Studied by 7 people
13th Amendment
31 Jan 1865; abolished slavery
Segregation
The enforced separation of racial groups in many aspects of life
President Wilson and segregation
Introduced segregation in government offices and the White House.
Plessy v. Ferguson
"Separate but equal" doctrine supreme court upheld the constitutionality of Jim Crow Laws. Black facilities were yet invariably inferior to white facilites.
'Red Summer' riots
1919; there was about 25 anti-black riots, often set off by police injustice, in which hundereds were killed. The worst were in Chicago, not the South. Working-class white resented black competition for jobs and housing, especially after soldiers retunred after WWI.
Life in the South for Black Americans
Black teachers were paid less and schools were often dilapidated and poorly equipped.
Jim Crow Laws
Laws designed to enforce segregation of blacks from whites
Voting restrictions for African Americans
African Americans were: literacy tests, killed, threatened, vote in privacy so no help can be given, had to own your own property.
Voting stats for blacks
Fell from 130,334 in 1896 to 1,342 in 1904.
UNIA
Universal Negro Improvement Association - founded by Marcus Garvey in 1914. Collapsed after he was deported in '27.
Lynching
Between 1915 and 1930, there were 579 black men hanged. They did not need to commit crime.
KKK membership
5 million members by 1925. Many white northeners and westerners resented blacks, Catholics and Jewish immigrants from Europe.
Ku Klux Klan
White supremacist organisation (grew up in Civil War, revived in 1915) that was heavily against blacks. In the South, it was more likely to include people with political power (state governers, policemen and the army).
Black migration
Between 1917-32, blacks began escaping to the North, hoping to find jobs in industrial cities like Chicago and Detroit. Labour force began to shrink in the South
Cause of black migration
WW1 led to a rising need of workers in munitions; blacks could vote; unlikely to be lynched
Segregation in cities
Low paid jobs (replacing white workers who pushed for higher wages)
Accommodation was in the most crowded, run-down part of the city. Higher rent than for a white person
Some black professionals lived in their own black communites
Impact of black migration
Cities with high black population had significant political influence; churches became the bases for civil rights protests; migrants dislodged white workers.
NAACP
Established in 1910 by William du Bois; tried to promote black equality through the law courts. Didn't attract much support or achieve much succes in the South
Positive impact of New Deal on blacks
Shifted black vote from Republican (abolished slavery) to Democrats (promised New Deal). 1m black Americans obtained jobs through the New Deal.
Negative impact of New Deal on blacks
Roosevelt done little for civil rights; agencies constantly moved off black people from projects.
Protesting against New Deal
Communists in Northern cities championed the cause of all workers and demanded relief funds should be allocated equally between blacks and whites.
Positive impact of WWII on blacks
NAACP membership rose from 50000 in 1940 to 450000 in 1945
1941, FDR issued Exec Order 8802 - ended discrimination of race in defence industry and government.
Black vets used GI Bill to go to college and expand black middle class
Negative impact of WWII on blacks
American forces remained segregated after the war
Trade unions continued to exclude blacks
1943 there was 250 'hate strikes'.
Impact of President Truman on civil rights
Set up 'A Committee on Civil Rights' in 1946 which called for an end to segregation
Issued an exec order in '48 ending segregation in the armed forces
Appointed equal opportunities in federal bureaucrac
Actions were limited and aimed to win the black northen vote.
From legal challenge to direct action
Black American protesters used non-violent protest, boycotting and sit-ins to draw public attention to discrimination.
Separatists
Believed that blacks will never have true equality with whites and they should stop fighting for it.
NAACP actions
Walter White worked with trade unionists, churches and white liberals to forge a coalition to persuade the House of Representatives to promote anti-lynching laws
Mobilised southern blacks to campaign for the abolition of the poll tax
NAACP membership
9,000 in 1917 -> 90,000 in 1919 -> 600,000 in 1946
Thursgood Marshall
Special counsel to the NAACP and convinced the supreme court to overturn segregation with the 1954 ruling Brown v. the Board of Education.
Smith v. Allwright
1944; made it easier for black Americans to vote
Supreme Court 1950
Ruled that a black student could attend a white Texan law school that was superior to the local black one.
Brown v. Board of Education
1954; reversed Plessy v Ferguson, ruling that schools should be segregated.
CORE
Congress of Racial Equality; their methods were more militant than the NAACP (sit-ins at segregated Chicago restaurants/Freedom Rides).
Achievements were limited by 1955, but paved the way for future civil rights activism.
Rules of non-violent protest
Dress well to look respectable; not to be loud or abusive; no fighting back
Montgomery Bus Boycott
In 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, Dr. Martin L. King led a boycott of city busses. After 11 months the Supreme Court ruled that segregation of public transportation was illegal.
Situation in 1955
Many universities and colleges were desegregated; the major leagues in sport were desegregated; more southern black Americans could vote; While segregation was in retreat across much of America, many white Americans in the Deep South were determined to maintain white supremacy.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Established the Southern Christian Conference Leadership Conference in 1957. He aimed to end segregation and gain political equality for Southern blacks.
The Greensboro sit-in
Black students politely order food from restaurant, not served, sat in place for days & days, gathering supporters.
Freedom rides
1961; bus journeys challenging racial segregation in the South
King's importance
He was generally recognised as the leader of the civil rights movement. He performed well on television (as proved by his 'I Have a Dream' speech in '63 in front of 250k marchers).
Kennedy's commitment
Supported Robert Kennedy who worked to desegregate transportation and other facilities; supported a wide-ranging Civil Rights bill, which got bogged down in Congress.
Johnson's presidency
In '64, he pushed Kennedy's bill through Congress (set up the Equal Employment Commission); ensured desegregation of schools and public facilities; 1965 Voting Act; 1968 Civil Rights Act
Northern riots
1964 -> northern/western cities experienced riots in the ghettos. 1965 -> Six days of rioting in Watts, LA: 34 killed and 900 injured 1967-8 -> National Advisory Committee on Civil Disorder, headed by Governor Kerner, warned of the danger of the USA splitting into two warring civilisations - black and white
Malcolm X
Promoted black supremacy as the most famous preacher of the Nation, NOI membership rose to 40,000
Stokely Carmichael
Popularised the slogans 'Black Power', 'Black is beautiful', and 'Back to Africa'. 'If we don't get justice we're going to tear this country apart', he declared.
Black Panther Party
Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966:
Willing to ally with white radicals
Symbols were the shoot-out and the gun
Members engaged in petty crime and sought confrontation with police officers
Won respect in the ghettos, especiallty for their emphasis on self-help.
Establsihed clinics to advise on health, welfare and legal rights.
They also provided childcare for working mothers and set up a Free Breakfast programme
King's northern strategy
King began to stress economic justice, demanding a fairer distribution of wealth. However, he failed to arouse the conscience of northern white Americans.
Economic justice
King demanded a fairer distribution of wealth. Most north American whites had no wish to pay higher taxes and no wish to live next door to black Americans. By 1967, King admitted that his Poor People's Campaign wasn't working as he failed to arouse northern black Americans or the conscience of northern white Americans.
King's assassination
Achievements of civil rights movements
In 1980, there was more pressure from federal government to make equality actually happen. A black American upper and middle class had developed to a significant extent. Black Americans had several routes to success via sport or entertainment, as well as through the professions. Home ownership among blacks increased and the number of black graduates went up too.
Limits to success
The passing of the Civil RIghts Act meant that many people felt like the issue had been resolved;minority quota; the poor were getting poore; poor schools; gang culture
Native Americans
Government policies shifted between breaking up or supporting tribal existence. Roosevelt reversed the trend of assimilation under his Indian New Deal, but wanted tribes run in a 'constitutional way'.
Native American problems
Many lived on reservations
Unemployment was 10x the national rate
Life expectancy was 20yrs lower than the national average
Suicide was 100x higher than the rate for whites
Alcoholism was a widespread problem
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Encouraged Native Americans to move to towns and cities for work, offering job training and housing, but disrupting tribal culture.
Termination
A policy by which NAs were freed from federal and state laws, but tribal land once held in trust for them by the government would now be open for sale.
Issues in tribal homelands
Many had been forced to relocate following the Indian Removal Act of 1830
Federal gov. forced many treaties with individual tribes giving land and money for their removal
Indian Civil Rights Act
1968; banned tribes from restricting the civil rights of tribal members. It didn't do anything to redress issues NAs had with federal government.
American Indian Movement
Mostly young urban people
Took a more radical anti-federal stance, slogan "Red Power"
Sit-ins, demonstrations and occupations
Often targeted disputed land for occupation, also occupied federal buildings
Gains and limitations for Native Americans
Nixon sympthised with NA campaingers and felt it should be possible to make positive changes for 830k people but not possible for 22,600,000 blacks.
!972 Indian Education Act (funds for tribal schools)
1974 Indian Financing Act (lent tribes funding)
1975 Indian Self-Determination (kept the BIA but contracted out services such as health and education)
Voting Rights Act extended
Returning land
1970 -> Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo tribe 1971 -> ANCS transferred 40m acres of land and $462.5m to Native Alaskans
No overall solution to the land issues and various states: Hawaii in '71 continued to evict Indians from land if the state wanted it for building or other use
Bracero programme
1942-64; guaranteed incoming Mexicans the same wages as existing workers, but did not always work. 4.6m contracts were signed. Mexicans were forced to work for lower wages, other farm wages resented it, seeing it as them taking their jobs.
Issues for Hispanic Americans
Appalling living and working conditions
Discrimination
Poor government provision
Deportation
Operation Wetback
A US government drive to find illegal Mexican immigrants and return them to Mexico.
Cesar Chavez
Set up a farm workers' union and organised strikes, marches and protests
Also gained publicity by fasting in protest
Travelled widely, speaking to large rallies in cities such as LA
Reies Lopez Tijerina
Organised protests about Mexican land rights in NM
Held marches, mass demonstrations and camp-ins on National Forest land
Made a citizen's arrest of an abusive district attorney in '67. Went wrong and a gun battle followed.
Rodolfo Gonzales
His Crusade for Justice offered a version of black pride, stressing the importance of racial identity
Influenced a student walk-out in LA (1966) and much of the direct action that followed
Jose Angel Gutierrez
La Raza Unida party set out to encourage Hispanic people to register to vote, and then provide them with party candidates to vote for, who would support their interests if elected. Begun in Texas, spread to Cali and Colorado.
The Brown Berets
Set up in 1967, East L.A.
Campaigned against police brutality and led school walk-outs
By '68, there were Brown Beret members in most urban centres with a Hispanic population
Gains and limitations for Hispanics
Legal acceptance was slow; ruled as equal citizens in '54
CCAA Act said all Cubans who lived in the uSA for a year were permanent residents (no other Hispanic group was given this right)
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education fund was set up to pursue civil rights in courts
1974 Equal Opportunities Act provided more bilingual teaching in schools
1975 Voting Rights Act extensions extended rights to NAs, Asians and hispanic groups.
Chave made significant difference to conditions of farm workers
Gay rights
Congress stated it as a mental illness in the 1950s
'Lavender Scare' rooted them out; thousands lost their jobs
Illegal in every state
Decriminalised in 2003
Stonewall Inn
28 June 1969; bar was raided for supposedly breaking liquor licensing laws. Policemen became rough ad 400 people began to fight back.
Gay rights movement
Pride marches held in several cities on 28 Aug 1970 (10k marchers in NY)
Success for gay rights
1974: Kathy Kozachenko became the first openly gay candidate in public office
1977: Harvey Milk elected to office in San Fran
Limitations for gay rights
Support at a federal level was slow
1979 to 1981, governor of Cali appointed 4 opennly gay state judges
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