definition of a ‘negro’ (one eighth of black blood was sufficient for this)
Examples of Black Codes:
Marriages were allowed but inter-racial unions outlawed
Legal rights were limited
Not permitted to vote
Education was to take place in segregated schools
Evidence that AAs were made free and equal in the Reconstruction era:
13th Amendment - although slave holders could have their land back they couldn’t have slaves back
Civil Rights Act (1866) - Blacks had legal equality + rights would operate in favour of AA instead of whites
14th Amendment - Everyone born or naturalised in the US now citizens + no state could take the rights of a persons citizenship away
15th Amendment - Ensured that AA could vote in the South + the North
Civil Rights Act (1875) - enforce all previous laws + prohibit segregation in public places
Freedman’s Bureau - provided housing, food, education and medical care
Sharecropping - better than slavery + meant AA families could stay together
Churches - focus of community life + ministers natural leaders of AA community
Evidence that AAs were not made free + equal in the Reconstruction era:
14th Amendment - was difficult to enforce in the South as contained loop holes
15th Amendment - allowed for voting qualifications + only needed because states weren’t honouring the 14th Amendment
Civil Rights Act (1875) - still segregation in schools
Black Codes (1865-66) - Southern whites still had bad attitudes to newly freed slaves + virtually restored slavery in all but name
Abolition of the Freedman’s Bureau - ended federal gov. support for AA education + welfare
Threat of violence - constant threat of violence from the KKK + other white supremacist groups
Development of social segregation:
Segregation was developing in the South even before the end of Reconstruction in 1877
Between 1887 + 1891, “Jim Crow” segregation laws developed rapidly
8 Southern states introduced formal segregation of the races on trains, three of them extending this to waiting room facilities
After 1891, segregation laws were formally + rapidly extended to all kinds of public places
Impact of Plessy v Ferguson:
1896 Supreme Court judgment ruled that racial segregation of railway carriages was constitutional + this therefore acted as a legal precedent for segregation in all forms of public life
Court declared that the facilities for black and whites should be ‘separate but equal’ yet in practice, black facilities were of a lower standard
Between 1890 + 1908 the Deep South States passed laws to prevent AAs from voting:
Literacy tests - may be to interpret section of constitution
Barring people from voting if they didn’t pay local poll taxes
“Grandfather Clause” which barred blacks from voting because their grandfathers had been slaves + therefore unable to vote
Property Qualifications - only those who owned their house could vote
What was the ‘Great Migration’?
Name given to the migration of over six million AAs from the rural South to the great cities of the North, Midwest and West between 1910 + 1970
Impact of Westwards Expansion + Immigration:
Closing decades of the 19th century westward expansion was partially responsible for drawing people of different origins to the USA
‘Incomers’ were lured by the promise of cheap land, ‘buy now pay later’ finance + the vast range of opportunities that seemed to offer instant prosperity
After 1877, AAs increasingly began to enter the industrial market in the North
Before WW1, some 10% of AAs took advantage of the freedom of movement by leaving the South
Why did so many AAs migrate?
Drawn by greater economic opportunities in the industrial North
Impact of WW1 on AA:
Over 350,000 AAs served in WW1
About half of those drafted went to France - served with distinction alongside the France but in segregated regiments fighting alongside French colonial troops rather than their fellow Americans, AAs found the French to be less racist than white Americans
When White Americans returned home, found AAs had taken jobs - subsequent competition for jobs led to hostility + violence, referred to as the “Red Summer”
Chicago Race Riots of July 1919 were one of the worst examples of this post-war violence which left 23 black people + 15 white people dead
NAACP’s key aims:
Abolish segregation
Achieve equal voting rights
Promote educational opportunities for black people
Enforce the 14th/15th Amendments
What was the UNIA?
Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association
Began in 1914 in his native Jamaica
Message was so well received Garvey decided to stay + develop UNIA in the US
How serious was the opposition to black civil rights posed by the KKK in the period 1915-1930?
KKK posed serious opposition to black civil rights as KKK at this time, after Hiram Evans took over as leader in 1922, widened its targets conveying how no one was safe
Examples of racist politicians in the Southern states:
Theodore Bubo of Mississippi suggested that all African Americans should return to Africa
Eugene Talmadge, from Georgia, attacked integrated education
By 1941 progress towards CR had stalled:
Successes of the NAACP had been limited
No charismatic personality had emerged to replace Garvey
Within the federal gov. little sympathy had been shown to take action on black civil rights
Educational inequalities were all to apparent
Blacks were still largely excluded from voting in South
Lynching was declining but climate of fear remained
Housing conditions were primitive + de facto segregation remained in the North
Poverty was endemic + discrimination in employment all-pervasive
White opinion, especially in the South seemed determined to maintain the status quo
Harlem Renaissance:
In the North there was an outpouring of writers, poets, musicians + painters from black society, and the 1920a became known as the ‘Jazz age’
Many of the talented black people discovered during this period came from Harlem, hence the name of the movement ‘the Harlem Renaissance’
Helped change attitudes
Impact of WW2:
The experience of fighting in Europe - tens of thousands of blacks were called up for the services, where their experiences radicalised them: segregation was preserved but they resented being treated as second class citizens
Employment + Migration - because of jobs created by the war, black unemployment in 1945 was only 16% of its 1940 level + black migration was north increased much more dramatically than between 1914-1918
Experience of WW2 made blacks more assertive + self-confident: the NAACPs membership quadrupled during WW2 to 200,000. It was now represented in virtually every state in the Union
Black Trade Union Leader: A. Phillip Randolph
March on Washington in 1941 organised by Randolph forced President Roosevelt to set up the Fair Employment Practices Commission to ensure blacks got equal access to defence industry jobs controlled by the fed gov
Inspired James Farmer to form CORE
CORE:
James Farmer founded the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942
Aimed to use non-violent protest to gain civil + political rights
In 1943, staged a ‘sit-in’ protest at a Chicago restaurant which had refused to serve AAs
Actions of Roosevelt (1941-45):
1941 - Roosevelt issued an Executive Order in response to A. Phillip Randolph’s campaign against discrimination in employment which banned racial discrimination in employment and set up the Fair Employment Practices Commission
By 1553, 20 states and 30 cities had adopted his fair employment regulations
Actions of Truman (1945-1953):
Truman commissioned a President’ Committee on Civil Rights in 1946 which issued a report, To Secure These Rights in 1947 identifying major civil rights problems
1948 Truman used his authority as Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces to issue executive orders to desegregate the US Military
Truman also proposed a Civil Rights Bill to Congress in 1948
Congress under Truman:
Congress rejected President Truman’s Civil Rights Bill of 1948
No Civil Rights Bill was passed between 1875 + 1957
In South Carolina, Strom Thurmond, felt so strongly about Truman’s desegregation of the military + his Civil Rights Commission that he deserted the Democrats at a time of the presidential election in 1948 + ran as a third party candidate
What was the case ‘Brown vs. the Board of Education’ against?
Segregation in schools being unconstitutional
Why was the decision in the ‘Brown vs. the Board case so important?
Highlighted the new generation attitudes
Conveyed importance of education
Overruled the Plessy v Ferguson case
Could be applied elsewhere - created a legal foundation for the Civil Rights Movement
When was the ‘Little Rock’ incident?
1957
Significance of ‘Little Rock’:
Only time Eisenhower intervened to force a state to implement the Brown judgement
Typical of the lengths to which white Southerners would go to resist integration
Showed that de jure change like the Brown judgement could lead to de facto change as at Little Rock
Arkansas schools reopened in 1959 on an integrated basis + the victory gave some black people more confidence in standing up for their rights
The Kerner Commission:
Established by LBJ in 1967 to investigate the causes of the riots + provide recommendations
Report found that the riots resulted from black frustration at lack of economic opportunity
The Black Panther Party:
Founded in 1966 by Huey Newton + Booby Seale
Most radical of black groups in the 1960s
Excluded whites + was prepared to use violence to revolutionise the US
Black Panther Ideology:
Black Nationalism - unfairness of justice system
Anti-colonialism - called on Blacks not to fight in Vietnam
Marxism - BPPs main aim to liberate black working class from exploitation by white capitalists
Black Panther Party Methods:
“Patrol the Pigs” - meant shadowing police patrols to observe any arrest by police of a black person + find any possible legal grounds to challenge arrest
“Free Huey” - campaign after arrest of Newton on a false murder charge in 1967
Free Breakfast Programme
Free health clinics offering tests for conditions predominantly affecting blacks like Sickle Cell Anaemia
“Liberation Schools” - teaching black history + culture
Situation for AAs by the early 1990s:
In 1989, 77% of whites graduated from high school as opposed to 63% of AAs
21% of whites graduated from college whereas only 11% of AAs did
In 1988, unemployment among AAs was 5 points higher than that of whites
Arguments progress had been made in terms of AA civil rights between 1960-1992:
Segregation in public places had disappeared
AAs had equal voting rights + AAs were increasingly elected to public office
All political figures in the main parties accepted the principle of racial equality
Violent opposition to civil rights legislation had largely disappeared
Educational attainment had vastly improved: 76% of blacks graduated from high school
Arguments progress had not been made in terms of AA civil rights between 1960-1992:
Political involvement did not necessarily produce greatly improved conditions for AAs
Turnout among black voters remained low
Unemployment remained high, unemployment for male black teenagers was 50%
By 1992, blacks + whites often continued to live apart
