Many of these facilities were, education, healthcare, transport, cinemas, restaurants and churches and even housing and estates were segregated. This shows the extent white went to separate them from the ‘inferior’ race. Jim Crow laws limited black Americans from having a better way of life as they were made poorer, didn’t have the opportunity to managerial roles as they were only allowed the low paying jobs and weren’t equal to white people increasing poor conditions, also, led to unequal or no voting rights in coloured communities. Under the Fifteenth Amendment black people had legal rights to vote across America. However, many southern states found ways around the laws to disenfranchise the black populations.
Many Southern states were segregated, they followed the supreme courts decision in 1896; 'Separate but equal' this meant that they were still segregated but blacks had equal rights. Segregation was the separation of white people from black, some states tried to keep control over black people's segregation by; 'Jim crow' laws which kept black people segregated/separated from white, this involved separate schools, toilets and drinking fountains. Desegregation had become a problem in the 1950's, largely because of the racial hatred of white southerners towards blacks, this racial hatred had originated from the attitudes of white people towards black people after slavery was abolished in 1864, many southern states had 'Jim crow' laws which discriminated against African Americans. However, in 1954 the Brown family challenged these laws by suing the city school board for forbidding their 8 year old daughter, who was black, from attending the white school which was nearby, instead Linda Brown was forced to attend the segregated school which was a long distance away. The Brown family's case was brought to the Supreme Court by the NAACP; they were an organisation which fought for the rights of coloured people.
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.
1896 Plessy VS Ferguson US Supreme Court Case HIST222 African American History after 1877 Instructor Dr. Donna J. Nicol June 13, 2010 Back in the twentieth century African Americans were newly freed slaves. These were very hard time for the African American race. Even though they were free the laws of the land did not allow African Americans to be treated as everyone else. “The end of the Civil War had promised racial equality, but by 1900 new laws and old customs created a segregated society that condemned Americans of color to second-class citizenship.”(Museum of American History) African Americans had to follow a different set of laws called the Jim Crow Law. Jim Crow Law was used to keep blacks separate from whites.
Following the Second World War which African Americans had played such a large part in, and ended up still coming home to beatings and brutal racism, President Truman felt obliged to commit to Civil Rights for African Americans. Strongly demonstrated through his report titled ‘to secure these rights.’ in 1947, which outlined many of the hardships faced by African Americans and provided recommendations on how to solve them. Following the report several initiatives were pushed through by Truman, such as the signing of Executive Order 9980 and Executive Order 10308. These were crucial in improving the lives of African Americans as they guaranteed fair employment practices in the Civil Services and that defence contracts would not go to companies that discriminated against African Americans, hence empowering them in the workplace. On the other hand it could be argued that the Second World War’s influence was in fact limited.
Although the end of the American civil war marked the end of slavery for African Americans, it did not mark their acceptance and equality with white people. Many southern states resented losing their slaves and were determined to keep African Americans as second class citizens. In 1950 segregation was in full force, meaning African Americans had separate churches, public transport, theatres, schools, hotels, swimming pools and many other facilities to white people. Segregation also applied to where people lived, so African Americans could only live in certain areas separate from white people, with these areas being much worse than the white suburbs, despite the separate but equal principle. Even when this was challenged in the Plessy vs Ferguson Supreme Court case the separate but equal principle was found to be constitutional.
The decision overturns the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that sanctioned "separate but equal" segregation of the races, ruling that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." It is a victory for NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall, who will later return to the Supreme Court as the nation's first black justice. In 1957, King established the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) with fellow activists C.K. Steele, Fred Shuttleworth and T.J. Jemison. In Birmingham, Alabama, desegregation was being violently resisted by the white population.
Race Relations after the Civil War 3 The way white Southerners made it difficult on former slaves in the South was to create what was called “Black Codes”. These codes were laws made by southern states to try to ensure their way of life could not be infringed on in the wake of the passing of the 13th amendment which outlawed slavery. Examples of such codes varied from state to state. However, the message was clear to the former slaves that they were still unequal. Examples of these laws are as follows: 1.
This Act dismantle Jim Crow political disfranchisement laws forced on African Americans which “limit and control the black vote… by reinforcing white solidarity and eliminating the need to consider black interests” (A New South: Economic Progress and Social Tradition, pg. 500) this violated the Fifteenth Amendment. Hence, Jim Crow Laws which encouraged white solidarity came up with the grandfather clauses in order to get away with violation of this Amendment in the
They faced different issues related to segregation with one of the most important was the segregation to do with education. This affected all levels of education, starting with elementary schools to university level. Black children were forced to enrol at a black only school even if a white school was closer. An example of this was in 1954 with the Brown vs Board decision. This matter was taken to the Supreme Court where it was reasoned that it was illegal to turn away students just because they were black.