Change in racial inequality in the USA

1. Change in racial inequality in the USA BBC Bitesize

2. Why was there so much racial inequality in the USA between 1929 and 1945? The situation of black people in the 1930s Segregation and the Jim Crow laws • The USA constitution and federal law declared that everyone was equal. The southern states passed the Jim Crow Laws which related to segregation. This meant that white people and black people had to live separately. The areas of society affected by segregation included churches, hospitals, theatres and schools. • Black people had the worst jobs and the poorest standard of education. Black people also found it difficult to register to vote because of the following: • Poll Tax – A tax had to be paid in order to be able to vote, and most black people were too poor to pay the tax. • Literacy Tests (reading) – In order to be able to vote, people had to prove that they could read difficult extracts. If black people passed these tests, they would then be threatened and attacked so that they would not vote. Remember: A large number of black people were illiterate during this period, as a result of poor education.

3. The Ku Klux Klan The KKK was active in the southern states. Most of its members were White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) and they wanted to show that they were better and more powerful than black people, immigrants, Jews, Roman Catholics, communists and socialists. The KKK became known for the following: • Holding night time meetings and marching in white clothing with masks over their heads • Beating up black people • Throwing tar and feathers • Hanging • Raping • Murdering • Lynching – mob killings. In the state of Georgia in 1924-25, 135 people were lynched.

5. Members of the KKK were seldom punished because most of the members were policemen, judges and governors. By 1924 there were about 5 million members. The number of members fell when the leader of the KKK, D C Stephenson, was found guilty of kidnapping and raping a young girl in 1925. The Response of the NAACP • The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) was established in 1909 to try to ensure a better life for black people. The objectives of the NAACP: • To get rid of segregation • To get voting rights for black people • To get equal education for black people. • In the 1920s the NAACP campaigned and protested to pass a bill against lynching, but a number of black people were still afraid to vote because of the KKK. By the 1930s and 1940s, the NAACP tried to challenge discrimination and segregation in the courts. Political parties started to realise that winning the vote of the black people was important, especially in the north. Roosevelt formed a 'Black Cabinet' within his government in order to deal with the needs of black people.

6. The impact of the Depression and the New Deal (1930s) It was black people who suffered the most during the Depression. By mid 1934 over half the black people in the north were dependent on government support. President Roosevelt's New Deal helped black people a little – over a million received support and found jobs. However, the New Deal discriminated against certain groups and did not help everybody. In 1936 many black people voted for the Democrats and, as a result, there was an increase in the number of black people elected to national and local government. By 1940 there were 100 black people working for the country’s government.

7. Black people and the Second World War (1940s) • By the end of 1944 almost 2 million black people were working in factories. But some white people were opposed to this, eg in Detroit in 1943 a riot happened to protest against it - 30 people died. • The NAACP's membership increased from 50,000 to 450,000 during the war. The lives of black people had improved during the Second World War. They didn't want this improvement to end and they hoped that their lives would continue to improve. This gave black people the confidence to start campaigning in order to secure their rights. • Segregation was the norm in the army, with white soldiers and black soldiers fighting separately. The black soldiers were called the Jim Crow Army. This led to passing the Select Service Act in 1940 which prohibited segregation in selecting and training black soldiers. • As many as 1.5 million USA soldiers stayed in Britain where there was no segregation. Black people could go to the same pubs as white people, where black men could meet white women. This in some cases led to white soldiers attacking black soldiers.

8. The impact of the war on the civil rights issue • At the end of the war a number of African and Asian countries gained independence and the United Nations (UN) was created. The result was that the rest of the world became aware of the rights of black people in America. • President Truman gave this a great deal of attention. As part of his Fair Deal policy, he established a committee in 1946 to attempt to write a law against lynching and to remove the need to pay a tax to vote. Despite his efforts, the American congress rejected his plans, but Truman succeeded in ending segregation in the army.

9. Why was it difficult for black Americans to gain equal rights in the USA in the 1950s and 1960s? The struggle for equal education: The importance of the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka case, Kansas, 1954 • Linda Brown was a seven year old black girl. She had to walk 20 blocks to school even though there was a school for white people two blocks from her home. The NAACP helped her father to bring a legal case against the education board. On 19 May 1954 the court declared that segregation was against the law and the constitution of the USA. The Board of Education of Topeka and every other education board were forced to bring segregation to an end. But many schools continued to refuse to implement this, and by 1956, in six southern states, not a single black child was attending any school where there were white children.

11. The importance of the Little Rock case, Arkansas, 1957 • In September 1957, nine black pupils tried to attend a school for white children in Little Rock. The Governor of Arkansas sent National Guard soldiers to prevent the black children from entering the school. The black people brought a case against the Governor. They won and the soldiers were forced to leave. The black pupils now had the right to go to the school and President Eisenhower sent 1,000 soldiers to look after them for the rest of the year. By 1960, out of a total of 2 million black school children in the state of Arkansas, only 2,600 were going to the same school as white children.

13. The importance of the James Meredith case, Mississippi, 1962 • James Meredith, a black man from the southern state of Mississippi, won a place at Mississippi University in September 1962. When he arrived on his first day to register, he was turned away by the Governor of Mississippi. Because of the protests and riots that happened, President Kennedy had to send in soldiers to protect James Meredith. The soldiers accompanied James to his classes throughout his course.

15. The battle for equality in transport The Montgomery Bus Boycott The law stated that if a white person got on a bus, black people should give up their seats and stand in the back. On 1 December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to do this and she was arrested and imprisoned. The NAACP called on black people to hold a boycott by refusing to use the buses. Martin Luther King led black people to boycott the buses. The Freedom Riders of 1961 Segregation continued on buses that took people from one state to another. In the north, black people had the right to sit in the same place as white people to wait for buses, but in the south they had to sit in separate waiting areas. In 1961 the Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) organised freedom trips. Black people travelled on buses across the country from one state to the next without getting off the bus. This led to a great deal of conflict between the black and white people and the Government sent 500 soldiers to protect the black people. Robert Kennedy (brother of JFK), who was the National Attorney, stopped segregation within the public facilities associated with transport – buses, railways and airports. By 1963, this had extended to include most public facilities.

16. Key figures in the campaign for equal rights: Role and significance of Martin Luther King Jr • Martin Luther King Jr was a Christian Minister and he believed in peaceful protest without using violence, following the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi. He believed that the way to protest was by means of sit-in protests and boycotts • August 1963: 250,000 people, including 50,000 white people, take part in a march in Washington D C. This is where MLK delivered his famous "I have a dream…" speech callingfor equal rights for all in America. • 1960s: As a result of MLK's work, many laws are passed to give black people more rights. • December 1964: MLK wins the Nobel Peace Prize. • 1968: MLK is killed by a white man who disagreed with his ideas.

17. The role and significance of Malcolm X and the Black Power movement Malcolm X's views and ideas became the foundation of more radical civil rights groups such as the Black Panthers, one of the movement's most violent groups. Malcolm X didn't think peaceful methods did enough to help black people. Malcolm X called on people to use violence to demand more rights. He appealed to young people and those who lived in towns and cities. Black Power – the use of violence to demand equal rights. 1950s – The ‘Nation of Islam’ movement grows bigger: encourages hatred towards white people and calls for a racial war. Wants a separate country for black people. Advocates violent action. During the 1960s riots happened in a number of cities in the USA. 1964: The Harlem Riot and the New York Race Riot take place. August 1965: A total of 34 people are killed in the Watts area of Los Angeles, and another 1,072 are injured during a riot lasting six days. 1965: Malcolm X is shot dead. 1968: Martin Luther King is killed by a white extremist.

18. Civil Rights achievements – legal changes

19. How much progress has been made by black Americans since the 1960s?Developments in the identity and culture of black peopleMany black people enjoyed success in the world of politics, sports, media and entertainment. Had life changed for the better for black people in the USA by the end of this period?