1. Critically discuss how the New Racial Politics and Social Policy in the Nixon yeas (1970’s) and Reagan and Bush years (1980) affected women and people of color. Also, discuss the factors that set the stage for the New Racial Politics. In the years before President Richard Nixon, lower class whites and blacks were treated more of equals when it came to the social policies created in the 1960’s. However, once Nixon was sworn into office, he made it a goal to turn back this trend and divided Americans against one another, stirring up racial prejudices and bringing out the worst in people.
After the civil rights era’s and all of the bills and supreme court rulings like the transportation equality act, prohibited discrimination In public accommodations, educations and employment, Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and the American Indian Movement just to name a few. These acts were implemented to remove oppression but actually today in 2014 Oppression is still happening especially on blacks and Hispanics. The oppression happens as a bi product from white privilege. People are oppressed because African Americans and Hispanics cannot do certain things that white Americans can do. This can be linked to negative stereotypes about these races.
How far had racial equality been achieved by 1965? The Civil Rights campaign was put in place in order to end racial discrimination and to open up equality to black citizens in the United States. Campaigning tactics included non-violent protesting, civil disobedience and legal action through courts. By doing so they would be improving the lives of millions, but in order to achieve this goal they had to meet the basic needs of black American's. In order for racial equality to exist, African Americans must feel as though their needs had been met.
Segregation was seen as lawful due to the Plessy vs. Ferguson case saying that ‘separate but equal’ was how they should live their lives. The social status of African Americans saw almost no improvement throughout the years 1945-55; across the country black Americans were still treated as sub-human. In the North, the situation had been slightly better by 1945 however throughout the period of time, 1945-55, nothing really changed. Although by law things should’ve been equal for all races even if they were to live separately, black Americans lived much harsher lives with their facilities being a lot worse and them being forced to live in ghettos due to the whites not wanting to live near them. Groups such as the NAACP attempted to change the situation in the North through questioning the Supreme Court on cases like Shelley vs. Kraemer where they tried to get rid of ‘restrictive covenants’ to do with real estate however unfortunately, this proved to be ineffective.
They take the reader through pivotal moments in the South and North to enumerate the chain of events that lead to the achievements and failures of the African-Americans in society. My review led me to understand the Black Power movement as an effort to overcome the colonizer. Black people need to define themselves without the influence of white society. The authors were vocal about the downfall of blacks trying to assimilate into white middle class. In a passionate effort to convey their message, they gave an overview of significant political and life altering moments in history.
Martin Luther King’s role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott was being a leader. The setting up of the NACCP in 1909 illustrates that rising social tensions regarding the advancement of coloured people in the sense of state endorsed racial discrimination, and public segregation had been exhausted for over half a century. This suggests, if the desire to protest didn't exist then the boycott would never have succeeded regardless of King's existence and efforts, as stated by King “There comes a time when time itself is ready for change.” So the success of the Montgomery bus boycott depended on how strong the black communities desire to keep on protesting and was not just a single man regulating them. Since desires to protest were already implemented before King’s existence, it would only be natural to exaggerate the role of ‘the single man that made it happen.’ In 1913 the NACCP showed that it could organize a respectable opposition against government policy such as the Jim Crow laws; over a decade before King was even born. As King stated “I just happened to be here” This suggests that even without King’s Existence and role, the NAACP succeeded in bringing equality to the black community.
The NAACP set up a network of lawyers to help advise Negro clients with legal action to attempt to change this way of life. The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People played a major role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The NAACP had been formed to directly attack the system of racial segregation by seeking civil right legislations and by fighting Jim Crow laws and other discrimination through the courts. The NAACP took Rosa Parks case to the federal court in Montgomery to
This event was important because it gained international attention which put pressure on the different structures of the American government to make changes, and finally in 1965 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was illegal. It also brought the black community closer together to stand up for their rights this is shown when Jo Ann Robinson a head of a group of professional black women in Montgomery says, ‘we are asking every negro to stay off
There were many reasons that made the problem of “the color line” more and more definite. In Plessy v. Ferguson “the justices legalized racism by stating that separate spaces for different races were allowable by law as long as they were equal.” (Bowles, 2011) They were, however, anything but equal. The blacks had to endure sub-par schools, churches, hospitals and restaurants. This was a constant reminder that they were considered second class to the white citizen simply because of the color of their skin. Though the fifteenth amendment gave black males the right to vote a poll tax was introduced to eliminate the black vote.
After the emancipation of slavery in the 1800’s, African Americans have struggled to be treated with the same equal rights as Europeans. Even with the laws that were pasted to protect African Americans there were states that ignored and created new laws to overturn the laws to protect African Americans. The ignorant of Europeans who denied African Americans the equal rights the laws stated they deserved. African Americans decided to stand up for themselves by developing non violent protest movement to fight for the equal rights of African Americans. ("Civil Rights Movement") Martin Luther King Jr. became the leader of the non violent protest movement in the 1950’s.The development of Martin Luther King Jr. in this era started when an African American woman named Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white man in Montgomery, Alabama.