Racism, Law, Injustice Exam II

Segregation

The systemic act of separating and denying public facilities, services, and resources based on race

Types of Segregation

De jure (by law); imposed Black codes, Jim Crow laws. De facto (in fact); segregation that exists in reality, without the sanction of the law, “predominantly white schools”, redlining, gentrification, etc.

Goals of Segregation

Maintain white supremacy, create racial caste system, subdue and demote African-Americans by denying equal access

Philosophy of Segregation

Rooted in the ideology that Blacks are inherently inferior and cannot participate in society without subjugation, that interracial marriage/mixing would ruin the purity of the white race

Aspects of life affected by Segregation

Housing, education, employment, transportation, voting, marriage, mental/physical health

Black Codes

Discriminatory laws enacted after the Civil War to restrict freedoms and rights of newly freed Black people and ensure their availability as a cheap labor force after emancipation; restrictions on voting, owning property, testifying in court, vagrancy laws allowed the arrest and forced labor of unemployed Blacks

Mechanisms to enforce Segregation

Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, economic practices (loans, jobs, etc), intimidating and violent policing practices, hate groups, disenfranchisement

Plessy v Ferguson

“Separate but equal”, SCT upheld Louisiana Separate Car Act, requiring railroads to separate Black and white passenger cars. Legal basis for Jim Crow.

Legislation and SCOTUS - Segregation

Separate Coach Bill/Senate Bill One (OK) mandated segregation in public transport. Mississippi Education Statute prohibited teaching white and Black students in the same school, educators would be fined. North Carolina Prisons Statute established prisons to be segregated.

Jim Crow on Voting

Aimed to suppress Black voters and sustain disenfranchisement; Poll taxes, literacy tests, Grandfather Clauses, intimidation tactics (lynchings, etc)

White Nationalism Goals

Ethnocentrism that advocates for a white nation through the exclusion of people of color

Great Replacement Theory

White nationalist fear that whites will be replaced by Black and Brown immigrants, “white genocide”

Targets of White Nationalism

Immigrants, Black people, Brown people, queer people, Jewish people, Muslims, women

White Nationalist groups

Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, American Nazi Party, Blood Tribe, White Aryan Resistance, Nationalist Movement

New Orleans Massacre - White Nationalist Incident

1866, Lousiana Constitutional Convention,, ex-Confederates opened fire on a parade of 130 Black men celebrating the convention and attacking those inside the convention hall

Wilmington Insurrection - White Nationalist Incident

1898, Angry at the local election results, former Confederate Alfred Waddell led 2,000 insurrectionists against the elected officials, Black homes and businesses, and installed himself as mayor

Tulsa Race Massacre - White Nationalist Incident

1921, Began after thousands gathered to lynch a Black teenager. Small group of armed Black men tried to prevent the lynching, white mob started attacking. Approx. 300 Black Tulsans were murdered, Greenwood (Black Wall Street) set ablaze

Alabama Baptist Church Bombing - White Nationalist Incident

1963, Klan members bombed an Alabama church killing 4 children. Black residents protested that evening and were met with more violence from police.

Greensboro Massacre - White Nationalist Incident

1979, At an anti-Klan rally, 40 members of the KKK and American Nazi Party arrived with guns and fired into the crowd after protestors threw rocks at their cars.

Michael Donald - White Nationalist Incident

1981, 19 y.o. Michael Donald lynched by KKK in Mobile, AL. One of the last recorded lynchings in the US

Trump - First Term Reflections of White Nationalism

Deportation and Immigrant Polices - Increase of ICE Detainers and border agents, termination of DACA, building Border Wall.

Muslim Ban

Defense of Kyle Rittenhouse - teen who traveled across state lines from IL to WI, killed 2 people at BLM protest, fraternized with members of the Proud Boys, flashed white power symbols.

Told Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” during 2020 Presidential Debate

Signed EO restricting travel to US from Middle Eastern and East African countries, cutting back refugee admissions

Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division rescinded Title IX protections for transgender students

BLM Ideology

Fighting racial inequality and police brutality, promote anti-racism, highlight racism and injustice in society, institutions, and policies

BLM Founders

Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi. Founded in 2013, in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer

Police Brutality Incidents

Rodney King - 1991

Trayvon Martin - 2012 (17 y.o)

Eric Garner - 2014

Tamir Rice - 2014 (12 y.o)

Philando Castile - 2016

Elijah McClain - 2019

George Floyd - 2020

Ahmaud Arbery - 2020

Police Brutality Incidents - Black Women

Pearlie Golden - 2014

Mya Hall - 2015

Korean Gaines (and her 5 y.o son) - 2016

Pamela Turner - 2019

Brianna Taylor - 2020

Sonya Massey - 2024

Societal Racism

Susan Smith - Murdered her 3 y.o and 5 y.o sons by driving her car into a lake with them in the back seat. She claimed a Black man had kidnapped her son during a carjacking

Bonnie Sweeten - Claimed she and her daughter were kidnapped by two Black men when she was actually vacationing in FL with money she stole from her employer

Amanda Knox - Blamed a Black man, Patrick Lumumba, when she was accused of murdering her roommate, leaving Lumumba’s local business bankrupt

Bethan Storro - Threw acid in her own face and blamed a Black woman for it

Contemporary Trump - Race and Equality

Trump Admin preparing to revoke the legal status of migrants allowed to legally come to the US under Biden

Increased ICE harassments and arrests

Department of Education instructs colleges and universities receiving federal funds to end racial consideration in admissions

Trump campaign has promised to eradicate public and private DEI policies

Censoring academic discussions of race and sex