How far did conditions for black Americans improve in the period 1945-56? Civil right was a major issue in America during 1945-56, especially in the Deep South. This was because conditions of African Americans didn’t improve much, it was mainly the start to any change that happened, with some limited progress. The first issue is ‘Jim crow’ laws; this was a law in the Southern states of America that introduced segregation between black and white people, by passing laws which denied them access to white facilities. Many of these facilities were, education, healthcare, transport, cinemas, restaurants and churches and even housing and estates were segregated.
Black students scoring lower than White students, but this can be looked at from many different angles. When we think back in history the first ones allowed to have an education were wealthy white males. As time passed and new laws were put in place women along with African Americans were also given the chance to an education. But of course Black children did not receive the same education as White students. In Death at an Early Age by Jonathan Kozol, he describes the conditions of African American schools as horrible, where children were mistreated.
Martin Luther King Jr was born on January 13, 1929. Martin Luther King Jr had a huge impact, on the life of many Americans. Martin Luther King Jr also helped to change the way many of Americans thought of African Americans. Before Martin Luther King Jr came along African Americans were almost not even considered human if was almost as if they were animals, African Americans would get publicly beat just for talking to a white a person. Martin Luther King Jr impacted America a lot and I can honestly say that it was definitely for the better, if Martin Luther King Jr had never been born I cannot even imagine what the world would be like.
The Double V campaigned for hypocrisy of the discrimination in America and the segregated lines. The black race was not well represented until Adam Clayton Powell was elected into the House of Representatives in 1944. Also in the south most African Americans were given jobs with
In What Ways Did Black Americans Secure Improved Civil Rights: 1945-1964? Black Americans had often been looked down upon by White Americans and always suffered racial prejudice. Their struggle for equal racial rights had begun from the end of slavery in 1865, only until the late 1960’s did significant improvement was made. Following the events and ending of World War II, Black Americans began what would become known as the Civil Rights Movement. In 1951, the father of a black student named Linda Brown sued the Board of Education because a white school had prevented Brown from attending a school which was only seven blocks away, compared to the segregated black school she was attending which was more than seven blocks away from her home.
Segregation After the civil war in the USA, the African Americans gain “equal” rights. But the 14th amendment in 1868 (Absolute equality of the two races before the law) didn’t include “social rights” which meant that they didn’t get much choices in society, like choosing where you wanted to sit on a bus. This still made the African Americans feel inferior, knowing that within their home town the “whites” had the choices, and actual freedom. Blacks responded to their situation in 4 ways as their situation began to worsen from 1877. They would co-operate with any willing whites, migrate to the North or West, protest politically and would follow accommodationism.
Though the desegregation of schools in North Carolina granted blacks access to better educational resources and wealthier scholastic opportunities, the resultant dilution and erosion of the black educational community devastated its resolve and essential coherence. These negative effects of integration are only somewhat less visible even today. Black-only schools operated under astounding inequity before integration. With white schools hogging state funds, black administrators turned to their communities for support. When George Miller was principal in Wilkes County, NC, the community struggled to support the schools with funds, equipment, and food for the cafeteria.# Still, communities could provide very little, so educators adjusted their educational focus.
In the South however, the blacks were disfranchised, since the state governments introduced literacy tests, tests on the knowledge of constitution and Poll taxes, which African Americans had trouble with, because of poor education and financial problems. Both created through discrimination and racism. Racial hatred groups such as the Ku Klux Klan still existed. They advertised violent treatment of African Americans, and often engaged in violent activities themselves. Blacks were often beaten or killed by members of such hate groups.
I believe the Montgomery bus boycott was the most important event in the 1950s -1960s in changing the civil rights for African-Americans, because this event gained internationally attention. On the 1st of December 1955 a white man requested for Rosa Parks’ seat however she refused as it seemed unreasonable. Leading her to be arrested, this act was very important because it went against the Jim Crow which was created to force segregation in public school systems, kept many African-Americans from moving out of segregated neighbourhoods and often made it difficult for African-Americans to vote. Overall it was very unfair to the black community, as a result the black community in Alabama started a non-violent boycott of the buses, leaving buses only half full this had a major financial impact on bus companies as it was the black community who used buses the most and the event was lead by Martin Luther King. This event was important because it gained international attention which put pressure on the different structures of the American government to make changes, and finally in 1965 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was illegal.
Not just to the black men and woman, it also refers to Jews, Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, and it refers to different states of the USA because people had come form all over America to listen to Martin Luther King speak and he wanted them all to be included. King uses the pronouns ‘we’ and ‘us’ to say he is also affected by the actions of the white men and together they can change it. He wants things to change now and not in a year not when the next president is elected but now! The length on the speech is also really important, even though people came from all over the country, he kept it short so that he was not to bore them, the other reason he kept it seventeen minutes long was so that people would remember all the points that he made at the beginning of the speech. King also used repetition to make the keywords stick in people’s minds, he mostly repeated the words ‘freedom’ and ‘dream’, freedom being used from beginning to end.