BDC CH.5 Flashcards
What did WWI bring for African Americans?
new opportunities
- inspired by President Wilson patriotism
- embraced “War for Democracy”
- hoped white America would praise their loyalty/service
- Civil War = ended slavery (WWI hoped to end white supremacy for them)
(IEHC)
What was DuBois’ position on African American participation in WWI?
- not sit idly by
- defend democracy
- work for new democracy that “knows no color”
(NDW)
What was the first major effect of WWI on the population?
The Great Migration
- many moved from South to the North
What was the life like in the South prior to the Great Migration for blacks?
- economic limits trapped them in the South
- bulk remained in agriculture post emancipation
- often moved farm to farm for better land
- some lucky to find good long term land (Mississippi Delta)
- gains from moving were little (few cotton profits trickled down to sharecroppers/tenant farmers)
(EBOSG)
What were some of the non-agricultural opportunities open to blacks in the South?
- coal + iron in AL
- tobacco in VA + NC
- railroads
(CTR)
What made the industry opportunities in the South worse than the North for blacks?
- small enterprises compared to Northern opportunities
- largest southern industry (textiles) completely banned black workers
SL
What were the obstacles/risks for blacks to leave the South?
- lack of skills
- lack of money
- lack of connections in the North
- racial job discrimination (biggest deterrent)
(LLLR)
What was racial job discrimination like in the North?
- collusion between bosses/workers to keep blacks out of most industries
- widespread discrimination relegated blacks to low wage unskilled jobs
(CW)
Why did most Northern labor unions exclude blacks?
- past use of blacks as strikebreakers
- racial prejudice
PR
What was the largest Northern labor union that allowed black membership?
United Mine Workers of America
- accounted for half of black union members in the AFL
What was the black migration trend between 1890-1910?
- very minuscule
- only about 200K in total moved North
VO
When did blacks start to migrate to the North in larger numbers?
- around 1915
- response to labor needs in North for WWI orders
- fighting cut off supply of Euro immigrant labor (blacks highly demanded in North factories)
(ARF)
What was the response by the North to their labor shortage during WWI?
- previously exclusive industries allowed blacks in
- automobile factories like Packard/Ford opened doors to black labor
- some factories sent recruiters to South for black labor (willing to pay train fare for blacks to come)
- prejudice to backseat to profit/necessity
(PASP)
What were the new opportunities open to black women in the North during WWI?
- filled laundry/kitchen positions
- included in jobs mostly only for migrant women (who now worked in factories
FI)
What was the response by Southern Whites at first to The Great Migration?
didn’t take it seriously
- attributed it to naive blacks falling for fantasy description of North
- predicted they would return after feeling winter cold of New York/Chicago
(AP)
What was the response by some Northern Democrats at first to The Great Migration?
- knew most black migrants were Reps.
- thought it was convoluted Rep. plot import illegal voters
- President Wilson asks Justice Department to investigate possible election fraud scheme
(KTP)
What was the result of the Justice Department election investigation into the migrant black workers?
- questioned families left behind by black migrants in the South
- found no evidence of election fraud being reason for moving (went mostly for economic reasons)
(QF)
What was the political element of The Great Migration?
- discrimination + lynching taken toll on blacks
- eager to leave for better treatment in the North
DE
What was the response by blacks when the US first entered WWI?
- highly supportive
- very patriotic
HV
What was a shared belief among African Americans about WWI?
- should be fight against domestic discrimination along w/ German autocracy
- war heightened their resentment of discrimination
- NAACP support skyrocketed
(SWN)
What did the federal government do unintentionally by encouraging black support for WWI?
encouraged black militancy
What was the shift in behavior by the federal government to blacks during WWI?
- now appointed black advisers in Washington
- enlisted blacks in Liberty Loan fundraising drives
- encouraged Southern Whites to formally consult black leaders
- blacks were respected/recognized (white supremacy seemed vulnerable)
(NEEB)
What were the actions taken by black newspaper editors to President Wilson?
- petitioned him for policy change
- could make blacks great “fighters for victory” if domestic issues addressed
PC
What did black newspaper editors ask for from President Wilson as part of their petitions?
- better public transport conditions
- employment opportunities
- lynching ban
(BEL)
What was going to be the main test of racial progress during WWI?
- treatment of black soldiers
- whites long regarded black soldiers as threat/insult
- seen as affront to white supremacy
- 1906 Brownsville incident only made tensions worse
(TWSN)
Why were white fears of black soldiers upending white supremacy not irrational?
- blacks roughly equal w/ white comrades (even in segregated regimes)
- military service had strengthened black backbones
- not afraid to defend themselves from white discrimination (Brownsville)
(BMN)
Who was Joel Spingarn?
- chairman of NAACP
- took action when military didn’t take steps to train black officers for WWI
- lobbied for black only officer camp (went against anti-segregation stance of NAACP)
- ridiculed by blacks for aiding/abetting Jim Crow
(CTPR)
What was the effect of Spingarn’s lobbying for black officers camp?
it worked
- Camp Des Moines opened in 1917
- trained over 2000 black officers
(CT)
What was DuBois attitude towards racial discrimination as the US entered WWI?
- very optimistic (felt white hate was softening)
- saw tide turning in blacks favor by 1917
- thought this “unconditional patriotism” would be key to advancing black cause over protesting
- urged blacks to inc. support in 1918 + forget special grievances
(VSTU)
What was the reality of DuBois’ patriotism theory?
- he was wrong
- whites still determined to keep blacks in check
- whites accepted black war participation but only on Jim Crow terms
(HWW)
What did WWI bring about in the black community + what was its effect on whites?
- black migration + black militancy + black military service
- provoked violent white backlash
BP
What was the condition of East St. Louis, IL + black migrants?
- seen as the “Pittsburgh of the West”
- thousands of blacks found industrial jobs during WWI
- white workers feared/resented migrants
- viewed as threat to living standards + politics + social status
(STWV)
What provoked the East St. Louis race riot of 1917?
- Aluminum Ore Company used blacks as strikebreakers + to destroy a labor union
- white labor leaders responded by calling for “drastic action”
- July 2, 1917 = gangs of white men roamed downtown to beat up/lynched/killed all blacks they saw
- burnt down black homes + destroyed neighborhoods
- Illinois National Guard did little to stop it
(AWJBI)
What was the 1917 race riot in Houston?
- 100 black soldiers of 24th infantry wreaked vengeance on Houston whites
- provoked by Jim Crow subjection + overall discrimination
- led by Colonel Charles Baltimore
- opened fire on police station
(OPLO)
What was the reaction of the NAACP to the Houston riot?
- sent investigator down to defend black violence
- said it stemmed from white police mistreatment first
- seen by white community as defending the indefensible
(SSS)
What was the response by the Houston courts to the race riot?
- death penalty for 19 soldiers for murder/mutiny
- 50 soldiers got life sentences
- seen as grossly unfair by black community
- speed of court martial + death penalty sentences reeked of Jim Crow
- blacks angry at President Wilson
(DFSSB)
What was the response by President Wilson to the black backlash to the sentencing of the Houston riots?
- he commuted ten of the remaining 16 death sentences
- done after NAACP appealed for clemency
HD
What did the army privately say was the cause of the Houston race riots?
- resolve of black soldiers to assert rights as citizens to defend themselves from white hostility
What was the attitude about racial segregation in the armed forced among Southern Whites + the federal government?
- non negotiable
- if blacks resisted segregation white supremacy suggested their elimination from armed forces
NI
Why were most black soldier units stationed on the peripheries of US territory + France?
- desire to keep black soldiers out of the South
What was the state of black soldiers on the Western Front?
- green
- poorly equipped
- badly led
- severely mauled by Germany’s superior forces
(GPBS)
What was the US response to the beating they were taking on the Western Front?
- learned to combat Germany
- blacks/whites worked to drive Germany out of France
- secured Allied victory
(LBS)
How were blacks treated for going to war?
- many didn’t receive any credit
- myths spread that blacks normally broke rank/ran (mostly spread by white officers
MM)
What was the opinion held by whites about black officers in WWI?
- highly disliked
- white soldiers couldn’t argue that they weren’t brave/competent soldiers
- instead said they were an “able-few” of “exceptional mulattos”
(HWI)
Who was Colonel Charles Young?
- highest ranking black officer
- denied active service commission on ridiculous charges
- defended competence of black soldiers
- said blood had nothing to do w/ black officer performance (mulatto didn’t matter)
(HDDS)
How did the treatment of black soldiers stationed in France show the discrimination in the US military during WWI?
- 80% of black conscripts assigned to labor battalions (accounted for 1/3 of army’s pick/shovel workers)
- very few allowed to actually fight
- US tried to have French practice racial segregation
(EVU)
What did the US do to try to convince the French to segregate from black troops?
- army circulated racist leaflet in French camps
- explained white American unanimously believed must be strictly segregated
- in order to avoid degeneracy
- said French officers should be careful not to commend black performance
- should not be friendly w/ black officers
- should try to prevent French civilian/black interaction (protect French women from black rape)
(AEISSS)
How did the myth of black soldiers being failures grow?
- psychologists used false IQ test data
- scores were much more related to education/income than race (blacks outscored whites in some South states)
- used by military to further agenda
(PSU)
How did the treatment of black soldiers get even worse in WWII than from WWI?
- blacks barred from any combat duty whatsoever
What was President Wilson’s response to the discontent among black soldiers stationed in France?
sent Robert Moton (Booker T successor at Tuskegee) to investigate
- knew that blacks soldiers seen as failures reflected badly on entire race
- fought charges of black ineptness
- demonstrated in trial records that only handful of black soldiers convicted of rape
- pleaded w/ white officers to give blacks equal opportunities
- told black soldiers to “behave” once they got home (don’t undo the good that’s already come)
(KFDPT)
What effect had the entry into WWI had on the political landscape of black America in 1918-19?
- nurtured a new crop of radicals
- DuBois challenged from the left by A Phillip Randolph
- DuBois needed to redeem himself after patriotism rant was revealed to be done to receive army commission
(NDD)
What was DuBois response to radical leftist pressure on the treatment of black soldiers?
- blasted treatment of black soldiers
- ridiculed Moton for having less interest in defeating discrimination + more on assimilation
BR
Why was Moton a target of DuBois + the Left?
- had allegedly told black soldiers to forget about gaining voting rights + upsetting Jim Crow structure
- DuBois criticism caused wave of hate towards Moton from black community
(HD)
What was the mood of black veterans after they returned home from WWI?
- had broadened horizons + greater political awareness
- bitter over treatment
- warm feelings towards French people
- had resolve to assert their rights in the US (despite Moton words of warning)
(HBWH)
Where was black militancy most present?
New York City
- HQ of the Messenger magazine (radical black owned magazine)
- where Marcus Garvey grew his fanbase at the Mother Zion AME Church
(HW)
What was the Messenger magazine?
- run by Owen Chandler + A Phillip Randolph
- Marxist theory
- attacked most prominent black leaders
- aimed to provoke
(RMAA)
What were the topic covered in the Messenger magazine?
- condemned war as fight between capitalists
- ridiculed DuBois as naive opportunist
- denounced NAACP as anti-labor
- condemned black church as for profit business
- ridiculed President Wilson/Teddy Roosevelt
- praised strike movements + communist revolution
(CRDCRP)
Who was Marcus Garvey?
- founder of the UNIA (Universal Negro Improvement Association)
- was at first an admirer of Booker T. (wanted to found Tuskegee like school back in Jamaica)
- attuned himself to more militant attitude following war
- berated white people for cruelty + called on blacks to unite under his leadership
(FWAB)
What was the international dimension applied to black militancy in the US?
- President Wilson’s words of “self determination” as foundation of American life struck a chord w/ blacks
- wanted it to be applied to Africa (Paris Peace Agreement coming up)
(PW)
What was the attitudes among blacks about the upcoming Paris Peace Agreement over Africa?
- many excited (expected black delegates to be present)
What were DuBois thoughts of the Paris Peace Agreement?
- expected independent Negro Central African Republic to come from it
- set up Pan-African Congress that met in Paris to submit proposals to Allies
(ES)
What was Garvey’s thoughts of the Paris Peace Agreement?
- went even further than DuBois
- demanded Africa must be for Africans
- promised to organize Negroes everywhere
- said if whites refuse to relinquish Africa they should be prepared to fight for their independence
(WDPS)
How did black militancy affect blacks in the South as well?
- April, 1919 = University Commission on Southern Race Questions goes to speak w/ black Fisk faculty
- wanted to hear Negro issues from them
- talked about how Jim Crow existence was going to stunt any further relations between the races
(AWT)
What was apart of the list of demands presented by Professor Isaac Fisher to the University Commission on Southern Race Questions?
- equal education facilities
- voting rights
- fair treatment under law
- black jurors
- protections for black women
- ending of lynching
- end to employment discrimination
- end of Jim Crow
(EVFBPEEE)
What did the expansion of the NAACP in the South signify?
- the era of Booker T. Washington was over
- network of black women’s clubs contributed heavily to NAACP growth in the South
TN
What was the effect of WWI on black clubs women in the South?
- tapped women’s organizational skills
- drew them closer to national civil rights struggle
TD
Who was Mary Burnett Talbert?
- was president of NACW (1916-20)
- was a Red Cross Nurse + YWCA secretary in France during war
- joined board of NAACP in 1918 (took tours across TX + LA to found new branches/recruit new members)
(WWJ)
What was the effect of Talbert’s tour in TX + LA?
- went from 0 to 12 branches in TX in 1918
- original membership grew 3x
- women made up at least 25% of new members in TX chapters
- bulk of membership came from working class
(WOWB)
How did black militancy affect the labor movement?
- surging NAACP/UNIA support reflected aspirations of workers/the poor (not just the middle class)
- inc. class consciousness + new interest in unions went along w/ greater want for racial equality
- encouraged blacks to expect higher wages + better conditions + union recognition
(SIE)
How did the Wilson administration react to the Labor Movement?
- made many concessions to organized labor
- wanted to speed up industrial production
- movement enjoyed large growth from 1915-20
(MWM)
What was the effect of the war on the labor movement?
- war caused inflation which eroded wages
- gov. relaxed supervision of economy
- started wave of strikes in every industry
- many blacks eager to organize (even though they were barred from the AFL)
(WGSM)
What the response by the black community when they were barred from the AFL?
joined what unions they could + created their own
- blacks joined the United Mine Workers in AL (one of few AFL unions that welcomed blacks)
- black longshoremen staged strikes in Southern ports
- International Union of Timber Workers + Carpenters/Jointers started striking in LA
- Progressive Farmers Union in AR (black sharecroppers strike against white landlords)
(BBIP)
What happened after the signing of the Armistice?
- national unity wave subsided
- Great Migration + wartime mobilization now produced renewed determination for whites to repress blacks
NG
What was the Red Summer of 1919?
- epidemic of racial violence on blacks
- employers backed by federal gov. crushed black strikes
EE
What was waiting for black veterans who were returning to the South?
wall of suspicion + hostility
- Division of Military Intelligence warned that black veterans would be inclined to impudence/arrogance
- county sheriffs thus struck hard against any black militancy
- many black veterans lynched (keep them in their place about racial superiority)
- made worse by black veteran tales of racial equality in Europe
(DCMM)
What was also a trend in 1919?
- race riots (26 in total)
- federal gov. did nothing to stop it
- President Wilson eventually made half hearted statement against riots
(RFP)
What was the Red Scare?
- small amount of radicalism worried Attorney General Mitchell Palmer
- saw as serious revolutionary threat
- Palmer calls on the FBI to investigate suspecting communists
- gov. ended up deporting hundreds of radicals
- local/State authorities also did their part to crackdown
(SSPGL)
What actions did state/local governments take during the Red Scare?
- smashed Industrial Workers of the World
- tried to suppress any left wing thinking
- NY legislature expelled expelled Socialist Party members
- states outlawed “criminal syndicalism” (made advocacy for revolution illegal)
(STNM)
How were blacks treated under Palmer’s Red Scare mission?
- escaped most investigations since they were citizens
- black militancy still seen as dangerous
- anyone opposed to white supremacy ran risk of being targeted as a radical
- Bolshevism seen as an explanation for black unrest (thus used as excuse for anti-black violence)
- many whites justified wave of lynchings in 1919 in name of patriotism
(EBABM)
What was the black response to the rise in violence in 1919?
- encouraged by black leaders to defend themselves
- even NAACP encouraged blacks to defend
EE
What did the Elaine, AR riot of 1919 show?
- even when blacks resorted to violence whites had means to crush them
What was the economic conflict between black farmers + white landlords that provoked the Elaine race riot?
- blacks in Phillip County had formed Progressive Farmers + Household Union of America
- used to strengthen bargaining w/ landlords (who’d been cheating them on their share of profits)
- decided to demand itemized statement of accounts (take them to court if landlords refused)
- planned to refuse to pick cotton/sell cotton below market price
(BUDP)
What event happened on September 30, 1919 in Elaine?
- black farmers met at church to discuss disputes w/ landlords
- some were armed
- mysterious car pulled up on the church (allegedly farmers fired first)
- ended up killing a railroad agent + wounding deputy sheriff
(BSME)
What was the response by whites to the church shooting on September 30, 1919 in Elaine?
- convinced whites blacks were gonna launch full scale insurrection
- story that blacks were plotting to kill many
- AR governor requested federal troops (gov. sent troops)
- 600 federal troops helped local law enforcement round up black “revolutionaries”
- resulted in many black killings/beatings
(CSASR)
How did the NAACP fight to resist the Red Summer?
- mounted NY protest after East St. Louis riot
- took out full page ads condemning lynching
- held a lynching conference in Carnegie Hall in 1919
- caused an antilynching bill to be introduced to Congress
- saved the lives of those arrested for role in Elaine riot (Moore v. Dempsey)
(MTHCS)
Why did Southern white leaders eventually take action to stop the violence on blacks by 1920?
- feared federal legislation
- worried continued black migration would result in a labor shortage
- lynching/mob violence went down drastically in 1920
(FWL)
What effect did the Red Summer have on the NAACP?
- shattered hope of becoming mass org. throughout South
- Shillady killing
SS
Who was John R. Shillady?
- white man
- NAACP first executive secretary
WN
What happened when Shillady traveled to Austin?
- beaten by three white men outside his hotel
- was there to discuss w/ state officials who were trying to suppress the NAACP branch there
- resigned position after incident
- died shortly after he resigned
(BWRD)
How did white Southern leaders respond to the Shillady beating?
- praised it
- said that’s the correct way to deal w/ NAACP
PS
What was the effect of the Shillady beating on the growth of the NAACP in the South?
- growth suddenly stopped than reversed
- most TX branches became dormant in 1920
- overall many shrank/folded across the South
- had become virtually extinct outside the major cities
(GMOH)
What was the Commission on Interracial Cooperation (CIC)?
- founded in Atlanta 1919 to ameliorate racial tension
- fought the revived KKK
- encouraged whites to take practical steps to improve black education + health + living conditions
- campaigned against lynching using moral influence of southern white women (shamed violence)
- provided data on southern racial issues
- succeeded in bringing southern blacks/whites together where NAACP failed
(FFECPS)
Why was the CIC an accepted institution by southern whites instead of the NAACP?
CIC accepted basic structure of white supremacy
- assumed Northern black leaders only provoked Southern hostility
- improvements in race relations would only come through white southern consent
(CAI)
What actions did the CIC take that allowed southern whites to accept them?
- did not campaign for black enfranchisement + desegregation
- was interracial org. but whites were mostly in charge
- very careful of presenting blacks/whites together
- did not raise popular base (looked to middle/upper class support) (DWVD)
What was the main goal of the CIC when it came to black support?
- wanted to draw blacks away from NAACP militant rhetoric/action
What was the Chicago race riot?
- white Chicagoans felt angst towards new blacks even before Great Migration (unwelcome competition)
- defended area by creating neighborhood associations + pressuring landlords + bombed black homes
- racial violence exploded July 27, 1919 (38 lives)
(WDR)
What were the long term consequences of the Chicago riot?
- Chicago leaders concluded segregation only way to keep peace
- 1921 = city realtors adopt restrictive covenants
- prevented white home owners from reselling/renting property to blacks
- caused formation of large black ghettos
- served as a model for many Northern city future policies
(CNPCS)
What segregation patterns in the North followed the restrictive covenant policies of Chicago?
- private discrimination used as loophole to Supreme Court restrictions on race residential zones
- school enrollment followed (became segregated)
- even black teachers couldn’t work in white schools
- churches became highly segregated (separate parishes for black worshippers)
(PSEC)
How did the Red Scare play a part in consolidating white supremacy?
- helped employers suppress radical thinking + defeat interracial unions
- Bogalusa, LA = Great Southern Lumber Company hired vigilantes to kill union leaders
- Chicago = meat packing leaders persuaded blacks to cross picket lines (breaking strikes)
- white union members convinced they couldn’t organize blacks
- blacks convinced white union members can’t be trusted
(HBCWB)
