America Theme 2 Flashcards
The American civil war 1861-65
War between ‘slave hiding’ southern and northern states
Fear amongst southern states new president lincoln was not going to allow new western states to have a system of enslqvekejt.
Southern states formed a new county ‘the confederate state of America’
Led to civil war
13th amendment
1865 congress passed abolishing slavery
14th amendment
1868
Made all born in the US, including those enslaved, US citizens
15th amendment
1870
All citizens had the same voting rights
What was life like for black Americans around 1917
Still had to struggle for equality
They faced discrimination, segregation and violence.
More extreme in south and Deep South.
In north and west, unofficially segregated. Expected to live in their own part of town, the worst part.
In most places they were last hired first fired.
What was the impact of the Jim crow laws.
Slavery gone, southerners Americans felt less in control of black americans
Implemented the Jim Crow laws which segregated every aspect of life.
School for black Americans were deliberately kept inferior.
What was Plessey vs Ferguson.
- The Supreme Court ruled that segregation did not violate the US constitution so as long as facilities were equal in quality it was okay
Lynching between 1915-30
65 white men. 579 black men. The victim was usually hanged although some were burnt alive
KKK
Founded in South to maintain who’re supremacy after the civil war. Following government persecution it quickly declined but was rebounded in 1915 against any non wasp group.
By 1925, estimates of membership ranged from 3-8m
Booker T Washington
Americas leading spokesperson for black peoples 1890’s.
Born into smart on a Virginia plantation.
Until more equality was achieved he believed that black Americans should accept segregation as he did not want to alienate white Americans.
W.E.B Du Bois
Born a free man in the north. Belief in rapid integration and focussed on gaining legal and political equality.
Founded the National association for the advancement of committed people in 1909.
Marcus Garvey
Advocated self-help and separation of races.
Ideologically a black nationalist, ideas known as garveyism.
Founded the UNIA, membership grew to half a million, Larger than the NAACP.
Appealed to black working class.
Wilson and segregation
Played the birth of a nation in the White House
In 1913, he have his newly appointed cabinets permission to segregate their offices and departments.
He welcomed this under the guise that it would reduce ‘friction’ among government workers.
Harding a segregation and (civil rights)
Spoke out against lynching and was broadly in favour of civil rights. Addressed 30k segregated people at the uni of Alabama on the evils of segregation.
The move north
1917-32
A wave of black migration from the south to the north and east. Mainly to the cities.
By 1920, almost 40% of African Americans in the north were living in 4 cities.
People were motivated to move north by the demand for workers in factories to support the war and get employment.
Downside of the northern migration
Segregation varied city to city in the north, but migrants generally found a level of segregation that they might not have expected
Jobs were low paid, sometimes replacing white workers going for higher up jobs.
Accomodation was in the most crowded and run-down part of the city in what would become known as ghettos.
Rent higher than what I white person would he charged.
Impact of the northern migration
Population of cities rose sharply.
Black people came to have significant political influence.
Once it became clear what black people could keep a mayor in power, black peoole were listened to more.
Labour force in the south shrank and farming areas struggled to get by.
NAACP
Established 1909.
Aim was to make 11m black population economically, intellectually, politically and socially free and equal.
Concentrated in litigation firstly against lynching then against the disenfranchisement of black Americans
1913, organised opposition to president wilsons introduction of racial segregation into federal government policy, workplaces and hiring.
1915, organised protests against the birth of a nation.
black Americans in the 1930 election
During the 1930s black voters shifted from mainly voting Republican to voting Democrat
Their vote was a significant part of the Roosevelt landslide
executive order 8802
banning racial discrimination in the defence industry, in order to get as many people into war-work as possible, regardless of colour
the impact of the new deal on black people (good things)
The New Deal featured the most enlightened and anti-racist federal leadership since Reconstruction.
First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was an outspoken advocate for racial equality and deeply committed to social justice.
President Roosevelt appointed an unprecedented number of African Americans to high positions in the federal government.
FDR appointed the first African American federal judge, William Hastie]
Around two million African Americans were hired for projects undertaken by numerous Alphabet Agencies including CCC, FERA, WPA.
By 1939, there were about 425,000 Black relief workers employed by the WPA
Overall, the employment of African Americans in federal agencies tripled.
criticisms of the new deal for the development of black rights
black people were constantly moved off projects to make way for whites, despite denials that this was happening.
Black farm workers were sacked in their thousands during agricultural reforms and black workers were often sacked to make way for white workers.
The New Deal has been criticised for the exclusion of farm workers and domestic workers from the Social Security Act and National Labour Relations Act in 1935 – two of the most important pieces of New Deal legislation - many of these were black Americans
excecutive order 7046
Executive Order 7046 (1935) barred discrimination against trained and qualified workers “on any grounds whatsoever.”
FDR lynching criticisms
A common criticism of President Roosevelt is the failure to throw his weight behind a federal anti-lynching law, which was a key demand of African American activists and supported by the vast majority of Northern Democrats
the horror of lynching made it a critical issue that black and white civil rights activists could rally support around
FDR chose once again not to butt heads with Southern Democrats, especially when it came before Congress in 1938 and threatened to split the Democratic Party wide open.
gains for black americans in the second world war
did not benefit much from the war induced boom that began in 1939, white workers were given preference.
In the summer of 1942, only 3% of defence workers were black; two years later, this had risen to 8%.
In June 1942 Executive Order 8802 was introduced which banned racial discrimination in the defence industries
FDR approved the entry of African American women into the WAVES and SPARS, the newly-created female service divisions of the Navy and Coast Guard
impact of truman for civil rights
President Truman supported civil rights.
He proposed anti-lynching, anti-segregation and fair employment laws in 1954, but failed to push them through Congress.
In 1946, Truman set up the President’s Committee on Civil Rights, which called for equal opportunities in work and housing; it also urged strong federal support for civil rights
his Cold War focus meant he concentrated more on fighting communism than on fighting for civil rights.
Executive Order 9981
executive order 9981
truman in 1948 desegregating the military and all work done by businesses for the governmentt
the NAACP
The NAACP was established in 1909 by W.E.B Du Bois and tried to promote back equality thought the law courts
aim was to gain black Americans their legal rights
began by mounting a campaign against lynching, feeling that many people had no idea of the scale of it, especially in the South.
Laws against lynching were brought to Congress, but blocked by Southern politicians
1934 du bois left due to disagreements.
who succeded Du Bois as leader of the NAACP and what was his methods
walter white
He worked with trade unions, churches and white liberals to forge a coalition to persuade the House of Representatives to promote anti-lynching bills.
The NAACP mobilised southern black Americans to campaign for the abolition of the poll tax.
The NAACP used black lawyers such as Thurgood Marshall in their legal challenges.t
thurgood marshall
Thurgood Marshall was the first black American to serve on the Supreme Court.
Having trained as a lawyer, Marshall worked for the NAACP and became its chief legal counsel in 1940.
It was Marshall who argued the Brown v Board of Education case.
During the 1940s and 1950s, he took 32 segregation cases to the Supreme Court and won 29 of them.
appointed to high roles by presidents JFK and LBJ.
the separatist movement
running alongisde the fight for civil rights
Separatists said black Americans were never going to have true equality with whites. That being the case, they should stop fighting for it. They should embrace segregation and fight for equal conditions within it, because this was more feasible.
Separatism would also mean black children would grow up without being made to feel inferior all the time;
1938 Gains vs Canada
The Supreme Court ordered the University of Missouri to take black students
1936 Murray v Maryland
University of Maryland’s law school was desegregated.
1944 Smith v Allwright
Made is easier for black Americans to vote in the South
1948 Shelley v Kraemer
Banned regulations that barred black people from buying houses
1954 Brown v Board of Education of Topeka
Desegregated schools reversing Plessy v Ferguson 1896. The first use of evidence that as well as unequal provision, segregation was psychologically harmful for black schoolchildren. However, no timescale was set, ‘all due speed’
legal success of the NAACPq
The NAACP won some cases in the 1930s and 1940s, and every case it fought in the 1950s.
shortcomings of legal success of NAACP
the Supreme Court didn’t enforce its rulings and weakened the force of the rulings by not setting time limits for desegregation or using vague phrases such as ‘with all deliberate speed’
as in Brown II, a revised ruling of the Brown v Board of Education case.
Some schools, in some places, were integrated within the year. Other schools, especially in the Deep South, took ‘with all deliberate speed’ to mean ‘not for many years yet’.
Legal challenges were working, in that they were getting legal support. However, just like the Amendments to the Constitution that gave black Americans equality, they were useless unless they worked in practice.
NAACP move to direct action
The NAACP and other organisations stepped up direct action in the 1940s and 1950s, as their membership grew and they saw that legal rulings were not enough
protests not new, but they developed in a different way. There were more local protests and they happened more often.
james farmer and CORE (what it did)
James Farmer aimed to achieve black equality in an integrated society.
He established the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942.
more militant than the NAACP. during the 40’s:
Sit ins at segregated Chicago restaurants 1942, St Louis 1949 and Baltimore 1952
In 1947, CORE undertook ‘Freedom Rides’ riding inter-state buses through the Southern states of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky to desegregate them.
Thousands of black people took it into their hands to be the first to move into all-white housing blocks or business districts, often putting themselves in very real danger to do so.
the montgomery bus boycott
1955
On 1 December, Rosa Parks, a respectable, dignified 42-year-old woman and NAACP member, was arrested for sitting at the front of the bus.
The NAACP’s lawyer took her case.
The following day, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed to organise the boycott. MLK leader.
The boycott began on 5 December. Over 75% of bus users were black and 90 percent of them stayed away from the buses. The boycott lasted for 380 days.
King was careful to follow the rules of non-violent protest and to keep the media informed about events Media interest grew as the boycott carried on
The Supreme Court had to act. On 13 November 1956 it ruled bus segregation unconstitutional.
On 21 December, over a year after the boycott started, black people began riding the buses again - desegregated buses
MLK
Martin Luther King Jr became the face of black American civil rights.
He was very media-conscious
In 1957, he set up the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). King refined the nonviolent protest rules with an eye to creating the best possible impression in the media.
It must always be clear who is the oppressor, who the oppressed; never give the media the image of a violent black American, it harms the cause.
Getting arrested, as publicly as possible, and going peaceably, is good publicity. King was arrested many times, and wrote articles and gave interviews from jail about the civil rights cause. Before a protest, campaigners were taught how to go limp if the police tried to move them from a sit-in.
Accept as many white people as you can on your protests. King was happy to meet with white officials who might help the civil rights cause, even though some black people criticised this.
campaigning in the south
The focus of civil rights campaigning shifted to the Deep South, where it was often very clear who was the oppressor and who was the oppressed.
The campaign focused on integrating those schools, universities and colleges that were still, despite the Supreme Court’s ruling on Brown v Board of Education, segregated. Particular schools were targeted, in areas where the NAACP had a strong following and the local black communities, as in Montgomery, had dedicated leaders and members.
little rock
Arkansas 1957
Arkansas had a racist governor, Orval Faubus, but there were integrated schools in some towns. In 1957, nine black children were selected to attend the previously all-white Central High School.
On 4 September, the first day of school, Faubus sent the state National Guard to stop these children going in ‘for their safety’. Eight of the children went to school by car, with the NAACP organiser; the ninth, Elizabeth Eckford, didn’t get the message and went on her own.
The National Guard turned her away and she was surrounded by a screaming mob, many of them women, some shouting ‘Lynch her!
Photographs of the incident shocked the world. King managed to get a meeting with President Eisenhower, in which he pointed out the political damage this was doing to Eisenhower and his administration, and urged federal intervention
the greensboro sit in
1960
On 1 February 1960, four black students went into a Greensboro department store, bought some supplies, went to the segregated lunch counter and waited to be served
what happened next was the students came back. The next day, about 30 students joined them, the day after, nearly all the seats were occupied by black students
SNCC
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was set up in Raleigh, North Carolina on 15 April 1960
a racially integrated organisation of young people.
The SNCC believed in non-violent direct action and students all took training sessions in how to cope with abuse and violence from whites during demonstrations.
one of their most important tasks was to encourage voter registration - they knew black people needed the political power of the vote to get government attention
freedom rides
In 1961, CORE and the SNCC carried out a series of freedom rides in the South.
e rides were to test whether bus restroom facilities had been desegregated, as they should have been after a 1961 Supreme Court ruling
they planned the rides with the intention of provoking a crisis, knowing that the publicity would affect the way the world looked at the USA
The first two buses were attacked and riders, black and white, were beaten up at several stops. Worse followed.
birmingham
1963
Birmingham, Alabama was nicknamed ‘Bombingham’ for the regularity with which black homes, businesses and churches were firebombed
. In 1963, King and the SCLC led a push to desegregate, not buses or lunch counters, but the whole town. King knew it would provoke violence, but had seen, from CORE and SNCC protests, that it worked.
began on 3 April and the protesters’ leaflets made specific reference to the American Dream. One tactic was to get arrested and fill the jails; by the end of the month, the jails were full
shocking pictures went worldwide.
President Kennedy, seeing them, admitted he felt ashamed. He sent in federal troops to restore calm on 12 May. Following that, Birmingham was desegregated.
march on washington
- showed the scale of civil rights activism. hundreds of thousands marched and 25% of crowd were white.
A. Philip Randolf organised march aiming to encourage passage of civil rights and promote balck employment opportunities.
The March on Washington was the first and only time the major civil rights leaders collaborated on a national undertaking. It impressed television audiences worldwide.
freedom summer
In 1964, an election year, the SNCC decided on a push for voter registration, sending large numbers of volunteers to the South.
They sent 45 volunteers, mostly young, white and able to pay their own way (and afford bail to get out of jail), to Mississippi.
. By the end of the summer, there had been three more murders, 35 shooting incidents and countless beatings. About 17,000 black people tried to register to vote that year. Only 1,600 were accepted.
the nation of Islam
gained members in the ghettoes of the North and Midwest.
Malcolm X was its most famous convert.
It was founded in 1930 and aimed to:
Provide an alternative to the white man’s Christian religion
· Persuade members to live a religious life
· Increase black self-esteem
· Keep black and white people separate
· Improve the black economic situation.
Estimates of Nation of Islam’s membership vary, it was possibly as high as 100,000 in 1960 and perhaps 250,000 by 1969
malcolm X
He believed that non-violent protest had had its day and that, in the words of one of his speeches, it was ‘the ballot or the bullet’. He said that he didn’t advocate violence except in self-defence, but it was the slogan that held people’s attention
Malcolm X didn’t believe white people should be involved in the civil rights movement, same with white politicians.
March 1964, Malcolm X announced his split from the Nation.
. In February 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated by National of Islam gunmen.
black power
The term ‘Black Power’ first came to prominence during the Meredith Marches
Black power emphasised black pride and black culture. Many adopted afro hairstyles and black students successfully campaigned for the introduction of black studies programmes.
riots, generalised
Malcolm X predicted that America in summer 64 “Will see a bloodbath.”
During the ‘long hot summers’ of 64-68, there were 238 race riots in over 200 cities. Virtually every large city outside the South had a race riots. These riots led to over 250 deaths (mostly the results of police shootings) 10,000 serious injuries and 60,000 arrests.
kings northern strategy
After 1964, King began to focus on the North, visiting the badly provided, overcrowded black ghettos
King announced a ‘Northern Crusade’ to improve slums by setting up tenant unions, improving working conditions and teaching young people about non-violent protest
began with Chicago, where over 800,000 black Americans lived, mainly in ghetto
watts riot
1965
In August riots broke out in Los Angeles’ Watts ghetto. This gained media attention when several blocks of stores were set fire to and 34 died, 1000 were injured. 3500 rioters and looters were arrested, and over $40 million damage was done to largely white owned businesses.`
meredith march
James Meredith gained national fame as the University of Mississippi’s first black student. In June 66, he began a 220-mile walk from Tennessee to Mississippi, ‘the March against Fear’. His aim was to encourage black people to vote. He was shot on the second day and temporarily immobilised.
On the third day, King took over urging multiracial nonviolent behaviours. Stockley Carmichael, the new SNCC leader joined, calling for the SNCC to radicalise and exclude white campaigners. Black division damaged the march.
black panthers
The Black Panthers were founded in 1966 in California
Black Panthers declared themselves “the heirs of Malcolm X. Their ten-point platform included full employment, decent housing, ‘education that teaches us our true [black] history,’ worldwide working-class struggle, reparations, self- determination, an end to police brutality, and ghetto improvement
Despite having only around 5,000 members in 30 loosely affiliated urban chapters in cities, the black panthers had a significant impact
Their newsletter had a circulation of around 250, 000 by 1969
The Black Panthers appeared strong and fearless to many black Americans. They stockpiled weapons for self-defence and tailed the police in the hope of exposing their brutality.l
black power was in decline by the 1970’s, why?
Ill-defined and poorly organised
· Unrealistic in thinking American was ripe for revolution
· Sexist and alienated female supporters
· Targeted by white authorities.
which two major pieces of legislation were passed under Johnson
1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act both faced challenges in congress but were eventually passed, why
· Black activists had drawn the nation’s attention to injustices. Johnson said, “The real hero of this struggle is the American Negro’.
· The NAACP, labour unions and churches lobbied Congress incessantly, and by January 1964, 68% of Americans favoured the bill. Congress could not afford to ignore this marked swing in public opinion.
· The nation was saddened by Kennedy’s death. Passing his bill seemed an appropriate tribute.
· President Johnson was determined to get the bill passed.
selma
1965
Half of Selma, Alabama’s 29,000 population was black. But there were only 23 registered black voters
A state trooper shot a black youth who was trying to shield his mother from being beaten. White locals threw venomous snakes as black people were tyring to register
The SLCC and SNCC organised a march from Selma to Alabama’s capital Montgomery. Television viewers saw state troopers attack the marchers with clubs and tear gas in a ‘Bloody Sunday’ that attracted nationwide criticism.
significance of selma in terms of the voting right act
‘Bloody Sunday’ prompted Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act ’65 and Johnson made one of this best speeches in support of this legislation.
when was the second civil rights act and what did it do
1968 outlawed discrimination in the sale, rental or finance of housing
the equal employment opportunity act
1972
The powers to sue companies engaged in discrimination were strengthened, expanding the 1964 Civil Rights Act against discrimination to include state and local government jobs.a
achievements of civil rights campaigns
. In 1980, there was more pressure from federal government to make equality actually happen
By 1980, more than a third of black Americans were categorised as middle class. Black upper classes tended to be based in cities such as New York and Washington and to model themselves on white society. They were proof of the equality of blacks and whites
Black people featured more on television and in the cinema; there were more of their books in bookshops and their magazines in p
aper shops. Home ownership among black Americans increased and the number of black graduates went up too.
More black Americans voted, although voter registration slowed after 1968. In 1966, government census figures show 58.2% of black Americans were registered to vote; in 1980, it was 60%.
limits to the success of the campaigns for civil rights
Maybe some black people were now able to reach for the American Dream; hardly any of them were doing it on an equal level with white Americans. Even the wealthiest of black Americans were made to feel unequal by white people in the same social sphere
the death of King made some people turn from black civil rights to other issues; the big spokesman had gone and the war in Vietnam was becoming a bigger issue.
after the civil rights acts and the voting rights act, people felt that the problem was solved and further disparities were not addressed.
Although significant upper- and middle-class groups had emerged, the poor were getting poorer and more of them were falling below the poverty line than in 1959. There were more black children in schools, but most of these schools were still in the poorest areas and some were still segregated
Black babies were more likely to die and black schoolchildren were less likely to succeed and more likely to drop out of education.
Gang culture had begun to dominate the ghettos of the big cities, especially Los Angeles; crime rates were higher.
In 1980, 75% of black high school drop-outs, aged 25-34, had criminal records
background on native americans
Government policies towards Native Americans were managed by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
Roosevelt reversed the trend of assimilation under his Indian New Deal, but wanted Indian tribes run in a ‘constitutional’ way, under tribal councils.
After Roosevelt, federal policy became assimilation again
the BIA encouraged Native Americans to move to towns and cities for work, offering job training and housing, but disrupting tribal culture.th
the issues native americans faced
Tribal homelands: Many Native Americans had been driven from their homelands in the forced relocation of the 1830s. The federal government made treaties (many by force) with individual tribes, giving land and money for their removal. By the 1960s, it was widely agreed, even in government, that the treaties had been unfair.
Self-determination: The tribes had long had an unusual position in the USA. They were independent nations under federal government. Tribes ran their own affairs, but only in their own reservations and only under the control of the BIA. The BIA had, over the years, very heavy-handedly implemented regulations to break up Indian culture and damage tribal cohesion.
Indian Boarding Schools from 1893 onwards. These schools made the children speak nothing but English, cut their hair, dress in ‘proper’ clothes and give up their native customs
organised protest by native americans
1968, the American Indian Movement (AIM) was set up. Its members were mostly young urban people
AIM took a more radical, anti-federal stance and the slogan ‘Red Power
. It consciously adopted the direct action techniques of black American civil rights groups, including sit-ins, demonstrations and occupations
It had a specific issue with its homelands, so groups often targeted disputed land for occupation, although they also occupied federal buildings. AIM also specifically targeted the demeaning of Native American culture by white people in their Red Indians’ pastiches of the culture.
gains for native americans
Nixon sympathised with Native American rights campaigners and felt that it should be possible to make positive changes for about 830,000 people that it wasn’t possible to do for the 22,600,000 black Americans
rejected both termination and forced assimilation.
Nixon brought bills to Congress for Indian autonomy. By 1980, Congress had passed the 1972 Indian Education Act (funds for tribal schools), the 1974 Indian Financing Act (which lent tribes funding) and the 1975 Indian Self-Determination Act (which kept the BIA but contracted out services such as health and education), giving tribes much more control.
same year, voting rights act as extended to cover more racial groups.
In 1970, Congress returned land at Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo tribe. In 1971, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act transferred 40 million acres of land and $462,500,000 to Native Alaskans. All through the 1970s, there was a dribble of land returns, often, as with the Kootenai tribe in Idaho, after occupation of the area
downside to progress for native americans
Nixon’s administration didn’t reform the BIA, nor did Nixon renegotiate about Native American sacred sites. There was no overall solution to the land issues and various states, for example, Hawaii in 1971, continued to evict Native Americans from land if the state wanted it for building or other use.
backgounds on hispanics
Hispanics’ is usually used to mean Americans with a Spanish-speaking background, mostly from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Cuba. Nixon was the first politician to use the term consistently.
what was the Bracero programme
(1942-64) guaranteed incoming Mexicans the same wages as existing workers, but this didn’t always work. When Mexicans were forced to work for lower wages, other farm workers resented it, seeing the Mexicans as taking their jobs
issues the hispanics faced
Land: The 1846-48 American-Mexican war ended and the border between the USA and Mexico was established. Mexicans living in areas that became American could become US citizens or relocate to Mexico. The issue of land rights in what became New Mexico became a focus of protest.
Workers’ rights: Hispanic farm workers, especially those in the bracero programme, often had appalling living and working conditions. When workers returned after the Second World War, farmers adopted a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude to worker complaints. no unions to help cause
Discrimination: Hispanics faced the same problems of racial discrimination as black Americans
Deportation: The US immigration services, from 1953 onwards, deported millions of Hispanic people (3.8 million, including US citizens who were active in protest, in Operation Wetback during 1953-58). Operation Wetback was a government drive to find illegal Mexican immigrants and return them to Mexico.
hispanic individuals fighting for rights
Cesar Chavez - fought a non-violent campaign for the rights of farm workers, focusing on working conditions. He set up a far workers’ union and organised strikes, marches and protests. He also gained publicity by fasting in protest. He travelled widely, speaking to large rallies in cities such as
Reies López Tijerina - organised protests about Mexican land rights in New Mexico. He started with legal protests but, when these seemed to get nowhere, held marches, mass demonstrations and camp-ins on National Forest land. He and Black Power leaders signed an agreement to work together.
The Brown Berets was a young, militant organisation, set up in 1967 in East LA. Members wore uniform, like the Black Panthers (who also wore berets), campaigned against police brutality and led school walk-outs. By 1968, there were Brown Beret members in most urban centres with a Hispanic population.
gains of hispanics campagins for rights
In 1966, Congress’s Cuban American Adjustment Act said all Cubans who had lived in the USA for a year were permanent residents
in 1968, the Mexican American Legal Defence and Education fund was set up to pursue civil rights in the
Hispanics were covered by legislation such as the 1974 Supreme Court ruling on the rights of Limited English Proficient (LEP) students in Lau vs Nichols
This case led to the 1974 Equal Opportunities Act, which provided for more bilingual teaching in schools
In 1975, a Voting Rights Act extension provided language assistance at polling stations and extended rights to Native Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanic groups.
limitations to the hispanic campaign for civil rights
Legal acceptance of Hispanic rights was slow coming; it wasn’t until 1954 that the Supreme Court ruled that Hispanic people were equal citizens
everything came very slow
background on gay americans
gay Americans were not part of a visible racial group.
That didn’t stop people discriminating against them; some restaurants and bars wouldn’t serve them, some hotels wouldn’t put them up.
Their very invisibility made some people fearful, just as they feared communism - another invisible ‘disease’.
1950s, Congress said that homosexuality was a mental illness
lavender scare ran parrallel to the red scare.
the gay rights movement (stonewall)
The gay rights movement was formed after the incident at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York on 28 June 1969.
Police raided the bar, which they did regularly, supposedly for breaking some liquor licensing laws, but actually because it was known as a gay bar.
that night the brutality went too far and people startedd to fight back, 400 people began to fight back, throwing things and yelling at the police
For several nights running, there were protests and clashes with the police in the area around the bar
taking to the streets - gay rightds
following the stonewall incident, the gay liberation front was set up in the weeks following.
They took to the streets in protest, and a combination of public support and the predominantly liberal climate of the late 1960s and 1970s meant that the gay rights movement expanded very rapidly
highly visible gay communities sprang up in cities such as san fancisco, NYC, Chicago and Seattle.
gay individuals
In 1974, Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay candidate elected to public office.
In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to office in San Francisco. He was not only openly gay, he also supported many other kinds of minority rights and took an open stand against Proposition 6: a law proposed in California 1978 to fire gay teachers and teachers who spoke out in favour of gay rights.
Milk was the first gay official who made it clear that his being gay affected his political activities as well as his private life. Milk and the pro-gay mayor of San Francisco were both assassinated on 27 November 1979
success / gains of the gay rights movement
gay pressure in some states led to positive gay initiatives at state and local level on issues both political and personal
Between 1979 and 198 the governor of California appointed four openly gay state judges.
In 1980, a gay teenage boy in Rhode Island sued his high school for the right to bring a male date to the school prom. He won.
limitations to the gay rights movement
Gay support at federal level was slow coming.
in the 1970s, as part of the conservative backlash, people began to campaign against gay rights
Anita Bryan, famous as the spokeswoman the Citrus Commission in Florida, set up Save Our Children (SOC) and collected petitions against the law - saying gay integration meant ‘normal’ children would become corrupted.
