“Learning to Lead our Lives” How did life for black people vary in America before World War two? Skill: Knowledge and Understanding NGfL: USA All images/ cartoons are believed to be in the public domain. Many of the images were sourced from the internet encyclopaedia wikipedia at

What do these images suggest about the status of African Americans in the southern states in the 1920s? Public domain SEGREGATION

DISCRIMINATION

Klu Klux Klan Jim Crow Laws From textbook Nigel Smith

To find out more about lynching, click here…

What was life like for black people in the 1930s? Click a button to find out! In the 1930s most blacks lived in the south, former slave owning states

The southern states Alabama, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Texas, Indiana, Ohio, Georgia. POLITICS: Segregation: policy of keeping black and white people separate, based on racial prejudice. Segregation was legal in the southern states. They were called the JIM CROW LAWS after a racist comedian. Blacks did not have have the right to vote. Blacks could not expect justice as judges and police were white and racist. White people could exploit thise they believed to be racially inferior. Washington DC, the capital city, was strictly segregated. ECONOMY: black people had the lowest paid, menial jobs, mostly involving hard labour. During the Great Depression in the 1930s the southern farming states suffered badly, farmers getting rid of black workers first. Consequently there were 3 times as many black families claiming relief as whites during the depression in the south. SOCIAL: Black people had the poorest schools, could not eat in the same restaurants or have treatment in the same hospitals as whites. They lived in separate neighbourhoods. They had separate public transport. Some states banned marriage between black and white people. BACK TO MAP

Mississippi 1937 BACK TO MAP public domain from by By Dorothea Lange - see

Oklahoma BACK TO MAP Public domain

The Klu Klux Klan The KKK had been founded as a terrorist group of White Anglo Saxon Protestants (WASPs) determined to ensure that blacks did not gain equal status with other Americans. They hid their identities and used terror and violence to intimidate anybody who supported equal rights, even white people. By 1930 it had over 5 million members including police officers, judges, politicians and had a powerful influence over politics in the southern states. BACK TO MAP Public domain

Lynching The lynching of Lige Daniels, Texas, USA,1920. BACK TO MAP The most brutal treatment of black Americans was the frequent lynchings that occurred. In many cases the local police failed to protect the victim of the lynchings. Sometimes police played a part in the attack. The KKK also helped protect the identity of those whites that were involved. The purpose of the lynching was to show black people that whites were superior and in control. The most brutal treatment of black Americans was the frequent lynchings that occurred. In many cases the local police failed to protect the victim of the lynchings. Sometimes police played a part in the attack. The KKK also helped protect the identity of those whites that were involved. The purpose of the lynching was to show black people that whites were superior and in control.

Marcus Garvey Many black people supported Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association. Garvey wanted black people to return to their homeland, Africa and came up with the slogan ‘black is beautiful’. He was an impressive speaker and organised impressive parades in red and blue uniforms. The US Government and the NAACP, an alternative equal rights pressure group, were both strongly opposed to his ideas. Many black people supported Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association. Garvey wanted black people to return to their homeland, Africa and came up with the slogan ‘black is beautiful’. He was an impressive speaker and organised impressive parades in red and blue uniforms. The US Government and the NAACP, an alternative equal rights pressure group, were both strongly opposed to his ideas. BACK TO MAP

The NAACP BACK TO MAP The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People was founded in 1905 and devoted itself to implementing the ‘separate but equal’ status and challenging segregation in the southern states. It spent most of its efforts challenging lynching, helping victims families and lobbying the Supreme Court to make federal legislation to make lynching illegal. Most of its offices were in the North, where there were no segregation laws, and the NAACP could organise itself more safely here than in the southern states.

Migration to the North POLITICAL: Northern states such as Illinois, Michigan, New York did not have segregation laws as they had not been slave-owning in the past. However racism was commonplace and still black people did not have the vote there. Black people were the last to be given a job, it would be the lowest paid and the most menial work. ECONOMY: Industrial expansion after World War One had opened up new job opportunities for black American in many industrial northern states. They could earn higher wages on a production line than from agricultural work. SOCIALLY: Thousands of black families moved to cities such as Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York and Philadelphia. By 1940, 22% of blacks lived in the North. Many were forced to live in certain areas of these cities in poor, cheap, cramped housing, referred to as ghettoes. BACK TO MAP

Ghettoes Harlem in New York City. This cramped "Black Belt," was home to more than a quarter million people. It was the result of white homeowners’ and landlords agreements’ to isolate African Americans within all-black neighbourhoods. BACK TO MAP

What examples of economic inequality do you think existed? Why do you think the government did nothing? What options were open to African Americans? What examples of economic inequality do you think existed? Why do you think the government did nothing? What options were open to African Americans? Think

Bingo… Segregation Jim Crow Discrimination Migration Racism Prejudice Garvey NAACP Lynching Segregation Jim Crow Discrimination Migration Racism Prejudice Garvey NAACP Lynching Ghetto Klu Klux Klan Inequality Separate but equal Ghetto Klu Klux Klan Inequality Separate but equal