🔴| Obstacles Essay

Question 1

Factors

5

Answer 1

1. Lack of political influence
2. Popular prejudice
3. Legal impediments
4. KKK
5. Divisions in the black community

Question 2

Introduction

Background Only - FIQ Exp, LOA and other factors needed

Answer 2

• Around this time in America, it can be said that life was very different for white and black people. This can be traced back to slavery in which white Americans bought and owned blacks.
• This was furthered by the Civil War which increased racist views as the confederate states fought to defend racism.

Question 3

Lack of political influence:

KU

2

Answer 3

• In 1876 the Supreme Court ruled that states could govern themselves as they saw fit which led to many states excluding blacks from voting by imposing qualifications based on literacy or income. Many of the literacy tests contained ridiculous questions such as ‘how many bubbles are there in a bar of soap’.
• Furthermore, Presidents at the turn of the century and into the 1920s and 1930s did very little to appease the growing racial tension. An example being that Herbert Hoover wanted to personally purge the Republican party of all blacks to capture the votes of the white democrats in the South.

Question 4

Lack of political influence:

Analysis

Answer 4

• Lack of political influence therefore was an obstacle to civil rights because it was impossible to gain the vote and therefore have any form of influence within the White House.
• Evidence can be found in Alabama’s voter registration which dropped by 150,000 (all African Americans) in 2 years showing that less blacks had an opportunity to have their say and influence the Government.

Question 5

Lack of political influence:

Analysis+

Answer 5

• However, lack of political influence can be said to have less of an impact on the achievement of civil rights as not all presidents thought this way.
• Evidence shows that whilst FDR did not openly sympathise with the black plight his New Deal did help black youths by creating training positions for them, which suggests he did not want a split country.

Question 6

Lack of political influence:

Evaluation

Answer 6

• Overall, lack of political influence was the most important obstacle to the achievement of civil right because the Government have a wide range of influence on the country and have the power to change things. By African Americans not being able to vote they had no power to elect individuals who would be their voice within politics. This was made even more difficult by the Governments failure to make valid attempts to change things.
• For example, Calvin Coolidge allowed a KKK march Infront of the White House which sent a strong message to an already divided country that white was best, and this would not be changed.

Question 7

Popular Prejudice:

KU

2

Answer 7

• Firstly, in the South black Americans were kept in poorly paid and unskilled jobs, such as agriculture work, with few trade union rights.
• Secondly, there was a major occupational shift as by 1930 more black men held blue collar jobs than agriculture jobs, although racial discrimination in industries such as car plants was still widespread.

Question 8

Popular Prejudice:

Analysis

Answer 8

• This proves that popular prejudice was an obstacle to civil rights because the job competition between black people and poor white people led to race riots which proved to be damaging for black people.
• For example, during various race riots in the summer of 1919 in US cities 70 black people were lynched – this was likely in relation to the riots.

Question 9

Popular Prejudice:

Analysis+

Answer 9

• However, some may say that popular prejudice was less of an obstacle because not everyone discriminated against black people or at least gave them opportunities.
• For example, although Henry Ford saw whites as superior, he found blacks more loyal and in 1926 he employed 10,000 black employees.

Question 10

Popular Prejudice:

Evaluation

Answer 10

• Overall, popular prejudice was a very important obstacle to the achievement of civil rights because prejudice in America led to black people being seen as so inferior.
• My evidence for this is in the Lynd’s study of Middleton which found that although black and white children attended the same schools, churches and cinema were still segregated. This demonstrates that although black people received basic rights like education, other rights deemed more ‘luxurious’ were segregated from white people and usually given on worse terms.

Question 11

Popular Prejudice:

Evaluation+

Answer 11

However, lack of political influence was a more important obstacle because this put racist people in power which allowed them to assert these racist values in the first place. If lack of political influence was not an obstacle, it is likely that there would be something done to decrease popular prejudice.

Question 12

Legal Impediments:

KU

2

Answer 12

• Firstly, a law in Alabama stated, ‘No white female nurse to nurse in a ward in which negro men are placed’, which both impacted black male’s rights to healthcare and pushed the agenda that black people were to be feared and kept away from ‘innocent’ white people.
• Secondly, a law in Florida stated, ‘All marriages between a white person and a negro, or between a white person and a person of negro descent to the fourth generation, are hereby forever prohibited’, which shows that something so common as marriage was looked down upon and banned between a black person and a white person.

Question 13

Legal Impediments:

Analysis

Answer 13

• This proves that legal impediments were an obstacle to the achievement of civil rights because African Americans were not protected by laws, and instead many were put in place so that they were at a disadvantage and segregated in society.
• For example, after 1875 the Congress passed no laws to protect blacks and indicated it was the responsibility of state authorities who didn’t have any obligation to protect black Americans – this caused racist Jim Crow laws to be put in place by the 1920s and beyond.

Question 14

Legal Impediments:

Analysis+

Answer 14

However, it can be said that legal impediments were less of an obstacle to the achievement of civil rights because only 16 of the 50 states were considered Jim Crow states who used Jim Crow laws, so the other 34 states weren’t impacted by them. Therefore, the obstacles that were in place because of legal impediments cannot be said to have hindered civil rights movements in these other states.

Question 15

Legal Impediments:

Evaluation

Answer 15

• Overall, legal impediments were quite important as an obstacle to the achievement of civil rights. Jim Crow laws did not allow Black people to be proper and respected members of various elements of society.
• For example, in North Carolina black children couldn’t even share books that came from white schools which game them a disadvantage education wise.

Question 16

Legal Impediments:

Evaluation+

Answer 16

Although, lack of political influence was a more important obstacle because without political influence black people had no say on the Jim Crow laws that were passed or any power to stop them in the first place.

Question 17

KKK:

KU

2

Answer 17

• Firstly, Klan members would light crosses near the homes of African Americans to frighten them and threaten them. They would later return to kidnap and sometimes murder these African Americans, which was usually done through lynching. This can be evidenced by 416 blacks being killed, majority in the South, from 1918 to 1927.
• Furthermore, in 1922 the Dyer Anti-Lynching bill was defeated in the US senate which enabled the Klan to continue these practices on African Americans. As a result, only 4 of many lynchers and onlookers have been sentenced for the crime of lynching.

Question 18

KKK:

Analysis

Answer 18

It can be said that the KKK were an obstacle to achieving civil rights because the Klan had influential people supporting them, such as Calvin Coolidge approving a KKK parade in front of the Whitehouse in 1925, which gave them continuous influence upon Americans.

Question 19

KKK:

Analysis+

Answer 19

However, it can be said that the KKK were less of an obstacle to achieving civil rights because post 1930s the Klan collapsed due to leadership scandal, laws against wearing masks in public and the $10 membership fee which was expensive during the depression – this caused members to fall and therefore the Klan would become much less influential.

Question 20

KKK:

Evaluation

Answer 20

• Overall, the KKK was fairly important as an obstacle to the achievement of civil rights. This is because the KKK provoked fear amongst black Americans and supported the idea that whites were superior which influenced both groups in different ways.
• For example, by 1924 the KKK had nearly 5 million members which demonstrates their influence.

Question 21

KKK:

Evaluation+

Answer 21

However, lack of political influence is a more important obstacle because the lack of black people in the Government can be said to have contributed to political support for the KKK. In other words, they wouldn’t have been as big of an issue if not for lack of political influence.

Question 22

Divisions in the Black Community:

KU

2

Answer 22

• Booker T. Washington was the son of a slave who established the Tuskagee Institute in Alabama. The institute educated black children on practical skills, as Washington held the belief that black Americans should educate themselves to be respected by white people.
• Secondly, W.E.B Du Bois began the NAACP in 1909 which advocated for civil rights and the end of racist practices, such as lynching and segregation, which held influence as the first civil rights movement beyond 1909.

Question 23

Divisions in the Black Community:

Analysis

Answer 23

• This shows that divisions in the black community were an obstacle because Washington and Du Bois’ disagreements divided support which led to their movements achieving little.
• For example, Du Bois argued that black people needed legal and political equality before Washington’s idea of economic equality could be obtained.

Question 24

Divisions in the Black Community:

Analysis+

Answer 24

• However, it can be said that the divisions in the black community were less of an obstacle because despite support being divided these movements were still gaining a lot of support.
• This can be evidenced by the NAACP’s membership – by 1919 they had 91,000 members.

Question 25

Divisions in the Black Community:

Evaluation

Answer 25

• Overall, divisions in the black community were the least important obstacle to the achievement of civil rights. However, this should still be acknowledged as a significant obstacle.
• For example, Du Bois and another activist Garvey failed to work together due to Du Bois’ criticisms of Garvey’s extreme views on how to obtain civil rights which demonstrates a lack of co-operation to achieve a common goal.

Question 26

Divisions in the Black Community:

Evaluation+

Answer 26

Lack of political influence is still a more important obstacle because without political influence it would be almost physically impossible for black-Americans to achieve civil rights, whilst divisions in the black community only hindered achieving this at most.