Chapter 8- African Americans in the Eisenhower presidency Flashcards
what was the position of African Americans in the north?
de facto segregation would remain and organisations like NUL would campaign for change and CORE had grown to 53 national chapters by the 1960’s. They would take on de facto segregation as they would take on de facto segregation in Chicago schools and they would take on the democratic mayor Richard Daley.
Especially in the inner city there would be clear dividing lines between people who were white and black this would be evident with the 8 mile road in Detroit. Black people who would not have access to cars would have to shop at stores that would be more expensive and rents would also be higher. Whilst the senate would remain mainly white, there would be more African Americans that would enter politics for example Robert Nix sr would represent Pennsylvania.
in 1959 there would be the release of the TV show the hate that hate produced and this would cover the NOI, this would be designed to terrify white viewers and this would create the narrative that Malcom X would be the antithesis on MLK.
what was the position of African Americans in the south?
The increase of tv’s would become more prevalent as this would mean that people could watch the 1954 Brown V Board case which was pivotal. The Eisenhower administration would see gains being made with the CRM.
the significance of education with regards to the CRM?
de facto segregation would exist in the north and the economic inequalities would lead to the creation of ghetto’s.
Brown Vs Board would make significicant gains and Thurgood Marshall would be able to give compelling evidence. And on 17 May 1954 Earl Warren would state that there would be a unaminius vote in favour of Brown.
This would be a major victory for the NAACP and would set a major legal precedent. Though, Eisenhower would later say the appointment of Warren after the death of Vinson would be the biggest mistake that he would ever make.
Though there would soon be retaliation of opponents of desegregation this would see white councils that would be formed in 1956 with 250,000 members. There would also be The Southern manifesto which would be signed by 101 Dixiecrats and would oppose the move by the supreme court, this would cause some to believe that there were echoes of the 1800’s civil war and this would be heightened by the death of Emmet Hill, this would take place on 28th August 1955. in 1956, the university of Alabama would also expel his first black student despite the NAACP having won the case Lucy Vs Adams in 1955. This would lead many to believe that Eisenhower was not interested in desegregation.
when Eisenhower would leave office there would only be 6% of black students that would attend integrated schools.
what was the significance of the Little Rock case?
in 1955 with the ruling of Brown VS Board, people in the south would find ways to use delaying tactics, this was evident with the Virginia senator Harry Byrd who would use tactics such as the closing of schools.
In Tennessee the governor Frank Clement would veto a bill that was designed to preserve segregation and in September 1956 would use the national guard to protect the first black student.
Though, in 1957 a school was designed to accept its first 9 students and Orval Faubus would go against the ruling of the NAACP, Faubus would state that a riot might take place and would urge protesters to block the students from entering, these scenes would play out on national TV and this would lead Eisenhower to send the national guard to assist the students. He would become the first president to send troops to the south since the civil war.
There would be immense threats towards the students that would include being burned and this would lead Faubus to close all state schools in 1958, in 1958 he would voted as one of the most admired voters in America. Eisenhower had ultimately encouraged a president, that presidents have to support the rulings of the SC.
Eisenhower would not state that desegregating schools was necessarily the right thing to do, he would argue that the violence would harm American prestige, saying that they had the power to misrepresent our whole nation. Little Rock would have age first graduate in 1958.
what is the significance of the Montgomery bus boycott?
this would be after the arrest of rosa parks there would be a bus boycott, MLK would be asked to lead the boycott, it would last 381 days, this would cost the bus companies 80% of their costs per day. This would happen at the same time that the NAACP would take the case Browder vs Gale to the Supreme Court and they would rule that in December 1956 that segregated buses would be unconstitutional. Whilst it would create a national heroine in Rosa Parks and MLK would also rise to more fame, it would be largely ignored by Eisenhower and would have little influence in the civil rights acts of 1957 and 60.
who was Rosa Parks?
she would be seen as the mother of the CRM, she would be a key activist of the NAACP.
Who was MLK?
He would become the public face of the CRM movements and would also found the SCLC and he would also win a Nobel peace prize for his efforts and he would assassinated.
what were the policies and attitudes of the main political parties?
Eisenhower would recognise how there was a need for the CRM movement to progress, despite knowing this he would not win any support in the Deep South, so he would not be bound to the south in the same way that a democrat leader would be. There was an evident fear of miscegenation and Eisenhower would suggest himself that a black person would not be marrying his daughter.
the significance of civil rights legislation?
Eisenhower would release two civil right acts, he would be appalled that 7000 of Mississippi’s 900,000 African American people were able to vote. Nixon would meet with MLK in Ghana in March 1957 and he would invite king to his office to discuss legislation. Yet, it would be at the same time that Nixon would ask how a black person how it felt to be free and they would reply that they didn’t know because they were from Alabama. Nixon would want to work hard on the bill and he would want to differ to key segregationists such as Richard Russel. This would differ to Eisenhower, whom would say that he didn’t know much about the bill.
However the 1957 would be undermined by key people such as Storm Thurmond whom would fillibust for 24 hours and 18 minutes to obstruct it. This legislation would do little for African American voters and there would only be a 3% increase in the people who would vote. Key congressional committees would also obstruct the bills.
what is the issues of black votes?
there would be a variety of techniques that would be used by southern states to prevent black people from voting, these would include literacy tests. There would also be the use of Grandfather clauses that would mean that illiterate white people could vote, they just had to prove that their grandfather could vote.
what were the responses of the state and federal authorities?
Eisenhower would believe in a gradual response to the CRM and would be unwilling to put his political weight behind the campaigners and would refuse to comment on the Emmet Till case and the ruling the Brown case. Eisnenhower would not need to win the support of the south, he would only win Louisiana out of the seven states in the deep south, this would mean that it would be easy for the Dixiecrats to block his bills and would also suggest that Eisenhower would not be focusing on the authority of the states as they wold proceed to ignore integration.
Einsenhower would state that integration require a change of peoples hearts and minds.
it would only be once in July 1958 that Eisenhower would meet with the African America n leaders.
Eisenhower would largely fail in this area.
what were the developments in the North in the 40’s and 50’s?
40:
great migration, billie holiday, Phillip Randolph, FEPC this would display the significance of Phillip Randolph.
50:
Adam Clayton powell, de facto segregation, ghettoisation, black people cannot have access to the same things.
what was it like for the south?
40:
Jim Crow laws, there would be attempts to change this, CORE, key cases such as Smith vs Allwright.
50:
Brown vs Board, Little Rock nine, Emmet Till, Montgomery bus boycott.
what were the cause of the victory of Brown vs Board?
1951- brown would file lawsuit
Thurgood Marshall
There would be the success of previous higher education cases.
1950- Sweft vs painter, this would set a precedent.
There would be the progressive chief justice that would be Earl Warren, he would represent dynamic conservatism.
he would claim that schools for black children were not equal.
what would be significance of the Montgomery bus boycott?
WPC, in 1946 would be begin to focus on Jim Crow and the practice son the buses.
the 15 year old Claudette Colvin would be arrested for challenging segregation and 7 months later 18 year old Mary Louise Smith would also be arrested.
Robinson and the WPC would respond to the arrest of Parks and would call for a one day protest, on 5 December 1955 90% of Montgomery’s black citizens would stay off the buse, they would stay off through 1956.
King would be tried and convicted and would be charged and ordered to pay $500 or serve 386 days in prison, despite this the boycott continued.
there would be national coverage of the boycott and this would result in support from people outside of Montgomery.
5 June 1956, the federal district court would rule in Browder vs Gayle that bus segregation was unconstitutional.
