New Civil Rights Issues Chapter 25 Section 3

Urban Problems Despite laws being put in place to end racial discrimination, it was very hard to enforce these laws. Conditions were still very poor for blacks with only 15% holding a professional level job compared to 44% of whites. African Americans as a whole also earned less than whites. On average an African Americans’ family income was 55% less than whites. The lack of money coming in made it difficult for many blacks to afford to live anywhere outside of the cheaper houses and apartments of the inner city. 70% of Blacks lived in large citites.

The Watts Riot Riots broke out in Los Angeles, specifically the Watts neighborhood, due to police brutality against African Americans. The riots lasted 6 days, and killed 34 people. The riots only ended after 14,000 members of the National Guard showed up to stop the violence. Johnson would then create the Kerner Commission, this commission looked in to the causes of riots and how to prevent them from happening. The commission was able to create 2 million jobs, and also created 6 million public housing units.

Watts Riot aftermath

Black Power Movements Black power movements began within the African American community when there was very little changing even when Civil Rights legislation written into law. Some blacks that believe in the black power movement believed that African Americans should control the social, political, and economic direction of their struggle. The main thing that black power movements stressed was pride within the African American community and culture. Black Panthers were a group that believed a revolution was necessary and they urged African Americans to arm themselves. They believed that if whites would not given them rights, then they would force them to give them rights

Black Panthers

Malcom X Malcom X spent 6 years in prison for a burglary conviction. While in prison Malcom X converted to Islam, specifically the Nation of Islam, unlike mainstream Islam, The nation of Islam, or Black Muslims stressed black nationalism. They believed in segregation and wanted to take it a step further by wanting to create their own self governing communities. Malcom X did not advocate violence, but they did advocate self defense. They believed that if attacked unprovoked that they had the right to defend themselves “by any means necessary”.

King Assassination By the 1960’s the civil rights movement had fragmented into dozens of organizations with different philosophies. Some groups advocating violence clashed with groups that wanted nonviolent change. Many whites who had supported civil rights changes early on withdrew their support. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis Tennessee. Riots broke out in over 100 American cities due to Kings death. Following his death, Congress passed the civil rights act of 1968, which promised fair housing practice and made racial discrimination illegal in the housing market.