Doughton - History 3. The consequences of the civil rights movements 1968-1990 Flashcards
The new South and desegregation to 1990
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Affirmative action
President Johnson passed a bill requiring all government bodies and contenders to follow a policy of affirmative action, discriminating in favor of black Americans when it comes to jobs and university application.
Soon, quotas were being set which meant that often less qualified black candidates got places ahead of white candidates.
New South and desegregation
During the 1970s more black Americans returned to the South after mass migration previously.
Push
-North known as rust belt.
-Conditions in ghettos in the north were not improving greatly nor quickly enough.
-Car industry in north declining.
Pull
-Economy in South was booming.
-Oil industry in South brought you new wealth and lifestyle.
-Lower wages in south.
-Erosion of Jim crow laws.
-More black Americans were promoted to high office in the south
President Nixon on affirmative action
Nixon continued the affirmative action with his executive Order 11578, which required all employers with federal contracts to draft affirmative policies.
Supreme court and affirmative action.
California v bakke.
Allan Bakke, a white American student had been denied access to university of California and claimed that his academic record was better than 16 minority who had been admitted.
The supreme court upheld the constitutional nature of affirmative action so long as it was only 1 part of the application process.
The backlash
affirmative action remained controversial and probably accounted for a political shift which saw white working-class males voting for republicans rather than democrats in the 70s and 80s.
When Ronald Reagan came to power, funding for EEOC was reduced as he though that affirmative action was effectively reverse dicrimination.
Desegregation in schools.
1969- 68% were attending all-black schools.
1974- now only 8% of blacks attended all- schools.
Bussing
The demographic reality was that huge numbers of African American were restricted to inner cities while the suburbs were predominantly white.
The policy for bussing began in 1960s for students to have equal education.
Bussing policy
This policy was deeply unpopular among parents, 75% of Americans opposed it.
The African American experience in modern USA (by 1990)
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Positive
-Growth of black middle class.
-Blacks held public office.
-Right to vote.
-1992 , there was 69 black congressmen.
-36% of blacks moved to suburbs which has better education and housing.
-1/3rd held white-collar jobs by 1980.
Negative
-77% of whites graduated from high school compared to 63% of blacks.
-Higher crime rates linked to poorer educational opportunities.
-Unemployment was 5% among black people.
-Large underclass in the ghettos =.
-The number of black people in prisons was 8x higher than whites.
-In 1990, out of 31 million, 9 million lived below the poverty line.
Essence
In essence, by 1990, the lives of African Americans had improved and their role in politics, entertainment, sports, higher education, the military, industry and commerce had increased, but inequality persisted.
It was not enough to eliminate discrimination or indeed improve social mobility without addressing the issues of urban deprivation and unemployment.
The Conservative Reaction in the 1980s.
In 1980, Ronald Reagan’s election as president marked a break with the politics of the 60s and 70s.This election reflected ;
-Unpopularity of the Carter Administration, it’s failure to solve the Iranian hostage situation and problems of inflation.
-Reagan’s success in capturing votes of a large minority of Southern white men and in blue-collar neighborhood in the North.
-New ideas about economics (Reagonomics) which suggested that reductions would generate economic growth and provide new opportunities for all Americans, reducing the need for expensive federal aid.
Reagan re-election 1994
During his two-term presidency :
-There were significant reductions in federal aid programmes such as medicare. However, 20% of African Americans relied on these programmes and so were adversely and disproportionately affected.
-Reagan opposed the 1964 civil rights act and the voting rights act 1965 and also initially opposed the decision to make MLK’s birthday national holiday.
-first president to veto a civil rights bill. Congress overrode his veto.
Progress up to 2000
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Politics
There was limited success in national politics.
However, reasonable success at local level since 1964. Many cities now have black mayors and councillors. In 2000, 34.5% of elected officials were black.
Carl Stokes - became first mayor in Cleveland in 1967.
Shirley Chisholm - first women elected to congress in 1968.
Sport
Muhammed Ali -world heavyweight boxing champion 3 times. Crowned ‘Sportsman of the century’ by Sports illustrated. Won 9 Olympic medals.
Micheal Jordan - Became America’s most popular athlete - 5x MVP winner and expended his career into movies - Space Jam.
Entertainment and media
Eddie Murphy -Starred in 48 hours.
Oprah Winfrey - Host of USA’s biggest talk show and is said to be the richest African American man ever for over 800 million dollars.
Music
Black Americans made an enormous contribution to music. Black Americans developed their own style of hip-hop and rap. However, politicians opposed and deemed it as hedonistic and inappropriate, increasing violence.
However, for black Americans, it was their way of expressing their experience.
Micheal Jackson
Became the biggest pop star of all time - Thriller (1982) sold 104 million copies, spent 37 weeks in number 1.
Literature
Alice Walker
Internationally well-renowned, albeit it’s controversial, her n.1 seller “The Color Purple” was a very relatable book on the subject of dysfunctional families, abuse, trauma and lack of education for young black females.
Education
Despite racial integration in education, there was hardly any racial mix in some cities in 1978. Some cities tried to ensure integration by bussing students across the ethnic divide. President Nixon was against bussing and Supreme court banned it in 1973.
