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.
The suffragette movement gained strength in America after black men got the vote (though most southern black men were effectively disenfranchised by literacy laws, the poll tax, threats and intimidation etc). Just as, in the UK, the movement grew when working class men got the vote. In both countries there was great resentment amongst upper class women that men of inferior social status could vote, when they couldn't. It spurred them on to greater efforts. The abolition movement was the movement to abolish slavery.
In what ways were the conditions different for the African Americans in the north and south in 1945? After the Second World War had ended, black Americans that were fighting for freedom and justice from Germany and Japan, found that they had return to their country that was overridden with discrimination and racism in 1945. They treated as second-class citizens. The Black American was unable to neither integrate with the mainstream of American society nor become independent farmers. However, generally the Northern blacks were somewhat better off than the Southern blacks in 1945.
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.
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.
In the South segregation was supported by the Jim Crow laws that made it legal. All public institutions in the South were separated according to skin colour, the ones for blacks being inferior in quality. In the north, where segregation wasn’t imposed by law, the blacks were forced to move into ghettos, because of discrimination by the whites. As well as that, there was also economic inequality. It was much harder for blacks to get a job, and there employment position could be described as ‘the last to be hired, the first to be fired’.
African Americans wanted their voting rights, desegregation of schools and employment, and adequate housing. In the beginning, the movement was well organized as most African Americans rallied together in their struggle for those rights that were denied to them simply because of the color of their skin. Consequently, the movement began to falter due to differences of opinions and styles on how to best obtain those rights. In the late 1950’s and early1960’s racial tensions where at an all-time high. African American men were fighting in Vietnam alongside of white Americans, yet returning to a nation that was still treating them as second class citizens.
The American blacks were victims of racism, segregation, discrimination and furthermore poverty in their community. They were neglected by the government. Nonetheless, they were neglected by fought for their rights and equality. The black people in America had their own separate communities away from the whites, because they were neglected by white people and the government. For instant they couldn’t vote in their country.
Civil Liberties: Discrimination Ever since the Civil War, the United States has been faced with the issue of discrimination against African Americans and women. Many people in the United States believed that African Americans did not belong in society, they were not considered as human beings but as property. They discriminated against them at work, in school, and on the streets. They were segregated from everyone else because of their skin color. Americans also believed that women did not have rights.