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HIST 301: African American History > BDC CH. 9 > Flashcards

BDC CH. 9 Flashcards

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1
Q

What were common protest practices by blacks in the South?

A

most were non-violent/indirect

  • refused to ride segregated buses
  • chose to walk to their destinations instead
    (RC)
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2
Q

Who was WW Kerr?

A

light-skinned postman

  • head of the National Alliance of Postal Employees (NAPE)
  • berated by whites for sitting in white section of bus
  • refused to ever move
  • thought segregation didn’t belong in the law
    (HBRT)
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3
Q

What brought the struggle for civil rights out into the open?

A

self sufficiency of black middle class

  • reinforced by black working class orgs.
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4
Q

What was the reputation of the NAACP in the 1930s in the black community?

A
  • elitist institution dominated by wealthy businessmen/professionals
  • run as a closed corporation
  • had failed to gain support from the masses
    (ERH)
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5
Q

How was the criticism of the NAACP in the 30s somewhat unwarranted?

A

many didn’t understand how hard black middle/upper class worked to keep NAACP alive

  • Southern branch leaders needed to be economically independent of whites to operate openly
  • why branch officers were in high paying fields
  • found it hard to appeal to lower class + made little effort to do so
    (SWF)
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6
Q

How did the radical tide of the late 1930s affect the NAACP?

A

resurgence of labor unions + rise of CIO + agitation of Communist Party + public opinion moving left

  • Young Turks began joining the NAACP to wrest control from “Old Guard”
  • pressed for more open decision making + expansion of membership + closer labor relations + black lawyers
    (YP)
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7
Q

How did black postal workers in the South affect the NAACP?

A

comprised the aristocracy of black labor

  • enjoyed level of prestige/job security in black community
  • unique among black workers (federal laws protected them from many discriminatory practices)
  • Post Office jobs highly prized (attracted some of the most educated blacks)
  • were leaders of many of largest Southern NAACP branches by 1940 (Norfolk + Mobile + New Orleans)
    (EUPW)
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8
Q

What events happened in 1911 that affected black postal workers?

A

white postal union (Railway Mail Association) adopted “white-only clause”

  • President Wilson tried to impose segregation on civil service jobs shortly after
  • NAPE opposed these discriminatory acts
  • NAPE went from only representing elite mail carriers to expanding membership to mailmen of all grades (1923)
  • NAPE supported NAACP from the start
    (PNNN)
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9
Q

What was the response by NAACP local branch leaders to organizing labor?

A

often hostile to it

  • rise of organized labor entailed direct conflict between black workers + black employers
  • 1935 = strike by workers of Harlem’s Amsterdam Star News (1st open work dispute between blacks)
  • many local branch leaders were openly anti-union (Dallas + Detroit + New Orleans)
    (RNM)
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10
Q

What events led to a large divide in the New Orleans branch of the NAACP?

A
  • 1940 = insurance agents in New Orleans joined CIO union

- struck the four largest black owned insurance companies
NS

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11
Q

How were the national leaders of the NAACP aiding in giving more voice to working class?

A

national leaders determined to inc. membership

  • ensured joining NAACP was simple/cheap
  • chartered Youth Councils that functioned alongside local branches
  • applauded labor militancy of the 1930s
  • knew unions both secured material benefits for blacks + provided another angle for discrimination attack
    (ECAK)
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12
Q

How did the NAACP inadvertently benefit from the Communist Party’s 1935 decision to cooperate w/ reformist organizations?

A
  • communist influenced unions helped boost NAACP membership
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13
Q

How had the NAACP changed by 1940?

A

was no longer a strictly middle class org.

  • middle class still remained influential but leadership now included working class
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14
Q

What major event in 1941 symbolized the new alliance between the NAACP + organized labor?

A
  • Walter White traveled to Detroit to support UAW strike against Ford
  • intervention helped UAW secure victory
    (WI)
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15
Q

What had happened to black labor by the time of Pearl Harbor?

A

were organizing more than ever before

  • thousands had gone on strike
  • black teachers worked w/ NAACP to gain equal salaries
  • black newspapers inc. in circulation
  • A Phillip Randolph March on Washington secured Executive Order 8802
    (TBBA)
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16
Q

How did blacks perceive the start of the US intervention in WWII?

A

saw it as a great opportunity to press claim for equal citizenship

  • still bitter about false promises from WWI
  • saw it as a war against racial discrimination + fascism
  • felt the worst thing they could make it set aside their grievances for the duration of the war
    (SSF)
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17
Q

What was the actual affect of WWII on the black community?

A

led to sharp inc. in racial tension + did little to address causes of the tensions

  • majority of Southern whites resisted notion racial segregation is incompatible w/ US war aims
  • whites defended Jim Crow w/ determination
  • whites in the South could still overwhelm blacks
  • whites in South controlled entire political system
    (MWWW)
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18
Q

How did whites respond to the establishment of the Fair Employment Practices Committee in 1941?

A

committee hated by Southern whites as much as overseas enemies

  • Executive Order 8802 ran into storm of white backlash
  • Alabama Governor Dixon described FEPC as kangaroo court designed to destroy segregation
  • Shreveport mayor refused federal aid for a health center b/c of the black employment requirements w/ it
    (EAS)
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19
Q

How did Southern employers respond to the requirements of the FEPC?

A

most just ignored them

  • insisted blacks fit only for certain low income jobs
  • whites would never stand presence of blacks in the same grade
  • predicted strikes/violence to come if blacks worked alongside whites
  • saw job equality as impractical + utopian
    (IWPS)
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20
Q

How was the FEPC hamstrung from the start?

A

has little support from the Roosevelt administration

  • committee could investigate/report but had no power to enforce recommendations
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21
Q

What was the 1941 Birmingham incident that exposed the weakness of the FEPC?

A

FEPC chairman Mark Ethridge vs black member Earl Dickerson

  • Ethridge told Dickerson to go away during the hearing after all the white newspaper criticism
  • Ethridge appealed to segregation saying the FEPC had no intention of getting rid of it
  • said blacks must recognize no power could force Southern whites to abandon segregation
    (EES)
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22
Q

What happened to the FEPC following the Birmingham Hearing?

A
  • Ethridge resigned
  • Roosevelt downgraded FEPC by placing it under War Manpower Commission
  • head of WMC indefinitely postponed the FEPC’s proposed investigation of railroad industry
    (ERH)
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23
Q

What did the FEPC following the actions of the Roosevelt administration?

A

kept pressing on

  • reorganized + held more hearings
  • industrial employers reluctantly began hiring more blacks as production workers
  • pressure from FEPC led Ford to finally employ black women + upgraded black men to assembly lines
    (RIP)
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24
Q

What were FEPC actions in the South causing?

A

ignited white violence

  • May 23, 1943 = Alabama Dry Dock Company appoints first black welders
  • neglected to inform white employees resulting in mass violence (required army to quell violence)
    (MN)
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25
Q

How did Southern industrial employers respond to the inc. in FEPC action for black employment?

A

fought against it heavily

  • state officials in US Employment Service did utmost to deny black industrial training
  • whites wanted blacks to remain in the fields + kitchen
    (SW)
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26
Q

What was the industrial training situation in New Iberia, Louisiana?

A
  • local NAACP chapter complained of no welding classes for blacks
  • white deputies on school superintendent + sheriff orders arrested/expelled NAACP leaders
  • FBI investigation led “nowhere”
    (LWF)
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27
Q

What were the laws that were reinforced on blacks during WWII?

A

work or fight laws

  • blacks fined for loitering + vagrancy
  • police would scour bars + dispatch occupants to cane/cotton fields
  • best “sharecroppers” often exempted from draft boards in Southern States
    (BPB)
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28
Q

What was the black response to the repressive actions to keep them from industrial work?

A

kept pushing

  • black women deserted domestic service in droves
  • black men left cotton fields
    (BB)
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29
Q

What did the 1946 Democrats succeed in doing?

A
  • succeeded in strangling FEPC
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30
Q

What did wartime upheaval allow blacks to do?

A

challenge “normality” of segregation

  • gov. attacked master race ideology of fascism + defined American democracy as inclusive/tolerant
  • gov. propaganda celebrated melting pot
    (GG)
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31
Q

What did black organizations do w/in the armed forces?

A

pressed hard for equality

  • viewed military as key institution in American life
  • military = direct expression of the people
  • ending racial discrimination in the armed forces would have powerful effect on civil society
  • if blacks made an equal contribution to the war effort their claim to full citizenship would strengthen
    (VMEI)
32
Q

What was the feeling of the military on equal treatment prior to the war?

A

gave no hint of treating them better

  • 1939 = 3600 black soldiers/5 officers total + segregated regimes + were less than 2% of soldiers
  • Navy employed blacks only in non-combat/industrial roles
  • Marines/Army excluded blacks altogether
  • military leaders had no change in this position at the start of the war
    (NNMM)
33
Q

How did the Roosevelt administration react to black agitation of discrimination in the armed services?

A

enunciated policy of non-discrimination

  • 1940= required army to implement “balanced force” principle
  • ensured that # of black soldiers reflected proportion of blacks in overall pop. (10%)
  • army started training black officers + pilots
  • also pressed the Navy to assign blacks to sailor posts
    (NEAA)
34
Q

What action did Roosevelt take to gain even more black support in the armed services?

A
  • promoted Benjamin O Davis to the rank of brigadier general
  • became highest ranking black officer in the nation
  • also appointed William Hastie to an adviser on Negro Affairs in the War Department
    (PBA)
35
Q

What actions did Congress take to fight military discrimination?

A
  • stipulated voluntary enlistment + conscription + training be carried out w/o discrimination
36
Q

How did blacks respond to the measures made by Roosevelt + Congress to reduce armed service discrimination?

A

intensified their awareness + resentment of racial discrimination in the military

  • both military/gov. continued to defend racial segregation
  • war placed certain institutions under such strain that segregation became unworkable/intolerable
    (BW)
37
Q

What feeling did discrimination in the armed services invoke in blacks?

A

aroused more black anger than any other issue

  • military dominated by Southern white leadership
  • did its best to treat black servicemen as inferior + minimize Roosevelt policies
  • half of black soldiers were assigned to combat duty as were white soldiers (said most blacks lacked intellect)
    (MDH)
38
Q

How did the Army mainly support their discriminatory practices towards blacks?

A

emphasized poor scores of blacks on aptitude test

  • rarely referred to systematic discrimination that made black schools in the South so poor
39
Q

What vicious cycle did the policy of segregation produce?

A

produced poor morale which led to poor discipline + poor performance

  • off-base discrimination compounded the problem
  • most military bases located in South w/ blacks required to obey Jim Crow
  • Northern black soldiers enraged (not used to Jim Crow)
  • Jim Crow even brought to bases abroad
    (OMNJ)
40
Q

What did segregation + discrimination ignite in the military?

A

a rash of violence

  • black soldiers challenged white store owners/officers
  • Camp Stewart Georgia = black soldiers fired on military policemen injuring four
  • Camp Clairborne Louisiana = violent rampage led to 14 black court marshalls + 1 death sentence
    (BCC)
41
Q

What added fuel to the fire of violence in the military due to discrimination?

A

resentment to draconian punishments

  • Louisiana = court martial imposed death sentences on 3 black soldiers for alleged rape
  • NAACP mounted successful campaign to save black soldiers lives (pardoned in 1947)
    (LN)
42
Q

What highlighted the segregation issue in public transportation?

A

arguments between black soldiers vs white bus drivers

  • transit systems had unprecedented demand following Depression
  • soldiers + workers were flooding cities + rationing drastically dec. # of private cars
  • tempers flared between white/black passengers
  • blacks more defiant than ever against giving up seat for whites
    (TSTB)
43
Q

What was the effect on the NAACP w/ the inc. resistance to segregated public transport?

A

black servicemen joined NAACP in droves

  • were receiving countless angry letters from blacks complaining against bus companies
44
Q

What did segregation on public transport represent?

A

was a litmus test for racial progress

  • the most blatant/humiliating part of Jim Crow
  • was an enormous stumbling block since white opinions seemed unwavering
    (TW)
45
Q

What illustrated the problem that blacks faced in getting rid of Jim Crow?

A

failure of Southern white liberals to contemplate even the gradual elimination of Jim Crow

  • even most enlightened supporters of interracial movement saw segregation as “too hot to handle”
  • white supporters argued segregation couldn’t be fixed until race relations improved
  • white supporters said any challenge to segregation would worsen relations
    (EWW)
46
Q

What support from the federal government did blacks have on the segregation issue?

A

very little

  • Roosevelt administration did not want to use war asa pretext to challenging white supremacy in South
  • President Roosevelt never showed much interest in the race issue
  • domestic reform became low priority once war started
  • Roosevelt annoyed by black press (told Attorney General to prosecute editors guilty of sedition)
    (RPDR)
47
Q

Why was Roosevelt so careful as to not challenge race question too much?

A

large part of voting bloc was Southern whites

  • Southern Democrats secured balance of power in Congress + used position to reassert white supremacy
  • gutted most radical New Deal policies + tried to purge gov. of left wingers/liberals
  • blocked every congressional initiative to extend vote to blacks in the South
  • poll tax abolishment + servicemen absentee voting bills fell to Southern opposition
  • South Democrats had stranglehold on gov.
    (SGBPS)
48
Q

What effect did the South’s stranglehold on the federal government have on Roosevelt?

A

black militancy posed less threat than white backlash

  • never a question as to whether the federal gov. would ever oppose segregation
  • FDR’s race adviser was staunch segregationist
  • warned FDR that any federal action for black enfranchisement would cost him Southern support
    (NFW)
49
Q

What else did Roosevelt know would happen if he were to take civil rights action?

A

would arouse white resentment in the South as well

  • influx of black migrants to Northern cities made whites determined to maintain housing segregation
  • restrictive covenants applied to 9/10 of all housing in Chicago
  • racial tensions had already sparked serious violence in the North (Fort Dix soldier incident)
    (IRR)
50
Q

How had black demographics changed by 1944?

A

third of black pop. now in the North

  • black vote in North still too small to carry much weight
  • black vote in South still nonexistent
  • FDR knew whites were his voting base so he refused to upset them
    (BBF)
51
Q

What was the top priority for blacks if they were going to progress on racial equality?

A

ending disenfranchisement in the South

  • mass of blacks during peak of white supremacy knew trying to vote was futile
  • blacks rarely even attempted to register to vote in the South
    (MB)
52
Q

How did blacks show they never abandoned politics even w/ disenfranchisement in the South?

A
  • few pockets of black voting still survived
  • blacks still voting in border states like Maryland/Kentucky
  • handful of Southern blacks had relationships w/ Republican presidents in 20s (gave them political clout)
    (BH)
53
Q

What actions did blacks take in the 20s to try to obtain the ballot?

A
  • black clubwomen in NC mounted voter registration drive after passing of 19th Amendment
  • civic leaders sprang up in major cities encouraging blacks to pay poll taxes than attempt to register
  • blacks still being able to vote was still out of reach though
    (BCB)
54
Q

What happened in the 1930s in terms of black voting?

A

black interest in voting inc.

  • New Deal poured federal $$$ into the South
  • made gov. much more active in lives of everyday people
  • Roosevelt looking out for the common man deepened everyones interest in politics
    (NMR)
55
Q

How did the meaning of voting change during the 30s for blacks?

A

no longer just a matter of political patronage

  • was about work for the jobless + helping farmers
  • about clinics for the poor + scholarships for students
  • was about decent living standards
    (WAW)
56
Q

What caused voter registration campaigns among blacks to increase during the 1930s?

A

bolstered by labor unions + NAACP

  • results still meager though (Tuskegee had only 10 blacks register per year)
  • some applicants faced threats of violence for registering
  • some campaigns achieved substantial registration such as the one in Greenville SC
    (RS)
57
Q

What did the voting campaign parallel during WWII?

A

the explosive growth of the NAACP

  • sporadic efforts to gain the franchise were now widespread
  • NAACP branches held rallies + distributed leaflets + marched to registration offices
  • adopted the slogan “A Voteless People is a Hopeless People”
    (SNA)
58
Q

What legal actions did blacks begin to take in the 1940s?

A

began to file lawsuits

  • challenged disenfranchisement in courts
  • blacks sued registrars in LA + AL who refused to enroll them
  • lawsuits failed to inc. significantly the # of black voters however
    (CBL)
59
Q

Why did lawsuits fail to significantly inc. the # of black voters in the South?

A

Southern registration laws very complex

  • blacks would strike down one discriminatory practice but it would soon be replaced w/ another
  • legal issues were murky (Supreme Court didn’t want to take a clear stand against disenfranchisement
  • litigation very important weapon in NAACP arsenal but was very hit/miss
    (BLL)
60
Q

What were two court cases that showed the limitations of the lawsuit in helping blacks get enfranchised?

A
  • Trudeau v. Barnes = blacks told couldn’t sue in federal court until they appealed to state authorities
  • Grovey v. Townsend = Supreme Court ruled white primary in TX no longer violated 14th Amendment
    (TG)
61
Q

What did the NAACP do in 1930 to aid its litigation strategy?

A

hired Nathan Margold (top legal brain)

  • hired to devise cohesive strategy to advance civil rights struggle on broad front
62
Q

What strategy did Nathan Margold come up w/ for the NAACP?

A

advised NAACP not to waste resources on trying to gain equality w/in segregation

  • instead said they should boldly challenge constitutionality of segregation
  • strike direct against PLessy v. Ferguson
    (IS)
63
Q

Why did Margold’s strategy seem too risky in the 1930s?

A

NAACP special counsel Charles Houston avoided attacking constitutionality of segregation

  • to mount that challenge + lose in federal court would be a calamity
64
Q

What was Margold’s argument for pursuing the strategy even if it seemed risky?

A

long term effects of pressing equality w/in segregation would undermine segregation itself

  • if court ruled separate also means equal it would be costly to Southern states to fund two educations
  • segregation would eventually collapse under the cost
    (IS)
65
Q

Who was Charles Houston?

A

special counsel for the NAACP

  • Harvard Law grad
  • former Howard professor
  • viewed the law to be powerful tool for social change
  • believed litigation + community mobilization should go hand in hand
  • supported Communist Party efforts in the Scottsboro Case
    (HFVBS)
66
Q

How did Charles Houston plan to attack segregation?

A

focus on public education

  • racial discrimination easy to see/document
  • comparison between black/white schools easy to make
  • NAACP could easily acquire statistics on spending differences between black/white schools
  • thought to be issue most likely to ignite popular support especially from black teachers
    (RCNT)
67
Q

Where did Charles Houston focus his public education campaign?

A

Upper South/Border States

  • thought it would be easier to find plaintiffs + secure favorable decisions there
  • could then use victories to file suits in deeper South
    (TC)
68
Q

How did Houston’s persistence in his efforts despite criticism ultimately pay off?

A

would win series of cases that undermined legal basis of discrimination in the South

69
Q

What was the 1938 Lloyd Gaines case?

A
  • Supreme Court decides Missouri Law School must provide equal education opportunity for blacks
  • said giving blacks out of state tuition scholarships to attend another school was discrimination
  • school would either provide another black law school/allow Lloyd Gaines into the school
    (NSS)
70
Q

What was the effect of the Gaines ruling?

A

Southern states put on notice that they must improve black education opportunities

  • Missouri quickly established law school at Lincoln University for blacks
  • 1940s saw most southern states add graduate programs to their black universities
    (MN)
71
Q

What was the 1939 Anne Arundel case?

A

a black teacher sued the Anne Arundel County school board in Maryland

  • federal judge ruled lower salaries of black teachers were discriminatory in action
  • caused string of lawsuits over the next six years across the South
    (FC)
72
Q

How did school boards try to combat the wave of lawsuits following the Anne Arundel decision?

A
  • retaliated by firing plaintiffs (created fear/division among teachers)
  • more subtle method was to disguise salary discrimination by designing “merit” pay scales
  • cumulative lawsuits ultimately defeated school boards
  • NAACP had virtually closed the salary gap by then end of WWII
    (RMCN)
73
Q

Who was Thurgood Marshall?

A

prominent NAACP attorney

  • graduate of Lincoln University + Howard Law
  • joined NAACP in 1936 as Charles Houston assistant
    (GJ)
74
Q

What was the prominent 1944 NAACP Louisiana victory led by Thurgood Marshall?

A

four years earlier Supreme Court said LA white primary was perfectly legal/necessary

  • decision opened Democratic Party to charges as a disfranchisement device
  • blacks in TX mobilized against white primary
  • Lonnie Smith (Charles Houston dentist) sued for not being allowed to vote in Democratic primary
  • Smith v. Allwright = Supreme Court ruled white primary as racially discriminatory
    (DBLS)
75
Q

What was the effect of the decision in Smith v. Allwright?

A

hailed as the Second Emancipation

  • black civic leagues inc. voter registration efforts
  • statewide orgs. gave additional push
  • blacks visited registration offices in greater #s than any time since disenfranchisement
    (BSB)
76
Q

How was destroying the white primary only the first step in inc. voter participation among blacks?

A
  • fear of white violence still restrained many blacks from going to register
  • those who did register had very unfair procedures to go through
  • white politicians still controlled registration itself (many wanted to keep blacks disenfranchised)
  • struggle for blacks to vote continued for twenty more years
    (FTWS)

HIST 301: African American History (14 decks)

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