African Americans Flashcards
KKK (Ku Klux Klan) and how many members
The most extreme group/source of intolerance and racism during the 1920s
Began as an underground anti-negro society in the South after Civil War (1861-5) and grew during the 1920s
Members went from 100,000 members in 1921 to over 5 million in 1925.
ranged from government officials to Americans in small, rural towns (ex. Senator of Texas and Governor of Alabama and current president of the time - Woodrow Wilson).
Members against the abolition of slavery sought to keep African Americans (and all minorities) in a permanent state of subjugation to whites.
The KKK attracted conservative (WASP) supremacist’s that were anti-communist, negro, Jew, immigrant etc. and focused on protecting ‘American values’ from foreigners, immigrants and minorities
FACT: over 400 black Americans were lynched by the KKK in the 1920s.
progress on improved status of blacks
- black culture flourished in northers cities (Harlem NY being the epicenter of black artistry) KNOWN AS HARLEM RENAISSANCE
poet and writer -Weldon Johnson
entertainer - Josephine Baker musician - Louis Armstrong
were black artists that portrayed the black experience into their work
the jazz age and a younger generation of white urban Americans influenced by predominantly black performed music (jazz, soul and blues.) Jazz became one the most influential art forms of the 1920s.
- black political organizations
NAACP (national association for the advancement of colored people)
IN 1919 HAD 90,000 MEMBERS
led by W.E DuBois
UNIA (universal negro improvement association)
IN 1921 HAD OVER 1 MIL MEMBERS
led by Marcus Garvey
decline of KKK
- fell more quickly than it rose
- its violent activities began to offend the nation’s conscience
- One of prominent leaders (known as the Indiana Grand Dragon) David C. Stephenson was convicted of the kidnapping, rape and murder of a young white girl in 1925
- reputation was damaged.
- By 1928, its membership had fallen to a few hundred thousand because.
(1 reason) ‘Why did membership of the Ku Klux Klan increase in the 1920s?’
because of white American’s fear of the new retaliation from African Americans in 1920s
- The Race Riots of 1919 -> fear of blacks->increase in KKK members
- The highest fatalities occurred in the rural area around Elaine, Arkansas, where an estimated 100-240 black people and five white people were killed - still this was enough to fuel even more hatred to blacks.
- peaceful black political organizations - NAACP (NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for the ADVANCEMENT of COLORED PEOPLE)
- which in 1919 had 90,000 members
- UNIA - (UNIVERSAL NEGRO IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION)
founded by Marcus Garvey - with over 1 million members in 1921
both campaigned for black pride and power -> offended whites by embracing their culture-> increase in hate grps.
(2 reason) ‘Why did membership of the Ku Klux Klan increase in the 1920s?
because of the infamous movie - Birth of a Nation
Written in 1915 by D.W. Griffith
depicting the Ku Klux Klan as valiant saviors of a post-war American South ‘devastated’ by freed blacks
President Woodrow Wilson played the film at the White House during his presidency. He stated “it is like writing history with writing. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true.”
The film both reflected and boosted the popularity of the Ku Klux Klan with prominent figures supporting it.
examples of racism towards A. Americans
-Jim Crow Laws and Violence in the south
Jim Crow’ is named after a minstrel 1830s song that had depicted African Americans as the black stereotype for the sake of entertainment
Several state laws in the 19th and 20th centuries to make public places segregated
Biggest act of violence AGAINST BLACKS AND WHITES was the Race Riots of 1919 - the worst being held in Chicago.
- poverty in south and northern city ghettos
the south was severely segregated (Jim crow laws) which led blacks to migrate up north to cities (Chicago, nyc) for better opportunities
this was known as the GREAT MIGRATION (1910-20)
FACT: the black population in NYC doubled from 150,000 to 300,000 in this period
HOWEVER, Many blacks were in poverty in these cities and were living in squalid tenement (crowded and poor) ghettos
discrimination and segregation continued up north.
African American life expectancy 1920s
The life expectancy of African Americans increased from 45-48 (vs. whites which was 54-59) from 1900-1930
