BDC CH. 4 Flashcards
What major event happened Aug. 14, 1908?
- Springfield, IL riots
- caused by alleged rape of white woman by black man
- saw violence brought on entire black Springfield pop.
(SCS)
What was the response by the local papers in Illinois about the Springfield Riot?
- blamed events on blacks
Who was William English Walling?
- young white man (descendant of KY slave owners)
- was a socialist (detested racial oppression
YW)
What was Walling’s response to the Springfield Riot?
- wrote magazine article titled “The Race War in the North”
- predicted end of US democracy if oppressive southern ideology spread to the North
- called for a revival of the “abolitionists”
(WPC)
What was the effect of Walling’s article?
- inspired white “equalists” to fight for change
- article underlined that race was a national not just regional issue
- article showed that progressive reform had done little to help blacks
- would help form organization w/ Walling to aid blacks (MWO + OGV) (invites sent out 1909 Lincoln’s birthday)
(IAAW)
Who was Mary White Ovington?
- white settlement house worker in NYC
- first professional social worker to devote career to black aid
- helped organize precursor to National Urban League
- spent a lot of time traveling to black schools in the South
- good friend of W.E.B DuBois
(WFHSG)
Who was Oswald Garrison Villard?
- rich northern Republican (abolitionist grandson)
- heavy critique of Washington + accommodationism
- endorsed a national defense committee to protect Negro rights
- very important to cause being that he owned New York Evening Post + Nations Magazine
- person who wrote invites to Lincoln meeting that started NAACP
(RHEVP)
What event happened May 31, 1909?
- National Conference on the Negro
- denounced growing black oppression
- marked birth of NAACP
(NDM)
What was the makeup of white NAACP members?
- mirrored typical Progressive era reformists (teachers, writers, businessmen, etc.)
- affluent + college educated + republican/socialist + Protestant + non-immigrants
- lived in big cities rather than country
- some were descendants of abolitionists (MWO + OGV) while others were old civil war veterans
(MALS)
What was the makeup of the black NAACP members?
- well educated + politically active + relatively affluent
How did the founders of the NAACP differ from other progressives?
- most white progressives had little interest in blacks
- if they did care mostly agreed w/ southern sentiments
- in South most progressives were white supremacists (disregarded enfranchisement/desegregation)
- Teddy Roosevelt seen as “progressive” (supporter of southern ideals)
(MIIT)
What was the foundation of the NAACP’s ideology?
complete rejection of racism
- scientific racism still a thing in 1900s
- National Conference on the Negro invited scientists to dispute claims
- Burt Wilder (Cornell professor) said their was no evidence of black brain inferiority
(SNB)
What did the National Conference on the Negro have to do w/ Booker T. Washington + what were the remarks made by DuBois?
meeting was repudiation of his ideals
- refuted economic success meant social inferiority
- denied industrial education + acquiring property as a suitable way to advance the race
- disenfranchisement believed to further issue not help it
(RDD)
What was Villard’s blueprint for the NAACP?
national committee to forward black interests + combat racial prejudice
- would disseminate racial truth to masses through education bureau
- investigate lynchings
- publicize injustices
(WIP)
What was seen as the NAACP’s main task?
- take cases to Supreme Court to fight against blatant constitutional violations
What was an early problem the NAACP had to get over?
blacks/whites working together (wasn’t very common)
- very few precedents for interracial orgs.
What was a lingering early fear among black NAACP members?
- that it would become dominated by whites
- whites had initiated NAACP idea (blacks just distinct minority at meeting)
- made many black members distrustful of white members at first
(TWM)
What was the main agenda created by the NAACP during the Conference on the Negro?
demanded impartial enforcement of Constitution
- blacks should be guaranteed all rights ensured to them by 14th/15th amendments
- equal treatment of law/equal access to vote
- demanded equal educational opportunities for all
- public school expenditure should equal white schools
(BEDP)
Why were William Trotter + Ida B. Wells excluded from Committee of Forty to lead NAACP?
- Villard didn’t wish to antagonize Booker T. Washington
- thought Trotter/Wells’ militant behavior towards him may put NAACP in jeopardy
- excluded Washington’s most uncompromising critics
(TE)
Wells/Trotter thought not to be accepting of restraints of organization
- Trotter especially difficult (was main catalyst for Niagara Movement failure)
(VW)
How were the early days of the NAACP?
unbalanced/uneasy black/white alliance
- local branch ordinary members mostly black
- blacks well represented on board of directors
- whites monopolized three key leadership positions (president + chairman + treasurer)
- org. depended on white lawyers
- board meetings often poorly attended (augmented authority of white executives)
(LBWOB)
What was the internal early makeup of the NAACP?
whites dominated first two decades
- Villard = chairman of the board/treasurer (virtually single-handedly carrying org.)
- Ovington = full time volunteer (permanent fixture at NY HQ)
- May Childs Nerney = white salaried secretary (driving force behind early NAACP development)
(VOM)
Who was Joel Elias Spingarn?
white NAACP member
- joined org. after dismissal from Columbia for defending academic freedom
- developed close friendship w/ DuBois
- convinced brother Arthur (a lawyer) to join
- gave national speaking tours for NAACP between 1912-15
- speaking tours crucial to getting word out beyond northeast
(JDCGS)
How did DuBois impact the NAACP + first become involved in the NAACP?
gave them visibility + credibility as an interracial org.
- joined in 1910 as research/literature director
- founded orgs. monthly magazine “The Crisis”
(JF)
How were Washington/DuBois different?
- DuBois raised in North (ancestors had been free for a while)
- was an urban intellectual (not agriculture)
- began life at the top so had no tolerance for discrimination like Washington
- regarded acquiescence to second class citizenship as blasphemous (DWBR)
How was DuBois early life?
- born in MA (faced relatively little discrimination)
- went to school/church w/ many whites
- got degrees from Fisk + Harvard
- knew little about the South prior to attending Fisk (very disconnected from black majority)
(BWGK)
What was different between Washington/DuBois ideology/philosophy?
- DuBois never matter of factly accepted racial identity as a given
- Washington avoided the problematic
- Washington outspoken against Reconstruction (DuBois defended it)
(DWW)