...Migration of African Americans was a necessary precondition for the civil-rights movement. These Americans moved from the Southern states to northern cities in hope of finding racial equality that was not present in the post-civil war South. Places like Memphis, Tennessee saw inequality the worst. “This time the white man must make some intelligent and courageous adjustment in the Negro’s behalf; or he must be prepared, at a greater social cost, to sink to levels of brute force in confronting the Negro.” (Trouble in Dixie, Sancton p. 13-14) These Americans were denied basic constitutional rights such as due process and the right to participate in the electoral system by restricting the right to cast a vote. It was the migration...
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...In the earlier part of the twentieth century, black and white Americans had profoundly different views on the future of black people in America. Most white people believed black Americans were an inferior race capable of little more than manual labor and entitled to only the most basic legal rights. Washington’s speech was very influential to both races. He believed economic acceptance would lead to political and social acceptance. He was labeled as the spokesman for African American by white people. Washington was the operator of the Tuskegee machine. He had supporter as well as he had oppositions. One of his opposers was William Monroe Trotter, he referred to Washington as “the great traitor” the Benedict Arnold of the Negro race and pope Washington. He was the cause of the Boston riot. W.E.B. Du Bois gave Washington some opposition as well. Following the Boston riot, Du Bois published “The souls of black folk”. It contained the first formal attack on Washington and his leadership. He states “One hesistates, therefore, to criticize a life which, beginning with so little has done so much. And yet to the time is come when one may speak in all sincerity and utter courtesy of the mistakes and short comings of Mr. Washington’s career, as well as the triumphs.” He agreed with Washington on some issues but disagreed with him on the more significant ones; like failing to stand up for political and civil rights, higher education; and his willingness to compromise with the...
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...process by which the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), the State Department of Education (CDE), and the San Francisco chapter of the NAACP settled the latter’s 1978 desegregation lawsuit. The 1983 settlement, known as the Consent Decree, was a SFUSD-driven document reluctantly accepted by the NAACP lawyers. The presiding judge, William Orrick, cautioned the NAACP lawyers to not go to trial since he did not see how they could win their case. They would not be able to prove that the SFUSD intentionally promoted or maintained segregated schools. As a result, the NAACP lawyers could demand only what the SFUSD and the CDE were willing to concede. The concessions were gained, however, by paying a heavy political price. By accepting a place at the negotiating table, the San Francisco NAACP acquiesced to the exclusion of teachers, Latinos, and Asian Americans from the table. The latter three groups all filed lawsuits during the life of the Consent Decree demanding that they, too, be parties to the desegregation settlement. Judge Orrick consistently denied their claims, explaining to them that the San Francisco NAACP was able effectively to represent Latino and Asian American interests and the district office would represent the interests of the teachers. This would prove illusory when lawyers representing Chinese American students filed suit against the desegregation policies of the Consent Decree. Furthermore, as part of the Consent Decree, the district’s accountability...
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...There were originally 17 African-American students that were selected to participate in the integration program bust because of the adversities that they experienced before and during the classes, the number dwindled into 9 students. Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlota Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed, and Melba Patillo endured scrutiny and indifference amidst the chaos that threatens to erupt anytime as they firmly decided to push through their grounds to end discrimination and desire for racial integration which would invariably open opportunities for African-Americans in the country (Hidalgo,...
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...the main reason why the position of African Americans improved in the years 1945–55? The impact of the Second World War was, without a doubt, crucial in improving the lives of black Americans over the years 1945-55, as it led to federal support of the cause. However, it wasn’t as important as the use of direct action which, for the first time, was able to convert de jure into de facto change. This, not the War, was therefore the most significant factor in the improvement; achieving something which federal support and the work of civil rights organisations which did not engage in direct action were alone unable to do. The impact of the Second World War was influential in improving the lives of Black Americans because it led to increased federal support of the Civil Rights movement. During the Second World War, approximately 1.2 million black joined the United States armed forces. Their experience in the army allowed understanding the extent to which they were being discriminated against. The hypocrisy of the USA was discovered, a country claiming to be fighting a war of freedom yet oppressed ethnic minorities in their own country. Being sent to Europe, where formal segregation did not exist, the soldiers were able to see what could be achieved from desegregation. African Americans were encouraged to. The War brought significant economic changes to the lives of black Americans. Initially munitions factories would not employ African Americans. A.Phillip.Randolf threatened a march...
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...lives of Black Americans? The Second World War has caused many changes in America. The fight against Nazis in Europe demonstrated that US suffered from the same problem of racism and the white supremacy and that something had to be done. During the wartime many African Americans had to move from Southern farms to Northern and Western cities, as there was a lack of jobs because of the increase of machinery in farming industry. At the same time, new factories that produced war equipment needed more labourers as most white men had left America to fight in WWII and it gave Black Americans an opportunity to find new jobs in those spheres, but some companies like Railroads refused to employ black people. Still, new workplaces allowed them to receive higher pay so it was a pull factor for them, however they had a little perspective to get a better job in future that required higher skills. The migration flow during wartime led to development of black communities and cultural life in cities such as New York and Chicago as the migrant workers lived close to the factories they worked in so it means closer to each other. There still were racial tension and conflicts, but not as bad as back at South, so eventually, black people felt comfortable to stay there and their new economical state and political influence allowed them to do so as they were important part of war economy. By the end of the Second World War approximately 1 million of African Americans had served in the...
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...Sharon L. Jordan HUM410 Contemporary History Instructor: Lila Griffin-Brown October 16, 2011 African Americans’ efforts to stop the segregation of trains and streetcars, the organizations created to contest Jim Crow laws, and segregationists’ attempts to silence the protests all provide rich testimony to the spirit of agitation present even in this bleak time in American history (Kelley, 2010, p.5). The Civil Rights Movement was a struggle by African Americans in the mid-1950s to late 1960s to achieve civil rights equal to those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education, as well as the right to vote, the right of equal access to public facilities, and the right to be free of racial discrimination (Law, 2005). This movement sought to restore to African Americans the rights of citizenship guaranteed by the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The words civil rights often raise images of Martin Luther King Jr. delivering his soul-stirring “I Have a Dream” speech before the nation’s capital. "The practical cost of change for the nation up to this point has been cheap," Martin Luther King Jr. conceded “(LITWACK, 2009). Martin Luther King Jr., and other leaders of the movement anticipated, the movement provoked gains not only for African Americans but also for women, persons with disabilities, and many others. Organized efforts by an African American, W.E.B. Du Bois, who exhorted blacks to fight for the rights was one of the leading figures of...
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...celebratory manner, arguing that African Americans were making progress in the fight for equality. Although a myriad of blacks were involved in the equalization and integration of the nation, Fairclough argues that a great number chose to support school integration. Those who did not support integration legislation believed that segregated schools...
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...very bottom of hardships.” African Americans were not treated with equal respect as whites, making them a poor race. They were unfairly treated during the twentieth century because the color of their skin was not white; however, they soon grew tired of being discriminated against and fought for their rights. Jim Crow was an unfair racial caste system that many states adopted after the American Civil War. Jim Crow laws began in the early 1880’s with the goal of taking away the rights of African Americans ("Voting Rights"). By 1915 all southern states had a form of Jim Crow laws written in their constitution ("Racial Segregation...
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...Nina Wohl Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences AHIS W4855 African American Artists in the 20th and 21st Centuries Spring 2012 Research Paper – African American Art & the Great Depression The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn of the twentieth century. The federal government took unprecedented action to provide relief, recovery and reform. No group was harder hit by the Great Depression than African Americans. The New Deal was slow to deal with the unique situation faced by African Americans. The struggles of the Great Depression laid the foundation for the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Art would play an important role in influencing the future. Despite its limitations, the New Deal, through the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Federal Arts Program (FAP), was responsible for reshaping the cultural agenda and “marked a significant turning point in the production of black culture.”1 The artists of the Great Depression built upon the work done during the Harlem Renaissance. New Deal art extended and affirmed art that translated “politics into cultural terms.”2 The FAP looked for a “new sense of authentic American culture – one that championed national values and traditions by celebrating regional and racial diversity.”3 As a result, many artists worked to place African Americans in the historical narrative of the United States while combating long held stereotypes. None were less important than Aaron Douglas...
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...without any factors relating to race playing a role. One’s skin color would be irrelevant to his/her abilities and character perceived by society (Neville, 5). The election of the first African- American president did not usher the US into a post-racial society. Obama’s campaign run, from the primaries to the general election, proved that race is still salient in America. During the primaries, Obama attempted to appear race neutral so that he would not be viewed like previous African American candidates who were seen as black political radicals. In his speech...
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...the American slavery era; this division has fueled African-American cultural movements, societal achievements, and economic systems. Light skinned blacks have undoubtedly maintained the hypothetical lead, receiving the upper hand in American slavery and the post Reconstruction era. However, dark skinned blacks made slight gains from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. In order to further assert white dominance, slaveholders annihilated African ethnic identities. Slaves were instead classified them as tools to be used by whites in any way whites saw fit. Consequently, racial miscegenation between Caucasians and African slaves became a common component of slave culture. In order to obstruct...
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...nineteen fifties, African Americans were the subject of more discrimination than any other race or religion in all aspects of being treated both as a person, and a race. These people were up until almost the mid 1900’s as slaves, even though slavery was abolished long before, even in the mid 1900’s, African Americans were still considered “second class citizens”, not seen as equals in the eyes of others. It was during the 1950’s that African Americans, and other racial authorative groups collaborated to change their status in society. This challenge of fighting against discrimination and for racial equality among racial groups became one of the most important times in United States history; it was the beginning of what we know as the Civil Rights Movement. The fight for racial equality started long before the 1950’s, in the early 1900’s, the NAACP (the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) was created by Booker T. Washington, and Webb Du Bios, Mr. Washington was actually an ex-slave. As the NAACP grew in numbers and support, the NAACP also published its own newspaper, showing progress, and enticing people to come forward to support for their rights. One of its first victories was the laws of segregation in housing, and also the right of African Americans to jury duty. The NAACP helped in establishing other groups such as CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) which their purpose was to end discrimination. The founders of the NAACP had the same cause...
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...BROWN VS. BOARD OF EDUCATION OF TOPEKA The Brown vs. Board of Education ruling was a colossal influence on desegregation of schools and a landmark in the movement for equal opportunity between the blacks and whites that continues to this day. The Brown vs. Board of Education case was not the first of its kind. Ever since the early 1950s, there were five separate cases that were filed, dealing with the desegregation of schools. In all but one of these cases, the schools for whites were of better quality than the schools for the blacks. The African-Americans argued that this situation was unjust and unconstitutional1. Education has been long regarded as a valuable asset for all of America's adolescence. However, when this benefit is deprived of to a specific group, measures must be taken to defend its educational right. In the 1950's, a courageous group of activists launched a legal attack on segregation in schools. The one who headed this attack was NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall. We find that his legal strategies would contribute wholly to the closure of educational segregation. After the Civil War ended in 1865, Congress passed the 14th amendment that stated that all people born in the United States are considered citizens. The 14th amendment also proclaims that individual states cannot make any laws to take away a person's right to life, liberty, or property. Segregation laws made it permissible to keep races distant as long as each race had its own access...
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...Theory Construction: Thesis: Providing free or low-cost legal services to the poor is a necessary right. Providing free or low-cost legal services to the poor benefits the community by keeping crime rates down and creating community solidarity. It is necessary for attorneys to provide free (or low cost) legal services for the poor. Many people cannot afford to pay for legal services, especially in non-criminal cases. Currently, the state provides free legal services for criminal cases but not civil. Groups like the ACLU sometimes provide free legal services for civil law cases. Yet the ACLU cannot help every person. The ACLU specalizes in civil rights cases and it is inclined to represent groups rather than individuls. Other groups like Legal...
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