BDC CH. 9 Flashcards
What were common protest practices by blacks in the South?
most were non-violent/indirect
- refused to ride segregated buses
- chose to walk to their destinations instead
(RC)
Who was WW Kerr?
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)
What brought the struggle for civil rights out into the open?
self sufficiency of black middle class
- reinforced by black working class orgs.
What was the reputation of the NAACP in the 1930s in the black community?
- elitist institution dominated by wealthy businessmen/professionals
- run as a closed corporation
- had failed to gain support from the masses
(ERH)
How was the criticism of the NAACP in the 30s somewhat unwarranted?
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)
How did the radical tide of the late 1930s affect the NAACP?
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)
How did black postal workers in the South affect the NAACP?
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)
What events happened in 1911 that affected black postal workers?
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)
What was the response by NAACP local branch leaders to organizing labor?
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)
What events led to a large divide in the New Orleans branch of the NAACP?
- 1940 = insurance agents in New Orleans joined CIO union
- struck the four largest black owned insurance companies
NS
How were the national leaders of the NAACP aiding in giving more voice to working class?
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)
How did the NAACP inadvertently benefit from the Communist Party’s 1935 decision to cooperate w/ reformist organizations?
- communist influenced unions helped boost NAACP membership
How had the NAACP changed by 1940?
was no longer a strictly middle class org.
- middle class still remained influential but leadership now included working class
What major event in 1941 symbolized the new alliance between the NAACP + organized labor?
- Walter White traveled to Detroit to support UAW strike against Ford
- intervention helped UAW secure victory
(WI)
What had happened to black labor by the time of Pearl Harbor?
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)
How did blacks perceive the start of the US intervention in WWII?
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)
What was the actual affect of WWII on the black community?
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)
How did whites respond to the establishment of the Fair Employment Practices Committee in 1941?
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)
How did Southern employers respond to the requirements of the FEPC?
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)
How was the FEPC hamstrung from the start?
has little support from the Roosevelt administration
- committee could investigate/report but had no power to enforce recommendations
What was the 1941 Birmingham incident that exposed the weakness of the FEPC?
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)
What happened to the FEPC following the Birmingham Hearing?
- 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)
What did the FEPC following the actions of the Roosevelt administration?
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)
What were FEPC actions in the South causing?
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)
How did Southern industrial employers respond to the inc. in FEPC action for black employment?
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)
What was the industrial training situation in New Iberia, Louisiana?
- 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)
What were the laws that were reinforced on blacks during WWII?
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)
What was the black response to the repressive actions to keep them from industrial work?
kept pushing
- black women deserted domestic service in droves
- black men left cotton fields
(BB)
What did the 1946 Democrats succeed in doing?
- succeeded in strangling FEPC
What did wartime upheaval allow blacks to do?
challenge “normality” of segregation
- gov. attacked master race ideology of fascism + defined American democracy as inclusive/tolerant
- gov. propaganda celebrated melting pot
(GG)