The quest for civil rights, 1917-1980
(2.1) Black American civil rights
1917-1955
Why fight for civil rights?
· Inferior lifestyles
· Black Americans faced segregation, discrimination and violence at the time of the end of the
First World War.
· In the South, discrimination was enshrined in law. In the North and the West, discrimination
was far more casual but was still severe.
· They were last hired, first fired and were paid the least.
· Their low pay meant that many could only afford to live in certain run-down areas, forming
ghettos.
· Segregation reached all the way to the top of government.
· There were about 25 anti-black race riots in 1919 - the worst was in Chicago, not the South.
· 1913 president Wilson introduced segregation in government.
Life in the South
Jim Crow laws
· 1917 these were introduced
· With slavery gone, white southerners felt less in control.
· Jim Crow laws segregated every aspect of day-to-day life - separate public facilities, schools,
shops.
· Many workplaces segregated their workers.
· Subtle restrictions were placed on some aspects of life e.g., voters were required to pass a
literacy test to vote where black voters were given harder passages to read.
· In some states voters had to be home owners - most blacks were not.
· Any black voters who did turn out to vote were often confronted with gangs of whites
waiting to beat them up outside the polling station.
· In Louisiana, the number of black voters fell by 99% 1896-1904.
Lynching and the Ku Klux Klan
· Created in 1917
· Some whites thought that blacks needed terrorising into obedience.
· 579 black men were lynched between 1915 and 1930. Many had not committed a crime and
some were not even accused of anything specific.
· In the South, lynching’s were advertised as a public event.
· The KKK was a white supremacist organisation reformed in 1915 to oppose any non-WASPs
but it especially hated black people.
· Membership peaked at up to eight million by 1925. Some, especially in the South, were
powerful politicians (even state governors). Members wore hoods to disguise their identity,
allowing the authorities to claim they couldn’t identify members even though it was
common knowledge who they were.
· Most of the violence was perpetrated by men but women had a role in instilling white
supremacy into children.
, Federal intervention in southern discrimination
· Black people lost political power as their voting rights were restricted.
· The Federal Government itself hindered black equality. In 1896, the Supreme Court had
ruled in Plessy vs Ferguson that the principle of ‘separate but equal’ facilities was
constitutional.
· In truth, ‘separate' was very rarely ‘equal’ but each example of segregation had to be taken
to court to be struck down.
· President Wilson was a southerner and supported segregation.
· Harding did speak out against lynching’s and was generally in favour of civil rights. However,
he and his successors stuck to his mantra of laissez-faire and did not take federal action.
· Once the Depression hit, the government lost any focus it had on civil rights.
Moving North, 1917-32
Migration
· A wave of black migration, known as the Great Migration, took place from the South to the
North and the East.
· Black migrants moved to industrial cities like New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and so
on where work was more readily available and discrimination was less severe.
· Workers were needed in northern factories to produce war goods. Some employers
advertised in southern newspapers and offered housing, transport and good wages.
· Migration accelerated as people joined friends and family.
· When people arrived, they found more segregation that they expected, especially later in
the period.
· The jobs were low-paid, sometimes replacing white unionised workers. The housing was of
poor quality and the rents were higher than what a white would be charged.
· There were variations - not all blacks lived in ghettos, not all landlords and employers were
exploitative, etc.
· The general trend was that black workers in the North were not treated equally and
continued to live difficult lives.
· By 1920, nearly 40%of African Americans were in north cities of Chicago, Detroit, New York,
etc.
The effects of migration
· The northern cities experienced population increases.
· Black people could become elected politicians if they settled in voting districts with large
black populations. Ironically, ghettoisation gave black voters representation.
· Politicians began to listen to black voters’ demands once they realised the size of the black
electorate - it kept the Mayor of Chicago in power in 1919.
· The replacement of white union jobs with cheaper exploited black labour led to resentment
among white workers and enabled employers to drive down standards in the workplace by
threatening employees with replacement.
· In the South, the labour force shrunk and there was a tendency to assume that those who
stayed were accepting Jim Crow and that the others had voted with their feet.
The New Deal
President Roosevelt
(2.1) Black American civil rights
1917-1955
Why fight for civil rights?
· Inferior lifestyles
· Black Americans faced segregation, discrimination and violence at the time of the end of the
First World War.
· In the South, discrimination was enshrined in law. In the North and the West, discrimination
was far more casual but was still severe.
· They were last hired, first fired and were paid the least.
· Their low pay meant that many could only afford to live in certain run-down areas, forming
ghettos.
· Segregation reached all the way to the top of government.
· There were about 25 anti-black race riots in 1919 - the worst was in Chicago, not the South.
· 1913 president Wilson introduced segregation in government.
Life in the South
Jim Crow laws
· 1917 these were introduced
· With slavery gone, white southerners felt less in control.
· Jim Crow laws segregated every aspect of day-to-day life - separate public facilities, schools,
shops.
· Many workplaces segregated their workers.
· Subtle restrictions were placed on some aspects of life e.g., voters were required to pass a
literacy test to vote where black voters were given harder passages to read.
· In some states voters had to be home owners - most blacks were not.
· Any black voters who did turn out to vote were often confronted with gangs of whites
waiting to beat them up outside the polling station.
· In Louisiana, the number of black voters fell by 99% 1896-1904.
Lynching and the Ku Klux Klan
· Created in 1917
· Some whites thought that blacks needed terrorising into obedience.
· 579 black men were lynched between 1915 and 1930. Many had not committed a crime and
some were not even accused of anything specific.
· In the South, lynching’s were advertised as a public event.
· The KKK was a white supremacist organisation reformed in 1915 to oppose any non-WASPs
but it especially hated black people.
· Membership peaked at up to eight million by 1925. Some, especially in the South, were
powerful politicians (even state governors). Members wore hoods to disguise their identity,
allowing the authorities to claim they couldn’t identify members even though it was
common knowledge who they were.
· Most of the violence was perpetrated by men but women had a role in instilling white
supremacy into children.
, Federal intervention in southern discrimination
· Black people lost political power as their voting rights were restricted.
· The Federal Government itself hindered black equality. In 1896, the Supreme Court had
ruled in Plessy vs Ferguson that the principle of ‘separate but equal’ facilities was
constitutional.
· In truth, ‘separate' was very rarely ‘equal’ but each example of segregation had to be taken
to court to be struck down.
· President Wilson was a southerner and supported segregation.
· Harding did speak out against lynching’s and was generally in favour of civil rights. However,
he and his successors stuck to his mantra of laissez-faire and did not take federal action.
· Once the Depression hit, the government lost any focus it had on civil rights.
Moving North, 1917-32
Migration
· A wave of black migration, known as the Great Migration, took place from the South to the
North and the East.
· Black migrants moved to industrial cities like New York, Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago and so
on where work was more readily available and discrimination was less severe.
· Workers were needed in northern factories to produce war goods. Some employers
advertised in southern newspapers and offered housing, transport and good wages.
· Migration accelerated as people joined friends and family.
· When people arrived, they found more segregation that they expected, especially later in
the period.
· The jobs were low-paid, sometimes replacing white unionised workers. The housing was of
poor quality and the rents were higher than what a white would be charged.
· There were variations - not all blacks lived in ghettos, not all landlords and employers were
exploitative, etc.
· The general trend was that black workers in the North were not treated equally and
continued to live difficult lives.
· By 1920, nearly 40%of African Americans were in north cities of Chicago, Detroit, New York,
etc.
The effects of migration
· The northern cities experienced population increases.
· Black people could become elected politicians if they settled in voting districts with large
black populations. Ironically, ghettoisation gave black voters representation.
· Politicians began to listen to black voters’ demands once they realised the size of the black
electorate - it kept the Mayor of Chicago in power in 1919.
· The replacement of white union jobs with cheaper exploited black labour led to resentment
among white workers and enabled employers to drive down standards in the workplace by
threatening employees with replacement.
· In the South, the labour force shrunk and there was a tendency to assume that those who
stayed were accepting Jim Crow and that the others had voted with their feet.
The New Deal
President Roosevelt
