To what extent was the black civil rights movement successful in bringing about social and political change for black Americans between 1880 and 1990? “There must be the position of superior and inferior” was a statement by Lincoln in 1858, a view that formed the basis of discrimination towards black people. Although civil rights for black people eventually improved, both socially and politically, it was difficult to change the view that black people were inferior to white people, one of the main factors why the movement took so long. The period between 1880 and 1945 can be seen as a period of stasis. The civil rights movement had little impact with few significant improvements towards the overall goal of equality.
This led to a more extreme movement bookmarked in the second half of the 60’s. They aimed to achieve “DeFacto” goals. They demanded economic equality and a sharp decrease in poverty for blacks. With these goals in mind, this period of time was marked with violence and aggressive resistance, as well as a largely proud black exclusive following. Through the 60’s, it’s evident that passive resistance wasn’t persistent enough to achieve true equality for the struggling black population.
The victory of the Union (Northern States) over the Confederate (Southern States) freed the Negroid’s from slavery, and gave them the right to vote, and own property. Although African Americans now had their liberty, they weren’t free from segregation, violence and prejudices. “We wear the Mask” is written from this experience, and regrettable it is still to a small degree part of the American fabric today. Being African American in the late 20th century wasn’t a bed of roses. They were the minority and were not treated with respect as a whole from its community.
In this essay I am going to analyse the quality of black Americans lives after the abolition of slavery in 1865. I will analyse several factors, such as: jobs, wages and the way they’re treated in society. The abolition of slavery in 1865 didn’t actually make a lot of things better for black people as it only made them free from their masters. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was a United States federal law. It was proposed in 1870 but it was passed in 1875.
The collective nature of Black communities still predominated as opposed to the white "capitalist market economies of competitive, individual, industrial and monopoly capitalism." It is at this stage that the split begins that will later affect the African-American community. Black women were forced to remain in the work force due to substandard wages available to Black men. The urbanization of America and the massive migration north of Blacks in the early twentieth century resulted in a large number of Black women, some 60%, haveing been relegated to domestic work for white families. Black men often only able to find work in manufacturing centers allowed for two income Black families and a small but growing Black middle class.
Junior moise 7th period 12/14/14 this was a time for a cultural celebration. African Americans has had centuries of slavery and the struggle for abolition. The end of bondage had not brought the land many had envisioned. Instead, white supremacy was quickly, legally, and violently restored to the New South, where ninety percent of African Americans lived. Starting in about 1890, African Americans migrated to the North in great numbers.
Later in 1890, Mississippi made a poll tax, which most blacks couldn’t afford, so this kept them from voting. Some tried avoiding all these segregated laws down in the south by migrating into the north so they could work in industrial towns. Marcus Garver, a black nationalist founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association held in Jamaica. This helped blacks find better life in Africa. “The National Association of the Advancement for Colored People, NAACP, was founded in 1909 by a group of black and white activists.” (PBS, internet) In 1917, the NAACP and thousands of blacks marched down New York City to protest discrimination and racial violence.
Another unfortunate reality of reconstruction was the system of sharecropping. “As the years went on sharecropping became more and more oppressive” (Foner, 564) The reality was that African Americans wanted land of their own, not jobs on plantations. Some of the most significant changes during the period known as Reconstruction were the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments and The Civil Rights act. “The Reconstruction amendments transformed the Constitution from a document primarily concerned with federal-state relations and the rights of property into a vehicle through which members of vulnerable minorities could stake a claim to freedom and protection absent misconduct by all levels of government.” (Foner, 576) This quote from the text is specifically referring to the 14th amendment to the constitution which “placed in the Constitution
However, de facto segregation still remained in the North. This meant Northern states were still segregated despite what laws said and discrimination towards blacks was still noticeable. Transport became desegregated in 1956 following the Montgomery bus boycott allowing blacks to display unity and equality. To conclude, it can be argued that there was a significant change between 1955 and 1965 showing a successful outcome of the civil rights movement in all aspects of the lives of black Americans. We can see the noticeable change in economic, black consciousness, political and social features of America.
Source based essay The Civil Rights Movement “Martin Luther King Jr. Played a significant role in trying to establish a just equal society for all Americans” The statement made is inaccurate, because even though he fought to make some significant changes in terms of the inequality of black people, no lasting or major change was caused within the USA (source E displays this nicely as it shows how blacks have suffered in terms of the economic inequality due to black peoples poverty, shows political inequality as 13 percent of black people don’t have a vote and social inequalities due to such facts as the number of black people in jail. These are all things that the NAACP and Martin Luther King Jr. fought for, but no significant change was achieved or made) Black people were treated as inferior and unequal, and although MLK tried to change this, he lacked the ability to do so. Black people were treated as unequal to whites or as “they claimed to set” them “free by calling you a second-class citizen”(Source C). The political and legislative law made blacks follow segregation laws(Jim Crow laws) and in essence did not give them equal human rights to those of whites.