Boycott the old essay! trololol Flashcards
1930s
- Black people during the 1930s, faced discrimination, they were segregated in the deep south, where the Jim Crow laws were enacted and organisations like the KKK were very prominent and would carry out lynchings, feathering, castrations and whippings.
- Furthermore the Black population was suffering severely from the economic depression, in the North there was a 60% unemployment rate amongst black Americans.
- in terms of progress, I believe the New Deal was the pinnacle of development as it created 1 million jobs for Black Americans, furthermore, some were employed in government.
1940s
- The war acted as catalyst for change at home and away. whilst 1 million Black men joined the army, some even managing to become pilots, they were referred to as “mules” and weren’t given respectable jobs.
- Whilst Truman was in support of integration, and the navy officially banned racial discrimination, the army did not.
- In the US, during the war, 400,000 Black Americans moved North and obtained jobs that on average doubled their wages, however, there were deep racial tensions between workers of both skin colours and race riots broke out in over 47 different cities during the war. Nonetheless, by 1945, the NAACP membership rose from 50,000 to 450,000.
50s and 60s
In the 50s and 60s, perhaps most change was made in terms of Education and transport. Whilst atrocities like the Emmett Till murder and the 16th Street Church bombings took place, the media attention of these events galvanised the CRM.
- The Brown Case of 1954, was a cornerstone for change as it was the start of racial challenges against the law, furthermore it ended segregation in all schools however by 1960, many schools had privatised to avoid the wave of integration and 6 southern states refused integration.
- The CRM had split in the 60s, on one side we had MLK, Rosa Parks and James Bevel with the advocation peaceful protest, on the other, we had Malcolm X and his advocation of using violence as a necessary means to get equality.
By 1964, the CR act was signed and in 65, the voting rights act, however we saw race riots in over 125 cities from 65-67 across the US.
70s and 80s
- This was a period about individual success, such as Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. Whilst more Black families were earning salaries within the range of $20,000-$49,000, banks still hesitated to grant black families mortgages.
90s
- Cornel West emerges as a public intellectual on Race Matters, philosophy, etc. However the Rodney King beating of 91, and the L.A riots of suggested racial discrimination was still present in America, 11,000 arrests were made, at the riots, 5500 latinos, 5000 blacks, and 500 whites.
