civil rights

WW2:

Black soldiers didn’t experience segregation in Europe: treated as equals, more social cohesion among races
Fighting nazis inspired double V campaign
Some black army figures

Main problems:

Black population became increasingly urbanised —> city life exposed them to segregated services
Northern black populations expanded 5-13% of total population —> had equal voting rights = increasing electoral impact
Black unemployment fell from under 1 mil to under 200,000 by 1945 —> highlighted unequal pay and social conditions
Number of black Americans entering college 3x —> better education = able to protest more effectively

‘To secure these rights’ report:

Lynching: over 300 in Texas, Alabama, Georgia etc. between 1882 and 1945. 6 in 1946 alone
Police brutality: widespread racism in police force. Practices like bullwhipping
Lack of voting rights: ‘Jim crow’ laws limited voter registration (only taxpayers and educated enough to answer questions about constitution could vote) = only 18% of black adults in southern states voted in 1944 elections
Armed service: the US army and navy segregated and black people 10 times less likely to become officers in the army
Employment and services: wages for blacks avg 47 cents/hour compared to 65/hour for whites. Segregated services, 1 white doctor for 750 white patients but only 1 black doctor for every 3,377 patients

E.O 9981 — desegregation of military and guaranteed equality
- Black people in the army would have better pay and conditions
- Executive order = doesn’t go through congress so won’t get rejected
- Presidential challenges from republican and progressive parties, needed black votes — 1948, ⅔ of black Americans vote for Truman
1949 inauguration ceremony was first to have unsegregated seats
Federal housing administration built more homes in deprived areas and refused loans for construction of segregated housing
Black American Ralph Bunche appointed Un ambassador, William Hastie federal judge
- Black Americans in gov position
- Role models for others
E.O 10308 set up CGCC to ban giving gov contracts to discriminating companies
- Setting example for businesses
E.O 9980 guaranteed no discrimination in federal civil services jobs
- Black Americans in gov position

Positives:

Both:

FEPC set up but was underfunded by congress
Military equality was not fully achieved until 1960s
Truman’s executive orders mainly only affected federal bodies because it was all he could do

Negatives:

Split the democratic party
Discriminating companies still won gov contracts
Dixiecrats became politically strong in the south
Lynching continued in the south
Demolition of poor quality housing actually reduced number of available homes for black Americans

Smith V Allright:

Blacks were unable to vote in primary elections in Texas, primaries decided who the presidential candidates would be
This was unconstitutional according to 15th amendment (voting rights)
This decision applied to all states of the USA

Morgan V Virginia:

Sweatt V Painter:

Unis in Texas were all white or all black, Herman Sweatt challenged the right to apply to the all white law school and state courts ordered the creation of a law school for blacks
Unconstitutional under 14th amendment because new school was inferior to the old school
Applied nationwide, but only to graduate education

Brown V board of education of Topeka:

Schools in Kansas were all white or all black and spending on all black schools were far lower than white ones
Unconstitutional under the 14th amendment
Brown was vitally important because it directly challenged the ruling in Plessy V Ferguson and marked a strengthening support for civil rights in the supreme court which had reached a unanimous decision decision and started clear opposition to any form of segregation

Earl Warren appointed by Eisenhower became new chief Justice in 1953. He was much more sympathetic to civil rights

Key arguments from the cases (e.g Brown):

Segregation meant black children not as educated as whites
Black American relying on courts to uphold constitutional rights
Plessy V Ferguson ‘separate but equal’ education, but education in Southern states =/= due to limited funds. Only mixed schools could lead to fair spending of resources
Racist segregation did not reflect modern American values of fighting for democracy in WW2 / cold war

What had changed outside the supreme court (due to decision in Brown):

Warren had shown support for civil rights
2nd decision ‘Brown II’ in 1955 ordered faster desegregation
NAACP felt confident to bring more cases to supreme court
KK which virtually disappeared became active again
1957 — only 750 / 6,300 southern school districts mixed
Creation of white citizen’s councils
Emmett Till was lynched in Mississippi in 1955
250,000 people joined the WCC by 1956
Alabama outlawed NAACP and 48 branches in Louisiana closed after police harassment

Baton rouge bus boycotts 1953:

14,000 residents refused to board buses after overturned desegregation and used taxis or cars (operation free lift)
Ordinance 251: reduced number of white seats but black riders still had to remain standing if no black seats (agreed by Jemison)
Inspired 1955 Montgomery bus boycott

Journey of reconciliation:

8 black, 8 white men planned to ride on segregated public transport in Virginia, North Carolina etc. after Morgan V Virginia 1946
2 week trip — sat side by side, or black at front and white at back
Several arrests, judge condemned white men for being involved