African Americans p.3 Flashcards
How were African Americans viewed under the constitution after the civil war?
Black population was given theoretical equality in 3 amendments.
13th (1865) abolished slavery
14th (1868) said black people were citizens
15th (1870) said black males should be allowed to vote
How did segregation officially begin in the US?
the north (troops, etc.) leaves the south → south quickly restores their supremacy over state governments and in the late 19th century introduced Jim Crow Laws that enforced segregation.
When and what was Plessy v. Ferguson?
(1896) supreme court ruled that separate but equal facilities were not against the 14th amendment.
How did segregation in the south and north differ?
segregation in the south : was enshrined in the law = de jure segregation
Segregation in the north, evidenced in schools, housing, etc. segregation was in fact rather than in law = de facto segregation
Why were the protests by African Americans in 1900-45 unsuccessful?
early 20th century African Americans disagreed over tactics for improvements.
Many black southerners went north after 1910 for a better life in the great migration.
A few organised protests although they were uncoordinated.
How did black consciousness begin to rise in the first half of the 20th century?
through Labour unions, newspapers, the flowering of black culture in New York cities Harlem ghetto and organisations.
when was NAACP founded?
- NAACP, with its predominantly middle class membership and litigation tactic
What was one of the greatest achievements of the NAACP?
Initiated cases brought about a Supreme Court, Guinn v. United States ruling that ended the grandfather clause (1915).
What was the grandfather clause?
southern state laws allowed the illiterate to vote if they could prove an ancestor had voted before reconstruction which no African American could do.
When and what was the Missouri ex rel Gaines v Canada ruling?
(1938) Supreme Court decreed that all races had the right to the same quality of graduate education.
What were the results of the NAACP’s Texas campaign against all white primaries?
The Supreme Court declared the exclusions of African Americans from the primaries unconstitutional under the 15th amendment in Smith v. Allwright in 1944.
How did the US involvement in the two world wars affect African americans?
raised black consciousness as black soldiers noticed the disparity between US government rhetoric about freedom and democracy and their own reality.
How did the wars impact the NAACP?
NAACP membership rose from 50’000 to 450’000 during the war. In 1942 Rosa Parks joined the NAACP.
Which organisation was set up in 1952?
christian socialist James Farmer set up CORE, which organised sit-ins at de facto segregated Chicago restaurants and demanded the desegregation of interstate transport.
What is ironic about Truman’s involvement in the civil rights movement?
A self confessed racist president truman did more for african americans than any president since lincoln
What was Truman horrified by?
The attacks on black servicemen returning home from the second world war.
What did Truman set up in 1946?
What did their report say?
What did it call the federal government for?
A liberal civil rights committee to investigate racist violence
The report “To Secure These Rights” in 1947 said the USA could not claim to lead the free world while black people were not equal.
anti-lynching legislation, abolition of the poll tax, voting rights laws, a permanent FEPC and an end to discrimination in interstate travel and in armed forces
When did Truman urge congress to pass the legislations propsed by the 1947 reprt?
1946 and 1948 State of the Union addresses
In 1948 what put pressure on Truman
Randolph Phillip threatened him with mass protest.
Truman issued executive orders to end discrimination in the armed forces and to guarantee fair employment in the civil service.
What other two things did Truman also set up?
1948: The Fair employment Board to try and give minorities equal treatment in federal hiring
How impactful was Truman?
How impactful were his commision and all?
He was significant
put the full moral weight of the presidency behind the struggle for civil rights.
His lead encouraged further black activism.
By 1952: 11 states and 20 cities had fair employment laws, 19 states had legislation against some form of racial discrimination
How did the supreme court respond to the work of NAACP lawyers against the separate but equal ruling?
1950: supreme court made 3 civil rights decisions that almost overturned Plessy v. Ferguson:
Segregation on railway dining cars was illegal
A black student could not be physically separated from white students in the university of oklahoma
A separate black texan law school was not equal to the university of texas law school
When and what happened during the supreme court ruling of Brown v. Board?
- Thurgood Marshall (NAACP lawyer) argued before the supreme court that segregation was against the 14th amendment. So in Brown v. Board the supreme court ruled that even if the facilities were equal, (they weren’t) separate education was psychologically damaging to black children.
Why was Brown v. Board of Education so significant? What it succesful?
Great triumph for NAACP as Brown seemed to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson.
Victory was not total: the supreme court gave no date by which desegregation had to be achieved and said nothing about de facto segregation.
NAACP returned to supreme court in 1955 and obtained Brown II, ruling that integration be accomplished with all deliberate speed but there was still no date for compliance.
How did the white population react to Brown v. Board 1954?
White citizens councils quickly formed to defend segregation.
Challenged desegregation plans in the law courts and southern politicians were supportive. The KKK was revitalised once more.
By 1965 membership grew to around ¼ million.
How quickly was desegregation in schools applied?
the deep south schools remained segregated.
Some schools maintained segregation by manipulating entry requirements.
From 1956 to 1959: massive resistance campaign in Virina: white closed some schools rather than segregate and labour unions financed segregated schools when public schools were closed.
What occurred in 1955?
When did Rosa Parks join the NAACP?
Rosa Parks was arrested in montgomery.
joined in 1934
What happened after Rosa Park’s arrest?
what were their tactics?
The NAACP + black teachers and students of Alabama state college mobilised for a bus boycott in protest.
Students distributed propaganda leaflets to elicit total support from the black community
NAACP worked with church leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. as they believed church involvement would increase working class black participation.
Did King agree to support the NAACP?
What did King end up leading though?
Already rejected the offer to lead the local NAACP branch but he let his church be used as a meeting place to plan the boycott. The church would provide some financial aid as well.
agreed to The MIA, Montgomery Improvement Association which led the boycott.
When did the Montgomery bus boycott begin?
1956
What made Montgomery so significant?
What did the boycott demonstrate?
While there have been other bus boycotts like the Baton Rouge in 1953, not one was as well organised, supported and publicised as the Montgomery one. It was also the longest.
The power of the whole black community using direct but non violent action.
Also demonstrated the importance of the church.
