Section 1 Chapter 14 Major Question, “ How did African Americans Challenge Segregation After WWII?”
What were Jim Crow Laws? They enforced segregation in the South (de Jure Segregation). That is a word that means by law. The Supreme Court allowed “Separate But Equal” accommodations since The case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). Things were not equal.
Did Segregation Exist In Other Places? De facto Segregation existed in the North (unwritten and accepted by custom). African Americans were discriminated against and received no jobs, or low paying ones.
How did Segregation Impact African Americans? African Americans suffered high poverty rates, lower life expectancy rates, and low home ownership rates. Few African Americans voted in the South.
How Did The Civil Rights Movement Develop? WWII brought to light discrimination issues. People wrote books about discrimination (Gunnar Myrdal’s American Dilemma). James Farmer and others founded C.O.R.E. , or the Congress of Racial Equality.
How Did C.O.R.E. Work? They used forms of Non-violent protest in American cities (influenced by Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau).
What Success Did African Americans Experience? Very little…early on. Jackie Robinson did break the race barrier in baseball in 1947; he was harassed and threatened. Violence still occurred in the South. Truman desegregated the military in 1948. Congress ignored suggestions from a civil rights committee (put in place by Truman).
How Did the N.A.A.C.P Challenge Segregation? The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People used the court system to challenge segregation.
Who was Thurgood Marshall? An African American attorney who headed the NAACP legal team. Two cases overturned unequal conditions in educational settings. Sweatt v. Painter and McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents.
What Case Made Segregation in Public Schools Illegal? The case Brown v. the Board of Education challenged the concept of “Separate But Equal.” The Supreme Court, headed by Earl Warren, felt that segregation did not allow for equal educational opportunities ( Unconstitutional).
How did People React to the Brown Case? The case told the country that segregation was wrong. It had a great impact because it dealt with public schools. A separate ruling urged that desegregation occur quickly. Southerners pledged to stop desegregation and integration.
How Did the State and Federal Government React to Integration? The Governor of Arkansas used the national guard to stop nine African American students from attending high school in Little Rock. President Eisenhower responded by having Federal Troops sent to the city. The Federal government could not be defied.
What is the Civil Rights Act of 1957? Created a Civil Rights Commission (investigate civil rights violations). It could protect voting rights (did not have much power).
What was The Montgomery Bus Boycott? It was the result of the arrest of Rosa Parks by police. She refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger (she had to under). African Americans in Montgomery, Alabama boycotted the bus system and businesses.
What was the Role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the Boycott He felt non-violent protest should be used in the bus boycott. King was chosen as the leader of the boycott. King was threatened and his house was bombed. The Supreme Court took a year to rule bus segregation unconstitutional.
What was the SCLC? It stands for Southern Christian Leadership Conference. It was founded by Martin Luther King and Rev. Ralph Abernathy. They organized further non-violent protests for civil rights (prayer pilgrimage to Washington D.C.).