Download St Andrew`s RC Secondary Intermediate 2 History Free at Last

St Andrew’s RC Secondary
Intermediate 2 History
Free at Last?
Race Relations in the USA, 1918–1968
Revision Booklet
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Immigration to USA
The American Dream is the idea that anyone can be wealthy and successful if
they work hard. This pulled many people to America in the 19th and 20th century.
Some were also pushed from their country.
PUSH FACTORS
Famine
Persecution (i.e. European Jews)
Poverty
Unemployment
PULL FACTORS
Work available in USA
Plentiful food
Political Freedom
Early immigrants (before 1900) came from
 UK and Ireland
 Germany
 Scandinavia (Sweden, Denmark etc)
Later Immigrants (1900 onwards) came from
 Poland
 Italy
 Russia
These immigrants were classed as poorer and not as good as early immigrants
Immigrant Experience
 Arrived at Ellis Island and processed
 Had to be healthy and fit to work – also quizzed on whether they had
jobs/money
 Most immigrants settled in cities – NY, Boston, Chicago
 Majority lived in poor areas – slums – which were crowded but had low
rents
 Immigrants grouped together – ‘Little Italy’, ‘Little Russia’ etc
 Most immigrants knew little about politics and were often bribed into
voting for certain politicians
 They often voted for those of similar backgrounds i.e. Irish voting for
Catholic politicians in Boston
 WASPS (White Anglo Saxon Protestants) were families who had been in
the USA a long time – they looked down on ‘new immigrants’
 Below ‘new immigrants’ were Black Americans who were at the bottom of
the social ladder
 They had not chosen to come to America but were brought as slaves
Later America’s ‘Open Door’ started to close – immigration from certain
countries excluded or restricted (China, Eastern Europe and Southern Europe)
WHY?
 Many American feared revolution such as that in Russia 1917 – they also
worried that immigrants would bring and spread Communism
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Many Americans though immigrants were stealing jobs/homes – in reality
they took the ones nobody else wanted
Racism – WASPs looked down on Black/dark skinned/Catholic immigrants
Discrimination widespread – Sacco and Vanzetti example 1921
 Two Italian immigrants charged with a robbery and murder
 Little evidence to convict them
 Both men had revolutionary ideas – many thought they were on trial
because of this
 Both executed
Black migration
 Many Blacks started to move to the northern states in the early 20th
century
 Because immigration had been cut there was more work available there
 19th century – civil war in America – South wanted to keep slavery, North
did not – ends in ‘freedom’ for Black Americans
 In the South, Black Americans were treated as 2nd class citizens – moving
North could give them a better life
 They were still subject to some discrimination in the north
 It was very difficult for a Black American to become successful in the
early 20th century
Tulsa, Oklahoma
 ‘Black Wall Street’ – very affluent area of Black Americans
 Black man accused of raping white woman – KKK organise racist attacks
 Police helped white attackers, Black area of Tulsa destroyed
Jim Crow Laws
 The Civil War meant the end of slavery for Black Americans. Technically,
Blacks now had more rights BUT the reality was different
 South created ‘Jim Crow Laws’ to control Black population – named after
white comedian who mocked Black people
 Examples – black/white marriages illegal, black/white separate toilet
facilities, black/white separate schools
 The Southern states said that facilities (toilets, schools etc) would be
‘separate but equal’ – they were not
 Little done to stop Jim Crow laws by US government
Voting
 By US Law, Black people could vote
 Southern states brought in ‘voting qualifications’ or tests that Black
people had to sit before they would have a vote
 In some states you had to pay a huge tax to vote – Blacks earned low
wages
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Ridiculous questions and tests judged by white men – few passed – so very
few Black people could use their right to vote
Unfair legal system - Scottsboro Boys – 9 Black boys in Tennessee
arrested for raping white women, all white jury, corrupt legal system,
white demonstrators outside court wanting a guilty verdict, BUT some
people though the boys were innocent – the prejudiced trial raised
awareness of the unfair legal system
Lynchings
 Lynchings were murders, punishments and beatings given to Black
Americans. They were common.
 ‘Lynch Law’ was when white people would decide that a Black person was
guilty of a crime and thus decide to lynch him/her
 Emmet Till – 14 yr old Black Boy murdered for flirting with a white shop
assistant in Mississippi, horrific injuries, Emmet’s mother showed the
world pictures of his body to shock people. White culprits found ‘not
guilty’
KKK
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Ku Klux Klan – secret organisation especially active in southern states in
early 20th century
Burned crosses, intimidated Black people, lynched Black Americans
They were strongly against equal rights – they also hated Catholics, Jews
etc
They wore white hooded cloaks and organised protests, marches etc
Why did the Klan become more popular?
 New immigrants annoyed many WASPS
 Blacks moving North for jobs – more competition
 Growing unemployment – US citizens blamed immigrants
 Poor whites seemed to see the Klan as protectors of America
 Many important people were also in the Klan – lawyers, policemen – this
meant they were rarely in trouble for their attacks
 They also marched on Washington in the 1920s – showed how much
support they had
NAACP
 National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People
 Campaigned for the rights of Black Americans
 Different Black leaders wanted different things – Booker T Washington
wanted education for Black people, Garvey wanted them to return to
Africa
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Migration
Blacks moving North greatly increased after 1910
Two World Wars meant factories in the North needed more workers
Again, competition for jobs/housing led to discrimination
Black Ghettos started – very poor areas in city centres – races were
segregated unofficially by the area you lived in
Race Riots became more common – East St Louis 1917, Chicago 1919,
Detroit during WW2
The police usually sided with the white population
Also some positives of Blacks moving North
 ‘Harlem Renaissance’ in NYC, boom in Black music, Jazz, sense of pride in
being Black etc
 Many Black Americans ha a much brighter future
 It may have forced the government to do something about the race
problem
World War Two
 ‘Double V’ Campaign – victory in the war and victory at home for civil
rights
 A. Philip Randolph threatened a mass protest in Washington DC if there
was not an end to discrimination in the armed forces
 Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802 – no more discrimination in the
armed forces
 During the war, overcrowding in cities went up as people moved there for
factory jobs which caused more race riots
 New organisation created during WW2- Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE)
 BUT a new law by Truman to make lynching a crime was rejected shortly
after WW2
Separate but Unequal
 Racism still everywhere after WW2
 First aim of civil rights movements in the 1950s was to get rid of
segregation and Jim Crow laws
Brown vs Topeka Board of Education – 1950s
 Linda Brown’s father took the school board to court as he did not want
his daughter to go to the ‘separate and unequal’ school she was supposed
to
 US law still said it was okay for facilities to be ‘separate but equal’
 The court declared the schools were unequal and separating children by
race was wrong
 Southern states tried to ignore the ruling
 Schools which did try to desegregate were intimidated by mobs/KKK
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Little Rock, Arkansas 1957
 High school in Little Rock decided to take in 9 black students
 Arkansas Governor sent troops to guard the school to stop Black children
getting in
 White protestors surrounded the school
 President was not willing to have states ignore US law
 He sent US soldiers to protect the Black children on their way to school
 Soldiers stayed for a year and even patrolled corridors
 It was thought to be an important event since the army had been sent in
 The events also attracted worldwide attention to the civil rights
movement
 Government had to intervene to protect Black population
 People felt sympathy for Black population
Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955
 Rosa Parks (NAACP member) refused to give up her seat for a white
woman – the mayor of Montgomery had allowed the bus company to
segregate
 Parks arrested, Black leaders decide to boycott bus company
Why was it important?
 Showed the power Black people could have
 Hurt the bus company financially – showed Black economic power
 Boycott lasted over a year
 Showed that nonviolent protest could be effective – the bus company had
to desegregate
 Law passed to make companies desegregate
 MLK was an important figure during the bus boycott, he helped organise
it
Martin Luther King (MLK)
 Baptist minister who experienced segregation himself growing up in
Atlanta, Georgia
 Became President of Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in
1960 which aimed to end segregation
 1964 famous ‘I have a Dream’ speech
 Believed in nonviolent protest – demos, marches, petitions etc
Civil Rights Act 1957
 First Civil Rights Act for 100 years although it was not a huge step
 Many said it was due to Montgomery and Little Rock
 It showed the government would not allow states to do whatever they
wanted
 BUT by 1959 there was no increase in Black voters
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Sit Ins 1960s
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Started in Greensboro, North Carolina when four Black students sat at a
white-only lunch counter
The ‘Greensboro Four’ refused to move and returned next day with more
protestors
By end of 1960, 70,000 protestors had taken part in sit ins
Nonviolent protest met with White violence and insults – this was seen on
TV across the world
Attracted publicity for Civil Rights Movement
They showed that young people could have an effect on civil rights
There was still much more that needed to be done
Freedom Rides 1960s
 Group of black and white students from Congress of Racial Equality
(CORE) went on bus journeys to see if segregation had really ended
 The aim was to gain publicity for their group
 Blacks would try and use white toilets along the route
 They were met by KKK in Alabama and other white protestors
 KKK tried to beat up freedom riders
 One of JFKs advisors who went to investigate the freedom rides was
battered unconscious
 US law officers sent to protect freedom riders
 1961 US government ordered an end to segregation in airports, rail and
bus stations
Events such as these meant the US Government could no longer ignore the
issue of Civil Rights
Birmingham, Alabama – 1963
 MLK took the SCLC to Birmingham to try and end segregation there
 Birmingham KKK one of most violent in USA, they also had the support of
the head of the Police Dept, Bull Connor
 People in Birmingham thought the protestors were crazy to march in
Birmingham as it was such a segregated area
 Schoolchildren were taken on the march as the protestors knew that TV
footage of children being mistreated would get sympathy for Civil Rights
 Bull Connor set water cannons and dogs on marchers
 Fire hoses and baseball bats used on protestors
 Children beaten and bitten
 Next day police and fire department refused to take Connor’s orders
 Several hundred protestors were still arrested
 Birmingham business people agreed to desegregate – KKK furious
 KKK start wave of violence – fire bombings of motels etc
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Results of Birmingham
 Desegregation achieved in Birmingham
 Publicity for Civil Rights
 MLK lost some support due to violence – he could have chosen to stop
protest
Civil Rights Act 1964
 1963 JFK says on TV he realises it is time for a new Civil Rights law
 Black leaders organised a March on Washington to get equal rights and
gain publicity (4 National TV channels showed it)
 MLK gives ‘I have a Dream’ speech
 Some Black people wanted to use more violent methods of protest after
16th Street church bombing
 Civil Rights Act passed by Johnson in 1964 makes it illegal to discriminate
in public places, in the workplace and in courts
BUT
 It did not solve discrimination in housing or give Black people a fair vote
 It did not end discrimination against Black people
 It did not stop the KKK
 Black people still faced prejudice on a daily basis
 It did not end inequality – most Black people still poorest in society
 It did not end the fact that many KKK groups were supported by police
Selma, Alabama
 MLK was determined all Black people should be able to vote without fear
or difficulty
 Voter registration made it difficult – literacy tests etc
 If Black people all voted, it could be the end of white power in the South
 1965 protests in Selma about the fact that Blacks were being denied the
right to vote
 Met by police violence – Jimmy Lee Jackson shot
 A protest march was organised from Selma to Montgomery
 MLK arrested before the March – perhaps for publicity
 Day of march, marchers met with armed police and ordered to turn back
 Protestors attacked – 17 injured
 USA shocked due to TV coverage – called it ‘Bloody Sunday’
 USA population horrified
 The march was rescheduled, this time protected by US army
 Many thought that the protestors had hoped for violence since they
wanted sympathy from Americans
 August 1965, Voting Rights Act passed which removed barriers to Black
people voting
 Within 3 years of the Act, most Black Southerners were registered to
vote
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This changed the nature of Civil Rights and protesting moved away from
the South
Non violent protest also became violent
Malcolm X
 By the mid 1960s many problems in the South were gone
 But there remained lots of problems for Black Americans in northern
cities
 The Civil Rights movement split into two parts
 Non violent and Black/White cooperation on one side
 Violent and Separatist on the other (Malcolm X)
 People saw Malcolm X as representing a better life in New York, Chicago
etc
 Nation of Islam believed that the White man was the Devil and only the
Black man can cure him
 It rejected cooperation between Blacks and Whites
 He was followed everywhere by FBI as the US government saw him as a
threat
 He was a very powerful speaker and spoke of a separate nation for Blacks
only
 In 1963 he split with the Nation of Islam
 He changed his views after visiting Mecca and became less extremist
 Assassinated 1965
Stokely Carmichael and Black Power
 Many Civil Rights workers began to get annoyed about the lack of new
progress in the movement
 Carmichael was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordination
Committee (SNCC)
 He changed their aims and moved away from nonviolent protest
 ‘Black Power’ became a new movement – Blacks should not ask for Civil
Rights but build up their own societies, they should defend themselves
against White attacks and also be proud to be Black first and American
2nd
 He did not think White people should be allowed in the SNCC (even
though they had come on freedom rides)
 He helped Black people register to vote
 BUT many people thought he encouraged violence and was racist
 He left the SNCC to join the Black Panthers
 He changed his name to Kwame Ture, rejecting America
Black Panthers
 ‘Black Power’ was now commonplace on TV, radio etc
 Violent Black leaders were now in the media more than nonviolent
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Black Panthers supported the use of guns – for self defence and
retaliation
By 1968 a branch of Black Panthers was in most US cities
They supported violence of it led to change and were very anti-white and
anti-police
They also helped in communities setting up free health clinics etc but the
media was not interested in this
They had ten demands including better housing and education
Involved in many shoot outs with police and FBI during the 1960s
Some people think a lot of violence was blamed on the Panthers when it
was not them
The FBI destroyed many of the good community projects the Black
Panthers carried out
The Black Panthers had lots of support
They were also condemned by many Americans
They disappeared in the 1970s due to arguments between leaders
Civil Rights moves North
 Blacks living in Northern ghettos now wanted the movement to help them
 Gang violence, drugs etc were also issues for those in the cities
 Most white immigrants who had once lived in Ghettos (Irish, Italian etc)
had saved up enough to leave the ghetto – Blacks found they were
discriminated against due to their skin colour – police were all white
 Whites also tried to stop Blacks moving into their areas, estate agents
would refuse their business etc
 These problems led to many riots i.e. Watts, LA 1965
 In the North, Black people were not such a fan of nonviolent protest
 Black Power/Black Panthers seemed more relevant to them
 BUT Chicago asked MLK for help – it was thought to be the most racially
segregated city in the US
 MLK developed the ‘Chicago Plan’ – the first issue to tackle was housing
 Blacks marched into White areas in 1966 and were attacked with stones
and bottles
 BUT city leaders agreed to a policy on fair housing
Chicago Riots
 Summer of 66 – Blacks set off a fire hydrant due to hot weather
 Fight turns into a riot
 43 other Race Riots across country
Result
 US Government passes a new Civil Rights Act in 1968 including a Fair
Housing Act
 This new act also bans moving between states to start riots (aimed at
Black leaders)
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The Kerner Commission
 Investigation into riots
 It said that the USA was divided into two societies – one Black and poor,
one White and rich
 Black people were more likely to be poor and unemployed – this had
caused the riots
 It said Whites had created ghettos and kept them going
Assassination of MLK
 MLK had made many enemies (Black Power, Black Panthers etc)
 He had spoken out against the Vietnam War
 The FBI saw him as a potential threat
 Black Power movements saw him as an enemy
 However, he did not change his views and still believed in integration and
Blacks and Whites working together
 Goes to Memphis to support a strike by rubbish collectors
 Assassinated by escaped convict James Earl Ray
 This provoked riots across the USA – signalled the death of nonviolent
protest
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