African Americans Treated As Second Class Citizens

1112 Words5 Pages
How far do you agree with the view that African Americans were treated as second class citizens between 1940 and 1946? This view is very accurate; African Americans were not offered the same political, economic or social opportunities and rights as white people, despite the terms of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. However, overall, treatment of African Americans was worse in the south. Political/ legal rights and opportunities were limited for African Americans due to their treatment as second class citizens. For example, in the south, Jim Crow laws were in place, meaning that everybody had to pass a literacy test and pay poll tax before they could vote. This minimalized the amount of African Americans who were allowed to vote, as…show more content…
For example, in the south, African Americans had little chance of being employed against white people, due to the discrimination of employers. This trapped blacks in a cycle of poverty; if they couldn’t get jobs, they couldn’t afford to pay poll tax so they could vote for someone who would improve their employment rights. Also, southern African Americans had few employment opportunities. For example, sharecropping and other agricultural jobs were the main opportunities. African American women were treated even worse than men. Many of them were stuck in domestic service jobs with low pay due to their treatment as second class citizens. However, there was one major improvement in the south – the FEPC in 1941. This ended discrimination against blacks in the workplace so they had equal employment opportunities to whites. Treatment of African Americans as second class citizens was still bad regarding economics in the north, but not as severe as in the south. For example, a mass migration of brought two million blacks to northern cities to seek out better economic opportunities. Also, unemployment in the north fell from almost one million to around 150000 by 1945. This was due to the creation of jobs in factories during World War 2, when it became easier for blacks to get jobs (although not as easy as it was for whites). In the…show more content…
For example, in the south, Jim Crow laws prevented blacks from marrying whites. Also, black literacy rates were low in the south because they were not offered the same educational opportunities as whites; states spent ten times more money on white schools than black schools. Also, blacks were expected to address white men as ‘master’ or ‘sir’ whilst being referred to as ‘boy’ themselves. They faced both de facto and de jure discrimination in the south. Also, black housing was significantly worse than white housing – 40% of black housing was substandard whilst only 12% of white housing was. This shows how their treatment as second class citizens extended to every aspect of their lives. However, Christian churches helped provide education for black children in the
Open Document