the civil rights background Flashcards
when did slavery end in usa?
1865 , it was abolished after the north were victorious against the southern states.
what was the “great migration?”
it was when a mass amount of black people migrated to the north, this peaked during the 20’s
what were jim crow laws?
the determination to control black people in society led to a series of jim crow laws which enforced segregation by promoting “separate but equal” - known as de jure segregation.
what is de facto segregation?
happened outside of law, for example black people naturally separating themselves from whites out of choice.
how did WW2 impact civil rights?
- double V campaign; meaning victory in war and with the civil rights movement .
- competition for houses increased
- 1940’s largest wave of black migration to the north - 1 million approx.
how were the black community exposed to violence?
discrimination was maintained through a variety of methods:
- lynching
- KKK
who was Emmett till?
murdered in 1955:
- black 14 year old from chicago visiting relatives in Mississippi
- he flirted with a white waitress
- he was beaten to death by the husband of the waitress and friend
- his body was found in the river
- an all white jury aquitted the two men even though there was witnesses
- gathered nation wide media attention
what were the three main organisations advocating civil rights during this time?
NAACP - national association for the advancement of coloured people
CORE - congress of racial equality
SNCC - student non-violent coordinating committee.
social inferiority of black people at this time?
- segregation of public facilities demonstrate inequalities
- back of the bus
- coloured only water fountains
- coloured only restrooms.
what did MLK remark about the effects of social inferiority on a person?
- when he was a young man it made him determined to hate every white person.”
how many black people were unable to vote during the 50’s?
80%
how did southern whites try and prevent blacks from voting?
- threatened black voters with violence and intimidation
- voting registrars would close or ask impossible questions such as “how many bubbles are in a bar of soap”
when did Rosa Parks finally get the vote in Alabama and what did she have to do?
- 1945
- she had to pay $16.50 poll tax which was extortinately high for many impoverished blacks.
economic status of many black people during the 50’s?
- although the black middle class was beginning to grow
- most southern blacks were economically inferior to whites
what was the main reason for inequality within economic status?
- educational differences
- e.g. 1949 black schools were given $43 to educate a black child (on average) and $179 for a white child a year.
