Black American Civil Rights, 1917-55 Flashcards
What were the Jim Crows laws
Laws for segregation in the South
Included where to sit on the tram, where to live, where to send children to school, separate public facilities (drinking fountains), workers and staircases in workplaces
More laws in certain states included: literacy qualification to vote and black people were given harder passages to read, voters had to be home owners, all-white elections
Number of lynchings
1915-30: 65 white men and 579 black men
Story of emmet till
1955: 14 year old Till was lynched for talking to a white woman,
Attracted publicity and caused shock even in the south but
What does the KKK do
White-supremacist group
1925: membership 3-8 million
In the south, included people with political or social power
Wore hoods but were known
Children brought up as white supremacists
Extent of federal intervention in the south
‘Seperate but equal’ policy
Wilson: no problem with segregation
Harding: spoke out against lynching and in favour of civil rights, addressed 30,000 at the University of Alabama on the evils of segregation but then had ‘laissez-faire’ policy
Coolidge: ‘laissez-faire’ policy so no legislation
Why did the Great migration occur
Drawn to industrial towns for work
to escape the south
After WW1, workers needed in munitions factories (offered housing, free transport, and good wages)
Segregation in the Great Migration
Jobs had low wages, replaces white workers
Accommodation in crowded and run-down parts of the city, cramped and poor condition, rent higher than a white persons (most of the population)
Lived in their owns parts of cities (e.g. NYC), had own businesses, schools, churches
Impact of the Great Migration
Populations of certain cities rose sharply
In cities where black migrants settled in areas that coincided with voting wards (Chicago), black people had significant political influence
Therefore, black people listened to more and a business-oriented black elite grew that supported segregation
- segregation made it more likely for black people to get positions in politics
Didn’t gain political influence in some cities, e.g. New York, but still tended to live in smaller segregated areas
- their own churches became bases for organising civil rights protests
Black migrants dislodged white workers, especially those in unions and pushing for better conditions
- businesses could put pressure on white workers to leave unions or lose their jobs
Impact of the great migration on the south
Labour force shrunk
Farming areas were already having economic problems which worsened due to the migration
- poorest farmers suffered most, mostly black
Southerners saw people who left as ‘voting with their feet’ against Jim Crow laws, people who stayed were therefore ‘accepting’ Jim Crow laws
Impact of Roosevelts presidency on black Americans
Black voters significant part of Roosevelt landslide
Appointed some black advisers but needed support of people who were against civil rights so didn’t advance much
Roosevelt sometimes restricted amount of black workers on a project if a donor to the project wanted
Issued executive order 8802: banned racial discrimination in the defence industry, to get as many people as possible into war-work
Impact of the new deal on black Americans
Supposedly colour-blind
But:
- black people moved off projects for white people, denied this happened
- black farm workers sacked in 1000s during agricultural reform
Social security provisions didn’t apply to farm workers or domestic workers (in other peoples homes)
Some measures helped black people due to their situation (1/3 low-income housing built had black tenants because many of the poorest who were eligible were black)
Protests against the new deal by black Americans
Black officials in the government protested and advised
- persuaded NRA (regulated wages and working conditions) to set minimum wage for black and white people at the same rate
- often ignored
Protested about treatment, often more support from communist/left-wing groups than civil rights groups
Support for protests against the new deal by black Americans
1931: NAACP turned down case of 9 young black men being framed for raping 2 white girls on a train near Scottsboro, Alabama
- communist lawyers took the case, found not guilty
Early 1930s: Birmingham, Alabama had 6 black American members of NAACP and over 3000 black American communists
Communists in northern cities demanded relief funds should be shared equally
Association with communists made the civil rights movement harder
Support for black Americans during the new deal by black
Black church organisations set up support systems for black citizens during the depression
- more support in North and cities
Harlem, father divine of the peace mission church group set up restaurants and shops that sold food and supplies to black people at lower cost that white-run stores
Housewives Leagues began in Detroit and spread nationally
- ‘don’t but where you cant work’ campaigns to boycott stores in black districts until they hired black workers
- activism within segregation
What was the resettlement administration and its effect on black Americans
Set up by executive order 7027 in may 1935
To resettle low-income families in new housing and to lend money
Gave black farmers who lost their homes fair share of money available in loans, only helped 3400/200,000 farmers
1939: around 2 million signed a petition asking for federal aid to move to Africa
Effect of WW2 on black Americans
Didn’t benefit from war-induced boom, white workers given preference
Equality patchily implemented due to pressure from opponents of equal rights
As the war went on, military and factories needed more people so black people could push for equality
Migration to the north larger than the great migration
- fuelled racism, 1943 saw outbreaks of racist violence and strikes by white people over having to work with black people
Several towns set up race committees to investigate improvements because strikes and riots were damaging war effort
Shortage of workers meant black people were trained in white peoples jobs
- changed some attitudes, but mostly racism remained (many supported house segregation and believed jobs should go to white people first at the end of the war)
Protests in WW2 for black Americans
May 1941: Philip Randolph threatened 100,000 all-black march on Washington unless Roosevelt banned discrimination in the army and in defence factories
March stopped when it was provided
Statistic on black Americans in defence work
1942: 3% defence workers were black, 1944: 8%
Impact of Truman on black Americans
Supported civil rights: proposed anti-lynching, anti-segregation, fair employment laws in 1954
- failed to push them through congress, always blocked by opposition from southern delegates and lukewarm support from northern delegates
Cold War focus meant he concentrated on fighting communism than civil rights
- crossover between communists and civil rights groups meant a civil rights group (national n*gro congress ended up on list of suspect organisations)
Legislation implemented by Truman for black Americans
1946: set up presidents committee on civil rights, called for equal opportunities in work and housing, urged federal support for civil rights
1948: Truman issued executive order desegregating the military and all work done by businesses for the government
Tactics for the civil rights movement 1917-55
Non-violent protest, picketing, boycotting, sit-ins to draw public attention to discrimination
Went to law, tried to get rights enforced
Organisations within the civil rights movement 1917-55
NAACP and National Urban League
Smaller local organisations often based around church groups
Number of groups and membership of them increased after WW1 and WW2
- NAACP membership: 9,000 in 1917, 90,000 in 1919, 600,000 in 1946
What was the separatist movement
Said black Americans would never have true equality with whites so they should stop fighting
- they should embrace segregation and fight for equal conditions within it because that was more feasible
- meant black children could grow up without being made to feel inferior
Some separatists (e.g. Marcus Garvey) said they should just do what the racists were telling them to do and go back to Africa
What was the NAACP
Set up in 1910
Wanted to gain black Americans their legal rights
Campaigned against lynching as people (especially in the south) didn’t know the scale of it
- published pamphlets, demonstrated, held marches, petitioned congress
Provided lawyers to defend black people on trial who it felt had been unjustly accused
Targeted housing, set up ‘National Committee Against Discrimination in Housing’ in 1950
