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.
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.
President Roosevelt, former governor of New York, did not believe in racial segregation of African-Americans and when African-Americans were hired to drive buses in Philadelphia during the war, some residents refused to ride the buses others threatened to burn the buses. Roosevelt sent troops to ride on the buses, eventually everyone realized that you need to catch the bus or else you would end up walking a long way so it was change even though it wasn’t much. No black pilots had ever been used before by the United States, one of the reasons is since in order to become a pilot, blacks had to achieve high-test scores and be college educated. However, in 1944 President Eisenhower supported integrated combat units and the air force began to let black Americans fly planes and even though they were only allowed to fly in segregated units it was a turning point. Overall, the Second World War was a turning point in the growth of the civil Rights of black Americans as it was a catalyst for change as it made black Americans more politically aware and feel that they had the right to demand change.
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’.
After the Second World War the black civil rights have legally improved but the does not stop the white race stop being racist. There was still discrimination between the two races. As there are not immediate black officials the white ones continue to discriminate as there is no one to put them into prison. Legally the black race should be treated as equals by the white race. Laws were made after the war forbidding segregation and discrimination, but these laws were not carried out.
White people controlled the assets and took them with them wherever they went. The livelihoods of families through the 20th century was determined solely by the color of their skin. Their skin color determined whether they would be the victims of Jim Crow laws, unfavorable housing, and consequentially a severe disadvantage in business, education, and success. No biological science could determine race but race determined so much for America and how its people were treated. The effects of explicit inequality in this nation’s history still implicitly impact minorities negatively today and give whites largely unrecognized
How far do you agree that African Americans were treated as second class citizens in the USA in 1950? I agree completely that African Americans were treated as ‘second class’ citizens, I agree with this because of racial segregation, mostly in the form of Jim Crow laws. These laws are the way a law has been brought in to discriminate coloured people. In the southern states, legal segregation was widespread. Also, the vast majority of black Americans were disenfranchised by grandfather clauses and literacy tests which made it very hard for black Americans to vote.
Other states introduced literacy tests as criteria for voting. Literacy testes were not applied fairly and therefore even educated black people were disenfranchised. These were not explicitly racist, but both prevented black Americans from voting. These barriers, which prevented black Americans from voting, meant that black citizens no longer had a voice for their opinion to be heard. This affected how black people would still be treated as second-class citizens through white supremacy.
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 common good was affected one way by these because the majority population in the south was African American. The fact they could not vote caused a lot of problems, such the voting of local sheriffs and mayors. This caused in abuse of the police force. Dogs and even fire hoses that can remove flesh were turned on any demonstrators fighting for their right. Spartacus.com states, “The 1964 Civil Rights Act made racial discrimination in public places, such as theaters, restaurants and hotels, illegal.