Segregation

Question 1

What is Segregation?

Answer 1

The word segregate means to set apart for others.

In this case, almost all public facilities in the United States were segregated and labelled “Whites” and “Colored” and were to be used by those races. The laws that made these legal and widespread are known today as the Jim Crow laws.

This system was seen as legal as long as the facilities were ‘separate but equal’. This was not the case, as the facilities given to colored people were almost always inferior to those given to whites.

Question 2

Where was Booker T. Washington born? How did this affect him later in life?

Answer 2

He was born as a slave in the state of Virginia.

His experiences in the South as a slave influenced his later views of moving the African American race forward.

Question 3

What were the views of Booker T. Washington?

Answer 3

He believed in teaching African Americans the basic knowledge required to be a citizen of the US and work.

He believed that economic freedom would free the African American race, and that obtaining civil rights could be decided later.

This meant that Washington wanted to make a compromise with the white American population and let the African Americans give the needs and wishes of white Americans.

Question 4

What was founded by Booker T. Washington?

Answer 4

Tuskegee Institute

Question 5

Where was W.E.B. Du Bois born? How did this affect him later in life?

Answer 5

He was born as a free man in the state of Massachusetts.

His experience in the North as a free man influenced his later views of moving the African American race forward.

Question 6

What were the views of W.E.B. Du Bois?

Answer 6

He believed in full education for African Americans would lead the race forward.

He supported the idea that giving higher education and leadership capacity to African Americans who were most able would be able to lead the race to new heights.

This meant that Du Bois wanted African Americans to receive civil and political rights immediately and he was not going to make any compromises to white Americans.

Question 7

What was founded by W.E.B. Du Bois?

Answer 7

NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

Question 8

How many African Americans served in segregated units in the US Armed Forces during World War II.

Answer 8

Almost 1 million

Question 9

How did African Americans fight in WWII?

Answer 9

They were not given any training in weapons and combat.

They served with distinction at the end

Question 10

What was “Double Victory”?

Answer 10

A phrase used to show how African Americans were fighting for their rights at home and fighting for their country abroad.

It was started by the Pittsburgh Courier

Question 11

Were the soldiers treated differently after returning from Europe seeing how races had more freedom there?

Answer 11

No, they returned to a society that was still heavily segregated.

Question 12

What were the Tuskegee Airmen?

Answer 12

An all-black flying regiment from the Tuskegee Institute that was part of the 99th Fighter Squadron.

They fought combat missions and escorted bombers during World War II.

Question 13

What were the implications of African Americans in World War II?

Answer 13

African Americans showed that they deserved to be treated equally since they fought for their country in a World War in which they won.

Question 14

What was the Harlem Renaissance?

Answer 14

A literary, musical, artistic and intellectual movement. It gave a new identity to black people, and many stars came out during this period. This includes Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Langston Hughes, artists whom we still recognize to this day.

Literature, music and art made during this period was seen all over the world, and not just by the black population. It was so popular that ‘Harlem’ became popular worldwide as a bit of a brand name.

This showed the world that African Americans could do anything that white Americans could, even in the fields of literature and arts.

Question 15

How many parts were there for the Great Migration?

Answer 15

2

The first one happened between 1910 and 1940. The second one happened between 1940 and 1970.

Question 16

What was the Great Migration?

Answer 16

The movement of 6 million African Americans from the South to the North and later the West of the US. They moved from the countryside to urban cities.

Racism pushed them away from the South and job opportunities created by white Americans joining the armed forces in World War I and World War II attracted them to the North.

The Great Migration resulted in the formation of black communities within cities, the most well-known of these being Harlem in New York City. By the end of the Great Migration, there was a huge decrease of African Americans in the South and an equally large increase in cities in the North.

Question 17

What was the significance of Jesse Owens?

Answer 17

Jesse Owens became the first African American to receive 4 gold medals in the Olympics. This happened during Hitler’s regime, and Hitler used the Olympics to show how the white ‘Aryan’ race was superior by expecting that all of the German athletes would win. This showed the world that black people were just as capable in doing everything as white people.

Question 18

What was the significance of Jackie Robinson?

Answer 18

Jackie Robinson was the first black athlete to play Major League Baseball in the 20th Century as part of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was racially abused during games, but he let his performance speak for itself. He showed that no matter what was put upon him, it would not stop him from giving his best in his games.

Question 19

What was the significance of the Green Book?

Answer 19

The Green Book, created in 1936 by Victor Hugo Green, was a guide used by African Americans on the road to find various facilities on the road that accepted African Americans. These included hotels, restaurants, gas stations and public toilets. Some of these were meant for whites only, and African Americans would get harassed and arrested if they went into these places. The book also showed various sundown towns; towns that prohibited blacks from entering after sunset.

It was seen as a survival tool, as if they did not have this book, there was no guarantee that they would be alive by the end of the journey on the road. And the time when this Green Book was not required by African Americans would have been the time when African Americans had equal opportunities and privileges as white Americans, and therefore, African Americans could go wherever they pleased.