The War Labor Bond outlawed unequal pay to whites and non-whites doing equal work. Before the war, the African American population had been mainly southern, rural, and agricultural; within a few years, a substantial percentage of African Americans were northern, urban, and industrial. While discrimination in the workplace was hardly eliminated, twice as many blacks held skilled jobs at the end of the war as at the beginning. The northward migration of African Americans accelerated the rising demands for racial equality. As nearly 750,000 blacks relocated to northern cities, many sensed the possibility of political power for the first time in their lives.
The Second World War is a significant event in history. I believe that it made a small amount of difference to the lives of black Americans; it was able to change some of the attitudes of white Americans; it helped influence the passing of the Fair Employment Practices Commission (1941) and also helped reduce the unemployment figures of black Americans. Although it made a substational difference, things were still not perfect. Black Americans were still targeted by extremist members of the Ku Klux Klan and they were still treated as second-class citizens. In this essay, I will analyze the ways lives changed for black Americans after the Second World War, as well as this I will look at the ways they may not have changed.
Needless to say, southern slave owners were not willing to abolish slavery because of the money they stood to lose. The North, on the other hand, was experiencing an industrial revolution. This area of the United States had five times more factories than the South. However, unlike the South, work in these northern factories was carried out by immigrants. Since the North controlled the majority
Treatment of African Americans as second class citizens was still bad regarding economics in the north, but not as severe as in the south. For example, a mass migration of brought two million blacks to northern cities to seek out better economic opportunities. Also, unemployment in the north fell from almost one million to around 150000 by 1945. This was due to the creation of jobs in factories during World War 2, when it became easier for blacks to get jobs (although not as easy as it was for whites). In the
To what extent was the Federal Government responsible for improving the status of black people in the United States in the years 1945-64? The Federal Government was partially responsible for improving the status of black people, although individual activists are also partially responsible. The Federal Government is headed by the President, but also comprises of congress and the Supreme Court, which each had a role to play in dismantling segregation. Although the presidency and the Supreme Court would play a larger role in helping blacks than congress, due to the nature of what the people in congress believed and wanted to achieve. In the spring of 1946, Irene Morgan, a black woman, boarded a bus in Virginia to go to Baltimore, Maryland.
The federal government were successful to a large extent in advancing civil rights in the period 1955 – 1968 for a number of reasons. Within this period, the USA had three presidents, each passing or initiating civil rights legislation to advance civil rights for African Americans. Legislation and the attitudes of congress and the Supreme Court had a large influence on the advancement of civil rights, however, it could be said that legislation was happening too slowly to make progress, and many groups within the federal and state governments opposed the advancement of civil rights. Legislation played a large role in the advancement of civil rights between 1955 and 1968, as it effectively ended legal segregation and begun the final destruction of segregation in the USA. Acts passed by Eisenhower and Johnson had a big impact on the advancement of civil rights, with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ending all segregation of all public places and facilities, and the voting rights act of 1965 outlawing all measures to prevent American citizens from voting.
In America, blacks have fought to have equal rights, and equal access to a better future, so it is time for blacks to start acting like it. With the help of development programs, historically black universities, more black male teachers, charter schools in the inner-city, and achievement-gap committees, staggering statistics like, “approximately one in four African American males between the ages of 20 and 29 are incarcerated, on probation, or on parole . . . only one in five is enrolled in a two- or four-year college program” (Palmer) can
With charismatic and intelligent spokesmen such as Martin Luther King, the Civil Rights campaigners had brought the plight of black Americans to the attention of the whole world. The federal government had been forced to respond and the legislation of the nation had been changed to address the inequality and oppression experienced by millions of black citizens. For many black Americans, and also many sympathetic white Americans, the hope was that the USA was entering a new age of equality and meaningful civil rights for all citizens. By the mid 1960s, however, many black Americans were becoming disillusioned. Many Southern states continued to harass and persecute blacks regardless of the new legislation.
Phase #3 IP American Life and Culture in the Post World War II America Submitted by: Lonzo Warren Colorado Technical University HIST125-1201B- 13 Instructor: Fredrick D. Palm March 15, 2012 The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s: In the 1950s America was facing a serious challenge of racism and prejudice. Most of the racial backlash was directed towards the African American populace. Oddly enough the movement of the civil rights was not confined to just one group of people and organization. It made its way to the national forefront on its own merit and it is this merit which kept it on the national spotlight. (www.americanhistory.about.com) Thousands of Americans from all walks of life and races put their lives on the line to take a stand against racial inequalities.
However, you could argue that although they had won the right to vote, segregation still continued throughout the South and lynchings and discrimination continued in the North. I would say that there was substantial change for blacks in the North as they were getting more highly paid and were starting to receive better education, although the lack of equality still remained between black and white Americans as black Americans were still being paid much less than white workers. I also believe that as there were many black campaigns and activists after the war, this could suggest that there was still a want for equality on the black Americans half which puts forward the idea that despite having helped fought for their country, they were still being treated as second class