Black Americans In The 1950's - Usa Paper Flashcards
Segregation of Black people in the North
Segregation in the North was produced by discrimination. Black people usually had the worst paid jobs and therefore had to live in the poorest parts of towns and cities called ghettos.
How did people live in ‘ghettos’ ?
Here, Black people were crowded together in buildings that were not well maintained and had poor facilities. Workers in schools and hospitals, for example, had to cope with run-down buildings, old equipment and shortages of supplies.
Segregation of black people in the South
Racist state laws, often called Jim Crow’ laws enforced segregation.
What did the Jim Crow laws mean for segregation in the south?
Black Americans could not eat in ‘white’ restaurants. They could be thrown of buses, or even arrested, if they did not sit in the ‘colored’ section of the bus. Cinemas, theatres and churches were either just for white or black Americans or had separate seating.
What did the Jim Crow laws mean for segregation in education?
Black children could not go to the nearest school if it was a ‘white’ school. They had to walk or catch a bus to the nearest ‘black’ school which, because far less state money was spent on it, might have no heating or textbooks.
What were the Jim Crow Laws?
The laws varied from state to state but they all separated black and white people
What is the difference between federal laws and state laws?
Federal laws are laws which cover the whole country whereas state laws only affect one state.
What can the Supreme court do with state laws?
The Supreme court can overrule state laws
What is a bill?
A bill is a proposed law
How does a bill become a law?
A bill has to be passed in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and also has to be approved by the president before it becomes a law. When passed, a bill becomes an Act.
Attitudes in the South
Many southern white people were brought up to see black people as inferior and unintelligent. The police and law courts in the south were full of racist white officials. Black people were regularly beaten up and forced to agree to commiting crimes that they did not commit.
What group were many of the policemen and judges a part of?
The Ku Klux Klan (this was frightening for Black people as the officials who were meant to protect them might belong to racist groups)
The effect of the Second World war on civil rights
Over a million black Americans fought in the Second World War, in segregated units. They hoped for more equality when the war ended and some white people, even in the South, were more open to civil rights after the war. This was especially true for white Americans who had worked with black people for the first time.
Why was racial inequality an embarrassment for the USA?
The USA had gone to war in 1941 to fight for democracy and freedom. Then, in the Cold War that developed after the Second World War, the USA was seen as the leader of the ‘free world’. However, opponents of the USA used the example of black Americans to show that it did not even give freedom to its own citizens.
This put pressure on federal government to improve the situation of black Americans, especially in the South.
Increase in Black Americans Voting
In 1956 20% of black Americans in the South were registered to vote. Before WW2 only 3% were registered to vote.
How did white people in southern States stop black people from voting?
•White employers threatened to sack black employees if they registered to vote or voted.
• States set their own rules for state elections. Some passed laws making it harder for black people to vote. Others said political parties were ‘private organisations’ that could choose their members.
• Most states had a literacy qualification to register to vote, which involved either reading a passage of text or passing a written test. A common way of preventing black people from registering to vote was to give them a far harder passage to read, or written test to complete, than they gave to white people.
Factors that contributed to the growth of the civil rights movement in the 1950s
Southern cities grew- More job opportunties
Cold War- Criticism against how black people were treated
Television- Made people more aware of racial injustice
Education - Educated Black americans changed white peoples views
WW2 - Made some White people see black people as more able having worked with them
Civil rights organisations
NAACP- National Association for the advancement of black people
CORE- Congress of Racial equality
What was the NAACP?
Established in 1909, they focused on fighting for Civil Rights in courts. They set up the Legal Defence Fund (LDF) to help wrongly-convicted black people appeal against their convictions.
What was CORE?
Core campaigns taregted segregation. Core used non-violent direct action protests such as boycotts, sit ins and pickets.
How did the NAACP overcome Plessy vs Ferguson (separate but equal)?
Firstly, they provided evidence that facilities were not equal. Secondly, when they fought to desegregate schools and colleges, they argued that equal facilities were not the same as equal opportunity. They used psychological studies to show that school segregation gave even very young black children a sense of racial inferiority.
What was the outcome of Plessy vs Ferguson?
Separate but equal - White and Black people would be segregated but would have equal facilities provided.
Other organisations and the Civil rights movement
RCNL
University campuses
Black Businesses
Church organisations
Why and how did Church organisations fight for civil rights?
Black Clergymen were educated, effective speakers and therefore more likely to be listened to by white people
Churches were often used for meetings or as gathering points for protests
How did University campuses fight for civil rights?
Many civil rights campaigners in the North met and organised protests on desegregated university campuses
Educated Black Americans were more likely to be listened to by white people
How did Black businesses contribute to the Civil rights movement?
These organisations campaigned for equality within segregation and supported members of the black community
How did the RCNL support the Civil rights movement?
Campaigned for Black rights within segregation
Campaigned against police brutality
The Murder of Emmett Till
Emmett Till (a 14 year old black boy from Chicago) was murdered for supposedly wolf whistling at a white woman outside of a store.
What did Emmett Till’s mother do?
Had an open casket at his funeral
Significance of the trial of his killers
The trial of Till’s killers was reported across the whole country. The jury cleared the defendants after about an hour. The defendants later sold their story (admitting the murder) to a magazine for $3,500. This fuelled further outrage.
What direct opposition did Black Americans face?
The Ku Klux Klan
What political opposition did the Civil rights movement face?
Attempts to produce a civil rights act to enforce the rights of black Americans were constantly blocked by Southern members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in Congress (which passed the laws).
The Dixiecrats, southern democrats who formed their own breakaway party due to their strong views on segregation
Southern governors, local mayors and other state officials also mainly favoured segregation. There were no black judges and black juries were banned. Even if a civil rights group brought a lawsuit and had a sympathetic judge, any ruling he gave would have to be supported by local officials.
