But if we think about it, without the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act, things might have never of changed. African Americans could still be treated like slaves and not treated like human beings. America would still be a very segregated place. Freedom Summer was a very dark time in American history but all in all, America has turned out pretty good. It’s no doubt that America was not the most favorable place during this time period for most, if not all African Americans.
All of this was put in place to ensure that it was incredibly difficult for African-Americans to improve their status. However, in 1947 President Truman released 'To Secure These Rights' which outlined the basic rights of all American citizens. This included jobs, homes, education, anti-lynching and voting rights but no legislation followed so there was very little impact. Despite this, Truman issued an executive order which ended discrimination in the Armed Forces which to an extent improved the status of African-Americans. Education was also a big factor resulting in limited progress of improving the status of African-Americans because they consistently received a lower standard of education.
The ruling, while another defeat for segregation in law, did not have an immediate impact. The Supreme Court in this case played a large part in being responsible for how long it took to secure better status for blacks. In 1946, Truman did establish a civil rights committee whose task was to examine violence against African Americans within America itself. This committee was filled with known liberals who Truman knew would produce a report that would and should shock mainstream America. The report was issued in October 1947 and it was called "To Secure These Rights".
For example the Brown case of 1954 which overturned the Plessy vs fergueson case which stated that it was fine to be segregated if it is ‘Separate but equal’. This would be hugely influential in improving the lives of Black Americans as it meant that the clause could no longer be manipulated in different areas of life such as unequal public facilities such as transport and education due to the De Jure change. However the success of the NAACP was not a great success as it did not change De Jure victories into De Facto. An example is just after they won the Brown case, the NAACP had to fight another case in the courts which claimed that desegregation in education would occur ‘with all deliberate speed.’ This limited the improvement for Black Americans as it was too vague to enforce change, this was shown when in 1955 fewer than 750 out of 6300 schools in the South were desegregated. It also led to a greater opposition to civil rights on a local level with the creation of the White Citizens council, boasting 60000 members by 1955 which were later successful in intimidating Black Americans and ensuring that De Jure could not be enforced to form De Facto change.
In the year 1967 The Sexual Offences Act was put in place meaning that people could no longer be arrested for being homosexual. Although this was a positive change for people that were homosexual it on the other hand was a negative for people that thought homosexuality was wrong, such as religious or conservative people. People’s attitudes towards homosexuality did not change showing in my opinion that social attitudes did not change in the years 1955-75. In conclusion I believe that although there were many changed between the years 1955-75 they however mostly didn’t change the social attitudes of people living in
Although in most places in the north they’re was no longer rigid racial etiquette they were aloud to mix with whites, but it remained still that they were poorer and so lived in more undesirable places with poor living conditions so they never really mixed with white Americans anyway. This shows that the Second World War never really had an effect on the lives of African Americans because they still had to deal with major segregation in the south. Although the laws may have changed the attitudes of most White people didn’t change because they were so used to their standard ways of living. However there were changes of attitudes by the government as on December 5, 1946, Truman established by executive order the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. The committee was instructed to investigate the status of civil rights in the United States and propose measures to strengthen and protect the civil rights of American citizens.
The U.S. Supreme court ruled in favor of the plantiffs saying that schools will allow entrance to the black children. Why Did the court rule the way it did? The court saw that the schools for the black children were not up to par with the schools the white children attended. And through this case made it possible for both races to join in the same school and get the
His commitment to desegregation was also shown at his inauguration ceremony when he allowed black and white guests to sit alongside each other for the first time 15 Truman’s achievements were limited. The FEPC was underfunded and the CGCC could not force defence companies to adopt fair employment practises. The Fair Deal housing programme demolished badly constructed houses but fewer houses were built than was anticipated; thus reducing the amount of housing actually available. Eisenhower refused to comment on the Brown case. He criticised the ruling arguing that it would do nothing to change the hearts and minds of southern white racists.
A major shift in the White-Americans’ City’s demographics evoked tension between White-Americans and African-Americans. This turned out be one of the bloodiest riots in the nation’s history. This evidence from before 1945 sparked the lack of improvement for African-Americans between the years of 1945 and 1955. However, the difference between the North and the South was that in the South segregation remained, and African-Americans were barred from all cinemas, restaurants and hotels; but eating, transport and education were not segregated in the North. As a result, it is fair to say that in this aspect, in the North there was some improvement for African-Americans after 1945.
That did not happen. Dr. King wanted to achieve equality for black people in America. Has that happened, yes and no. Dr. King's well thought out plan of boycotts, protests and marches forced the nation to look at the laws and actions of its people and government and make changes. We are not finished and although the laws may have changed, the veiws of some people have not.