To what extent did the changing pattern of settlement and segregation impact on civil rights issues? Flashcards
Plessy v Ferguson
segregation created ‘separate but equal’ treatment and so did not go against the 14th Amendment
Why did mass migration in Harlem happen?
• BA Philip Payton and his company (the Afro-American Realty Company) sold BAs houses - this helped fuel the Great Migration
o Philip died 1917 of liver cancer but between 1920-1930, 87,000 BAs arrived from the Old South and West Indies and 118,000 WAs moved out
Claude McKay, BA poet, said Harlem was the…
• “black metropolis and the black capital of the world”
The New York Herald Tribune said that…
• Harlem Renaissance was the development of distinct black culture - music, song, poetry, literature
o Announced by the New York Herald Tribune in 1925
Name some people involved in the Harlem Renaissance.
♣ Countee Cullon
♣ Langston Hughes
♣ Aaron Douglas
Why did Harlem stop being so successful?
Stopped by the Great Depression, not really in effect again until after WW2
Describe overcrowding in Harlem.
o In 1920s there were 215,000 people per square mile whereas in 2000 there were 2,000 people per square mile
Describe life expectancy in Harlem.
o Life expectancy for a 15 year old girl resident of Harlem same as a 15 year old in India
♣ 65% chance of surviving until 65
♣ Black man had a 37% chance of surviving until the same age
What happened to Harlem in the 1960s?
o Harlem because an important base for radical black Americans like the Nation of Islam, Malcolm X and his followers, the Black Panther party etc but at some time was the focus of black culture and a strong religious life
What happened to Harlem after the 1960s?
o the low housing prices led to an influx of middle class BAs, Asians and Hispanics
Describe what caused Tulsa
- 30th May 1921, a BA Dick Rowland was accused of sexually assaulting a white girl in a lift and was arrested
- 31st May the local newspaper, the Tulsa Tribune, published a fictitious story claiming he had scratched the hands and face of the girl
- By 10.30pm that evening, 2,000 WA surrounded the prison and attempted to lynch them
- Black sympathisers went to the prison to protect him
What happened in Tulsa?
- Greenwood attacked by a white mob by the end of the night
- 200-300 BAs were killed
- 1,000 black businesses and homes were burned
- Half of Tulsa’s black population (2,500) left the town after
When was Tulsa?
1921
The first two riots were due to?
Lack of civil rights.
Chicago was the worst riot in…
• Chicago was the worst riot in the Red Summer
What ‘caused’ Chicago?
• 27th July 1919, with the temperature of 30 degrees
• 17 year old Eugene Williams entered a public breach usually reserved for white people (the 27th street beach)
• Several white bathers attacked him, letting him die by drowning
A BA was arrested for the murder and a group of BAs attacked the police
What actually caused Chicago?
o The black population of Chicago had doubled between 1916 and 1918
o BAs not allowed to join trade unions
o Competition for housing divided Chicago
What happened in Chicago?
- Confined to the South side of Chicago where 90% of BAs lived
- Lasted for 5 days and led to 36 deaths, 25 of which were BA
- 537 wounded
- Homes of BAs attacked and 1,000 were made homeless
- Brought to an end by the Illinois National Guard and a large thunderstorm
When was Chicago?
1919
What caused the Watts Riot?
- The protest was against poor housing, unemployment, and police harassment
- Marquette Fyre, a young BA motorist, was arrested by a highway patrolman
- Led to a large scale riot
What happened during the Watts Riot?
- Watts riot was in central LA, 11-15th August 1965
- Over 3,500 black rioters participated
- Rioters overturned and burned cars, looted grocery stores, liquor stores, department stores and pawnshops
- Over 14,000 California National Guard troops were mobilised and a curfew zone of over 45 miles was established
- 34 killed and 1,032 reported injuries
Why did the Newark Riot occur?
- At the time, the rioting was blamed on the exceptionally hot weather but it was more to do with housing segregation
- In 1967, Newark had the highest percentage of substandard housing in the USA and the second highest percentage of crime and infant mortality
- The mayor’s selection of secretary to the Newark school board and the plan to build the New Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry on a 50 acre site that BAs thought should be used to solve the housing problem also created tensions
What happened during the Newark Riot?
• The arrest of a BA taxi driver charged with assaulting a police officer led to 4 days of rioting
• The National Guard were deployed - on day 3 they opened fire on the rioters
• 26 BAs had been killed including 10 year old Edward Moses
• 1000 BAs injured and $10 million of damage had been done to property
o The Kerner commission to report on the causes of the riots
US national gross profit…
• US national gross profit rose from 227 billion in 1940 to 355 billion in 1950
Describe WA and BA income in 1950 and 1960.
o WA income $4,392 1950
o BA income $2,461 1950
o WA income $5,835 1960
o BA income $3,233 1960
In the 1950s…
• the USA’s 12 largest cities gained 1.8 million BA residents
What did the Federal Housing Administration do?
• The Federal Housing Administration supported anti-Jewish and anti-black restrictive covenants on new suburban housing
o Aimed to make sure neighbourhoods had racial cohesion
o Actually, BAs forced to live in privately owned rental accommodation in inner city areas, became rundown racial ghettos
Describe the effects of the Public Housing Act under Truman?
- Many cities failed to provide the public housing meant to be provided under the Public Housing Act under Truman
- Even in areas where this did happen, it was usually high rise blocks
Describe Levittowns.
- Levittowns were purpose built new communities of affordable private housing for WAs
- 17.000 houses each developed mainly in New York and Pennsylvania
- ⅗ families in America owned a home by 1960 - an all time high
- 1950-60 - 18 million people moved to the suburbs
During 1950-1960…
1950-60 - 18 million people moved to the suburbs
Brown v Board of Education…
• 1954 - the landmark case of Brown v Board of Education, the US Supreme Court decided racially segregated schools were unconstitutional
Alexander v Holmes County Board
• 1969 case Alexander v Holmes County School Board demanded racial integration at once
Charlotte Mecklenburg case
• 1971 Charlotte Mecklenburg case, court demanded that black and white people should be bussed into schools from segregated areas
Describe desegregation in schools.
• 1969 - 68% of BA children attended segregated schools
o 1974 only 8%
