Life For Black Americans In Tbe 1950s Flashcards
How were black people discriminated in the north
- Black people usually had the worst jobs.
- lived in poorer parts of towns called ghettos
What were ghettos like
- overcrowded
- not maintained well
- poor facilities
What was segregation in the south like
- racist state laws often called ‘Jim crow laws’ enforced segregation
- black people could not eat in ‘white’ restaurants
- black people had to sit in the ‘coloured’ section of the bus
- Schools we’re segregated and black schools were not funded well and were rundown and without proper equipment
How were black people viewed as in the Deep South in the 1950s?
- racially inferior
- childlike, lazy and unintelligent
How were the KKK involved in Deep South law in the 1950s
- many police officers were part of the KKK and judges
How were black people not protected by law in the south
- black people were sometimes beaten up to confess to crimes they didn’t commit
- imprisoned for no reason
- represented by white lawyers who made no effort to defend them
- black people could also not sit in jury
- if a black person murdered a black person then it was often not investigated as it was dismissed as a ‘negro crime’
What percentage of black Americans in tbe south were registered to vote in 1956
20% which was a huge increase from the 3% before the war
How did white people stop black people voting in the south
- white employers threatened to sack black employees if they voted
- on voting or registration days white gangs stayed outside and beat up and stopped black people from Voting
- some laws made it harder from black peoples to vote
- harder literacy tests for black people
How did education contribute to the growth of the civil rights movement
Better educations for black people especially in the north led to more black Americans moving to southern cities and changing white views of black people
How did southern cities growing contribute to the growth of civil rights
New industries grew in southern towns giving black people diffeent job opportunities
How did the Cold War contribute to the growth of civil rights
It made the us government more sensitive to international criticism
How did television contribute to the growth of civil rights
Brough events into the living room making people more aware of injustices
How did the Second World War contribute to the growth of civil rights
- black Americans pushed for civil rights after seeing segregation in Other countries
- many white Americans views of black people had changed after working with them
