BDC CH. 10 Flashcards
What event happened on Oct. 8, 1946?
400 black kids in Lumberton, NC walked out of dilapidated schools
- instigated by NAACP Youth Council
- strike lasted 9 days w/ support from parents
(IS)
What were state officials response to the Lumberton School Protests?
surprisingly sympathetic
- officials knew conditions of the schools were terrible
What serious steps did Southern states take in the 1940s to help black education?
- governors began appointing commissions to study situation + make recommendations
- used postwar tax revenues to help build new black schools + improve old ones + expand black colleges
- LA per capita sum allocated to black kids inc. to $16 to $116 from 1940-55
(GUL)
How could one say that the years post WWII produced steady advancement for blacks?
- enjoyed improved education opportunities
- made substantial political gains (inc. voter registration in rural areas)
- were finding success in the courts from federal judge decisions
(EMW)
What political advancements had blacks made since the end of WWII?
- electorate had grown from few thousand to over a million
- blacks getting elected for first time since disenfranchisement
- Reverend Kennedy Williams won city alderman board seat in Winston Salem over white candidate
- # of black elected officials still never exceeded single digits(EBRN)
What did whites begin to recognize after WWII?
the importance of the black electorate
- black votes could make the decisive difference in close races
- white politicians began to inc. court black voters
- inc. political influence allowed blacks to gain inc. in public spending (parks/playgrounds/hospitals etc.)
- many Southern cities began appointing black policemen
(BWIM)
What did the rise in black voting seem to indicate about white Southerners?
no longer committed to all out defense of white supremacy
What was the most outward change in Southern society regarding black relations after WWII?
transformation of the South’s economy
- inc. urbanization meant dec. agriculture
- dec. in cotton production + introduction of mechanical cotton picker hastened dec. in black farmers
- sharecropping became insignificant
- black pop. turning into an urban proletariat
(IDSB)
What was life like in the big Southern cities once blacks began to migrate there in the 40s?
still relegated to low pay + segregation but escaped sharecropping trap
- freer/safer than rural areas
- sheer #s + segregated black areas + anonymity of urban life provided sense of security
- black institutions (church/social clubs) were stronger in the city
- many cities had black owned newspaper + NAACP branch
(FSBM)
How did overall thought change about blacks following WWII?
ideology of white supremacy had become somewhat outdated
- scientists had disproven the old racial hierarchy myths
- Nazi death camps made racism + genocide go hand in hand
- rise of anti-colonial movements overseas made racism an international issue
- Soviet ridicule for US racism made federal gov. no longer supportive of blatant discrimination
(SNRS)
Why did many blacks anticipate another Red Summer in 1945?
thought restoration of peace would prompt whites to forcefully reassert domination
- thought they’d crack down on any blacks who challenged status-quo (especially veterans)
- string of racial violence seemed to prove this theory
(TS)
What racial violent incident occurred in Columbia,TN on February 25-26, 1946?
began w/ fight in radio repair shop between black (James Stephenson)/white veteran (Billy Flemming)
- Stephenson + family arrested
- whites gathered in town square for lynching
- sheriff planned to extradite Stephenson to Chicago
- blacks began to arm themselves to defend neighborhood against growing crowd of whites
- blacks opened fire when four police came to neighborhood
(SWSBB)
What happened after blacks opened fire on the policemen in Columbia?
TN governor called it an armed insurrection so he called in National Guard
- National Guard + armed whites began firing on black neighborhood
- after whites regained control 28 blacks indicted for attempted murder
(NA)
What were the NAACP most fearful of in the defense of the blacks involved in the Columbia incident?
thought prosecutions had greater potential for injustice than the riot itself
- Walter White feared judges may invoke legal lynching
- NAACP lawyers feared for their lives
(WN)
How did the Columbia riot trial actually so subtle changes/progress in race relations?
- Sheriff Underwood avoided lynching of Stephenson by arranging his release
- blacks able to keep white mob at bay by defending their streets
- all white jury would end up acquitting all but two of the first 25 blacks tried
(SBA)
What had changed about white attitudes at the time of the Columbia riot?
many white Southerners no longer had stomach for harshly repressing black pop.
- feared/ashamed of mob violence
- many National Guardsmen were disgusted by the unlawful actions of local police in Columbia
(FM)
What prevented 1946 from becoming another Red Summer of 1919?
preventitive actions by governors/sheriffs had dec. lynch #s to single digits
- officials took action mostly to avoid federal legislation
- dec. especially noticeable post 1935 (peak of NAACP antilynching campaign + FDR Civil Rights Section)
- even w/o federal lynching law FBI probes + federal prosecutions had their effect
(ODE)
What were some landmark cases of the Civil Rights Section of the Justice Department?
- 1940 = CRS brought federal gov.’s first police brutality prosecution
- 1942 = instituted first federal investigation of a lynching
- both seriously aided by Thurgood Marshall
(NNB)
What significant event happened on September 19, 1946?
Walter White met w/ Harry Truman
- Dec 5 = Truman appoints President’s Committee on Civil Rights (PCCR)
- asks it to recommend more effective measures for protecting civil rights
- persuaded to create by White talking to Truman about issues
(DAP)
What was the PCCR’s “Secure These Rights” demands?
- federal laws against lynching + police brutality
- abolition of poll taxes
- federal protection of voting rights
- federal fair employment laws
- establishment of permanent Civil Rights Commission
- better action in FBI civil rights cases
(FAFFEB)
How did the Truman administration defer from the Roosevelt administration when it came to civil rights?
- Truman administration withdrew support from segregation
- Truman admin. created comprehensive plan to incorporate blacks into everyday life
- would later become Civil Rights Act of the 60s
(TTW)
How did Truman’s support for civil rights also coincide w/ his political ambitions?
- started political career in Missouri (where blacks freely voted)
- accustomed to cultivating black support
- became president at time when black vote inc. in influence due to influx of Southern migrants
(SAB)
What did Truman do to appeal to blacks during the 1948 elections?
- addressed joint session of Congress on civil rights
- called special session of Congress to consider civil rights legislation (ban poll tax)
- issued Executive Order 9981 (led to abolition of segregation w/in armed forces)
(ACI)
How did the ten years between WWII + start of the Civil Rights Movement resemble the pattern of one step forward two steps back for blacks?
got favorable court decisions/encouraging presidential statements but still treated as second class citizens
- whites still defended segregation in the South
- white legislatures in rural black belt opposed black voting
- whites imposed ceilings on black voter registration even in big cities
- the North still had pervasive job/housing discrimination
What was the main issue as to why blacks were still being treated like second class citizens in the years leading up to the civil rights movement?
lack of strong action by the federal gov. to end segregation/discrimination
- Southern Democrat + Northern Republican coalitions in Congress stymied all racial equality efforts
- campaign to abolish poll taxes failed
- FEPC was abolished
- Truman couldn’t get proposals onto actual legislation
(SCFT)
What do many historians think the effect postwar years had on blacks?
destroyed tentative gains made by blacks between 1941-45
- black veterans came back to same poor status
- Cold War split New Deal coalition + crippled Southern liberalism + ended many civil rights orgs.
- communism had become national obsession by 1950
(BCC)
What early actions did Truman take against Communists in the 1940s?
- instituted federal loyalty program in 1947
- prosecuted/jailed leaders of Communist Party in 1948
- denied Communists same constitutional protections as American citizens
- Communist Party no longer recognized as legitimate political group
- intervention in Korea made communism tantamount to treason
(IPDCI)
What effect did the Cold War have on civil rights efforts?
- sidelined the issue of racial discrimination
- inflicted direct damage on civil rights by silencing most vocal supporters of racial equality
- Communists had been active in nearly every liberal/labor civil rights org.
(SIC)
What did the Cold War force many organizations to do?
rid themselves of Communist members or face FBI investigation
What happened to the Southern Conference for Human Welfare (SCHW) during the Communist purge?
would be labeled as a Communist front org. by House Un-American Activist Committee (HUAC)
- never recovered from report
- had served as a beacon of hope for Southern blacks who wanted to combat poverty/racism/one party rule
- demise was a grievous loss
(NHD)
How did the communism issue weaken the labor movement during the Cold War?
Taft-Harley Act = required unions to send affidavits stating there no Communists held office
- if they refused they couldn’t participate in representation elections by the NLRB
- CIO leaders used Act to isolate/destroy Communist led unions who refused to file affidavits
- would end up expelling 11 unions from CIO ranks (most would wither away)
- had many black members + been an important support system for the NAACP + other civil rights orgs.
(ICWH)
Why were blacks suspicious of anti-communism during the Cold War?
blacks did not see Communists as enemies
- respected Communists record in helping in the racial equality fight
- distrusted motives of anti-Communists who were more racist
- feared it could lead to their own rights being more violated
(RDF)
What was Walter White’s position on the communists?
very anti-communist
- succeeded in persuading NAACP’s 1950 convention to adopt an anti-Communist resolution
- empowered nation officials to expel individuals + dissolve branches w/ Communist involvement
(SE)
How did the NAACP’s purging of communists exact a great toll on the organization?
impossibility of identifying Communists turned the purge into a witch hunt
- NAACP smaller/weaker/more conservative by 1950
- labor movement also growing weaker
- internal fights in the UAW + other unions paralyzed progress
- expulsion of Communist officials weakened internal democracy
(NLIE)
What did the anti-Communist purges weaken in the black community?
efforts of blacks to link struggle for equal rights w/ anti-colonial movements abroad
- Cold War discouraged any opposition to the basic tenets of US foreign policy
What did the government do to WEB DuBois during the Cold War?
arrested in 1951 as Justice Department accused him of being an agent of foreign power
- federal court ended up dismissing the charges
- gov. confiscated his passport not permitting him to travel abroad until 1958
- would end up moving to Ghana + join Communist Party
- never returned to the US
(FGWN)
Who was Paul Robeson + what did the US government do to him during the Cold War?
famous black singer/actor in the 40s
- not popular w/ Truman administration b/c he praised USSR + criticized US when overseas performing
- State Department confiscated his passport + not even allowed to go to Canada
- singing career ended after being labeled Communist sympathizer
- gov. said they would back off hate if he gave up fight for equality/stand against colonialism
- Robeson refused + basically exiled from society
(NSSGR)
How did white defenders of segregation exploit anti-communism to their advantage?
conservatives/racists attacked anyone supporting racial equality as communist
- Cold War made attacks much more damaging
- was even encouraged by the federal gov.
- very unlikely people became targeted as potential communists (mostly entertainers)
(CWV)
How did the government measure what should be considered a Communist threat?
FBI were to judge (under J Edgar Hoover every radical/liberal cause labeled communist)
- even the NAACP was tainted (despite virulent anti-Communist stance)
- FBI harbored suspicions about every black org/leader whatever their political stances
- FBI less interested in deterring subversion than discrediting blacks deemed too independent/influential
(FEFF)
What actions did the FBI take against ordinary black workers during the Cold War?
- dozens of black postal workers suspended/fired in late 1940s for unknown reasons
- ironically these workers had gone through loyalty boards during the height of Jim Crow before hiring
- those most prone to FBI involvement were workers most involved w/ NAACP/NAPE
- FBI equated civil rights militancy w/ Communism
(ITF)
How did anti-communism ruin black progress?
alliance of civil rights orgs + Southern white radicals + Communist Party on the horizon
- coalition attempting to unionize Southern industry + enfranchise southern blacks + dislodge segregation
- anti-communism would fracture this coalition + abort nascent civil rights movement
- Cold War gave white supremacy new lease on life (delayed civil rights movement at least 10 years)
(CAC)
How is it that communists shot themselves in the foot somewhat even before gov. repression?
party secrecy + tactical inconsistency + ideological rigidity alienated most supporters
- CPUSA still supporting Moscow during height of Stalin regime made party a moral leper
- many liberals turned off from supporting
- anti-communism not just plot to discredit Left but genuine defense of democratic ideals
(CMA)
Why is it up for debate that the black/labor/liberal coalition in the absence of the Cold War would’ve pushed a civil rights program?
anti-communism useful but not necessary weapon of Southern ruling elite
- white employers/officials already had the power to defeat the CIO’s plan to unionize the South
- easily limited the growth of black electorate (ensuring black voters remained powerless)
- Unions in South too small + white liberals too few + black voters too scarce to threaten white supremacy
- conservative front against New Deal was already growing back in 1938
- power of conservative coalition in 1946 Congress made civil rights legislation very unlikely anyway
(WEUCP)
How did the Cold War in some ways assist the cause for racial equality?
many black leaders believed that the Cold War would compel US to repudiate white supremacy/discrimination
- with developing countries taking sides blacks thought racial equality would help bring others to US side
- race problem had become an international issue
(WR)
How did many black leaders see a great opportunity to further their cause w/ the Cold War?
saw as golden opportunity to influence federal gov.
- by supporting US foreign policy they could argue against discrimination
- say action against discrimination would enable US to wage Cold War more effectively
- American racism accounted for half of USSR anti-US propaganda
(BSA)
How was soviet propaganda a godsend to the civil rights cause?
racist actions were making USSR look good + US look bad
- Truman administration worried how Soviet propaganda would affect black loyalty to US
- cultivated anti-Communist black leaders to try to show world it was taking discrimination seriously
- knew discrimination was a handicap to their relationship w/ other countries
(TCK)
How did the executive + judicial branches begin to chip away at legalized segregation during the Cold War?
- Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) = JD filed amicus curiae brief in support of NAACP challenge to restrictive covenants
- 1950 = solicitor general told Supreme Court separate dining for blacks on railway cars was wrong
- also said that “separate but equal” doctrine was unconstitutional
- 1951 = gov. supported legal challenge to segregation in DC (was effecting foreign diplomats)
- 1952 = Eisenhower pledges to get rid of segregation in DC (would fulfill promise)
(SNANN)
Why was the NAACP heading forward w/ Brown v. Board of Education seen as risky?
if they failed the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson could last another 50 years
What 3 cases in 1950 knocked big holes in the Plessy decision?
- Sweatt v. Painter = court ordered UT to admit black applicant to its law school
- said hastily created black law school in Houston couldn’t provide “equal opportunity”
- McLaurin v. Oklahoma State = George McLaurin required admission as student to OSU
- Henderson v. US = court ruled that segregated railway dining cars were unconstitutional
(SSMH)
What was Thurgood Marshall + the NAACP reaction to the 1950 case victories?
took even greater action (challenged segregation head on)
- filed lawsuits for black parents across the South seeking black kid admittance to white schools
- 1952 = five of the cases reach the Supreme Court + consolidate under name Brown v. Board of Education
(FN)
Why did observers feel that even if the Supreme Court reversed Plessy that the NAACP’s strategy might not work?
Supreme Court decisions typically disregarded in the South
- abolition of restrictive covenants had little effect on housing segregation
- rulings against Jim Crow on buses failed to end segregation
(AR)
What were the doubts of black parents/teachers about Brown v. Board of Education?
integration = unchartered territory
- many parents didn’t want to put their children in danger as guinea pigs
- evidence suggested black kids in Northern white schools still lagged behind white students
- NAACP had hard time convincing them integration would be more effective than equal opportunity
- integration posed threat to black teacher jobs (fewer schools to teach if black/white schools fused)
- feared over 75,000 jobs could be at jeopardy
(MENIF)
Why were the NAACP willing to go forward w/ Brown v. Board of Education despite the risks?
- equalization suits had reached point of diminishing returns
- direct attack on segregation would affect the entire South + promised to be more effective
(ED)
How did the NAACP react to the fears of parents/teachers?
made light of them
- if the first integrated black kids drop out b/c its too hard so be it (their are casualties in all social change)
- doubted many black teachers would lose their jobs (even if they did it was a price worth paying)
(ID)
What was the effect of the Brown decision?
destroyed the legal basis for Jim Crow
- NAACP’s greatest victory
- Thurgood Marshall knew decision only set a precedent
- knew implementation would require many more lawsuits
(NTK)
Why were some officials of the NAACP optimistic about Southern schools upholding the Brown decision?
- some public schools in AR had already admitted black students
- predicted that the border states would quickly comply
- integration would quickly follow in other southern states after
- believed white resistance would be limited to Mississippi + black belt counties in other states
- advised branches in many areas that legal action may not be necessary
(SPIBA)
What were the initial white reactions to the Brown decision?
no a lot of hostility
- many Southern newspapers urged calm compliance
What did the Court order the South to do following the Brown decision?
gave them until May 31, 1955 to implement school integration (one year of grace) (Brown II)
- Court declined to impose a deadline
- Court failed to define what a racially nondiscriminatory school system would look like
- charged federal district courts w/ fashioning integration remedy
(CCC)
What were the other complicated factors listed by the Supreme Court that muddled the Brown decision from moving forward?
administering problems
- district judges may allow school boards additional integration time to understand complicated procedures
- ruling disappointed NAACP + delighted segregationists
(DR)
How did Brown II prove disastrous to the cause of integration?
Southern leaders used year of grace to do nothing to prepare whites for school integration
- even liberal politicians not willing to campaign openly for integration
- inaction of liberals played into hands of diehard segregationists who seized initiative
- Southern conservatives mounted crusade to convince whites not to tolerate racial change no matter what
- used fear to promote how they were outnumbered in Black Belt which could one day mean black takeover
(EISU)
What were the Citizens Councils?
meetings by segregationists organized to prevent the implementation of the Brown decision
- movement spread across the South
- inspired by Judge Tom P. Brady’s condemnation of the Brown decision
- boasted over 250,000 members at their peak in 1956
- made up of mostly middle-upper class whites
- did not associate w/ lower class KKK (MIBMD)
What actions did the Citizens Council take to stop civil rights action from taking place?
- flooded South w/ racist propaganda
- subjected civil rights activists to threats/economic pressure
- erected new barriers to black voting
- tried to suppress the NAACP
- condemned white liberals as traitors
- made defense of segregation central issue in Southern politics
(FSETCM)
How did the Citizens Council affect the NAACP?
NAACP strategy of having local branches petition school boards for integration backfired
- Citizens Council retaliated by pressuring board signatories to remove name from petition
- those who kept name on lost their jobs/business
(CT)
What were the volley of anti-integration laws implemented by Southern legislatures that hurt the NAACP’s cause?
- one set of laws sought to get around integration by banning public education all together
- forbade the expenditure of public $$$ on integrated schools
- authorized school closing as a local option
- allowed governors to close integrated schools
- encouraged whites to attend private schools + provided tuition grants to whites students
(OFAAE)
What did Prince Edward, VA do to stop integration of schools?
closed public schools down for eight years
How was the threat of school closure not as bad as suspected?
abolishing public schools deeply unpopular among whites
- could not be sustained for any length of time at the local let alone regional level
- threat proved ineffective
- Supreme Court ruled state had to close all schools or have none at all in 1959
- led to governors reneging on school closing
(CTSL)
What were pupil placement acts?
- allowed kids to transfer to school other than one school board assigned them
- whites could transfer to black schools + vice versa
- transfer applications ensured kids had to satisfy so many criteria that hardly any kids ever transferred
- pioneered by AL
(AWTP)
What was the result of pupil placement acts?
schools remained segregated
- no whites applied for reassignment + blacks routinely rejected
- 1958 = Supreme Court upholds AL’s pupil placement laws (did not discriminate on its face)
- Brown did not require integration only abolition of “forced” integration
- blacks best chance for integration now was eventual “tokenism” of a couple black kids in white schools
(NNBB)
What was the most shocking attack on the Brown decision?
the attack on the NAACP itself
- 1956 = Southern states launched coordinated legal offensive to cripple NAACP
- prohibited state employees from advocating for integration
- forced black teachers to resign from NAACP rather than face firing
(NPF)
Besides the teacher attack what was another part of the 1956 attack on the NAACP?
used long unenforced laws like the NAACP neglecting to file membership lists w/ state authorities
- if they provided the list most members dropped out of org. not wanting to face white retribution
- not handing list over resulted in org. banned from state
(IN)
How were the local NAACP lawyers affected by the 1956 campaign against them?
charged w/ violating professional ethics by soliciting clients + inciting litigation
- few lawyers disbarred
- most of their practices died from the costs of having to defend themselves in court
(FM)
What was the state of the NAACP by 1958?
stymied throughout the South
- even Little Rock 9 victory muddied by governor action to prevent integration
- forced Eisenhower to send federal troops to Little Rock to force integration (did not settle the issue)
- Little Rock closed public schools in 1958-59
- Governor Faubus coasted to reelection in 1958
(EFLG)
Why do some historians feel that the Brown decision was more style than substance?
w/o federal support the decision meant little
- placed entire burden of securing implementation on shoulders of vulnerable black plaintiffs
Why did some members of the Supreme Court feel the need to provide a one year grace period instead of going forward w/ immediate implementation?
felt violence would’ve occurred in the Deep South anyway
How did the federal government prove to be the most unreliable ally of the Brown decision?
- Eisenhower privately disapproved of Brown decision
- Congress did absolutely nothing to defend it
- litigation bound to fail w/o mass movement behind it
(ECL)
How did for all its faults the Brown decision still prove to be a turning point in the struggle for black equality?
- destroyed legal basis for racial segregation
- inspired blacks that Supreme Court was on their side
- compelled Eisenhower to use federal power to overrule state power
- showed civil rights movement needed better tactics besides just NAACP campaign
(DICS)
