African-Americans in the North and South Flashcards
(15 cards)
what was the impact of civil rights legislation?
some African Americans continued to not feel like they were experiencing equality. Busing was frequently used to ensure that desegregation could take place
The 1971 case Swann vs Charlotte- Mecklenburg board of Education had argued argued that Swan had a right to an integrated education, even though the schools closest to him were predominantly black.
in 1974 a Boston judge ordered that the city school system should begin busing, Coleman who was the only black member of Ford’s Cabinet asked the president to speak out but Ford chose to stay silent, whilst Ford was not racist he believed that the federal government had no role to play
in 1974 Milliken v Bradley, ruled in a narrow 5-4 ruling that districts where there was de facto segregation could only be forced into an integrated busing place if it was needed- this did lead to the white flight
how did the matter develop?
in June 1978 the university of California vs Bakke found in favour of affirmative action, this barred racial-quota system, though the cases were designed to give equal access to minorities. Bakke sought entry to the university but couldn’t as the quota’s limited his entry
1979- United steel workers of America vs Webber- Webber claimed that he had been disproportionately treated as he failed to gain a place on a training programme, the court rules that affirmative action was legal
cultural gains by black Americans
There was the increasing presence of AA people in the media
Blaxploitation became poplar with films such as Foxy Brown, Richard Ward also starred in Starsky and Hutch.
There was also academic progress as Carter Woodson founded black history month.
it was music from the likes of the Jackson 5 that really made gains
Though, this change in he mass media masked how segregation was still affecting people. Wilson described the issue as “spatial mismatch” the issue was not being black but living in poverty
the growth of the prison system and African- Americans
Incarceration for young black men and drug offences affected young black men disproportionately, this led to the belief that black people were now being demonised.
economic change for African Americans
Economically, little had improved by the end of Carter’s presidency AA people made up 12% of the population but 34% of those that are receiving welfare
There were 900000 members of the black “underclass” that measures such as being welfare dependent.
Though, things for the middle class was improving as there was 3% rise in black people who graduated high school, whilst in 1977 31% of people could be classed as middle class, though they did suffer from “last in first out” mentality
the significance of civil rights groups in the 1970’s?
SNCC- largely disappeared
SCLC- Abernathy became leader, but argued with Jackson, Jackson left in 1971
CORE- Innis refocused CORE on economic development and community self-determination, supported nixon in 1972
NAACP- continued to fight for litigation- Swann case
NOI- Mohammed took over after his father died, he dismissed much of his father’s ideology and brought the organisation closer to sunni islam
NUL- they focused on preparing high school drop outs for college
Black panthers- membership had declined to 27 by 1980
civil rights and feminism
1975- the Combahee River collective was formed, this was a black feminist organisation
The third world wimmin ic collective became the first group for black females
change and continuity in the new south
voters in the south began to elect governor’s who had more progressive values, Clinton in 1979
There was a move away from the segregationist values of George Wallace
in 1979 Bullard highlighted how waste facilities were situated close to black communities- this echoed the views of Marshall that the road remained long.
Civil Rights Groups
By the mid 1960s the SNCC and CORE had redefined themselves in such a way as to make them appear at the radical fringes of the Civil Rights movement by the early 1970s.
The SCLC, Nation of Islam, the Black Panthers were very different organisations but they all suffered from infighting and a failure to renew themselves in the context of the 1970s.
The NAACP continued to advance the cause Civil Rights and were joined by new groups such as People United to Save Humanity (PUSH), the National Black Feminist Organisation, and the Salsa Soul Sisters, Third World Wimmin Inc.
Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, and the SCLC
Jesse Jackson joined the sit-ins at Greensboro in the early 1960s and participated in the Selma March of 1965. Became a Baptist minister and joined the SCLC in 1966, becoming close to MLK and working on “Operation Breadbasket” in Chicago.
After MLK’s assassination in 1968, Ralph Abernathy took over the leadership of the SCLC carrying on with the agenda MLK had set especially with respect to the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, DC, and fighting apartheid in South Africa.
Jesse Jackson, Andrew Young, and the SCLC
The SCLC’s executive Director, Andrew Young, shifted his attention away from the SCLC when he was elected to the US House of Representatives 1973-77, and then Jimmy Carter made him Ambassador to the United Nations, 1977-79.
Jessie Jackson left the SCLC after disagreements with Abernathy and founded PUSH: People United to Save Humanity. The movement worked to increase job security for African-Americans, alleviate inner-city poverty and champion black businesses and charities. However, PUSH was criticized for its failure to complete one mission before moving to the next and Jessie’s high profile character served as a distraction – he rain for the Democratic nomination for president in 1984.
Angela Davis and the Prison Movement
Angela Davis has been on the front lines of social activism. She first became a public figure in 1969, when she was fired from her position as a philosophy professor at UCLA because of her political views. The following year, Davis was arrested on three charges that carried the possibility of the death penalty. During her time in prison awaiting trial, the rallying cry “Free Angela Davis and all political prisoners” galvanized progressive activists. Davis was acquitted of all charges in 1972. Today she is a professor emerita at UC Santa Cruz, and she continues to be a sought-after writer, speaker, and advocate for political reform.
events in Boston
In Sept. 1974 South Boston parents
who were most opposed to busing formed the group Restore Our Alienated Rights (ROAR). They wanted to keep their children in neighborhood schools, and issued a call for whites to boycott classes. The group made up lyrics to the tune “My Way,” sung by Frank Sinatra: “Tonight, let us unite, and do it ROAR’s way,” the song said in part.
Boston’s public schools contained 45,000 whites in 1974 but only 16,000 by 1987.
The “New” South?
To what extent had the South been reborn in the aftermath of the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965): some signs looked positive. Jimmy Carter heralded from Georgia and was just one of several progressive State Governors in South. In 1974 George Wallace became a born-again Christian and apologised for his former segregationist views and policies.
The South also began to see the kind of investment that meant that some of the economic differences between North and South were not so clear cut. The successful supermarket chain Walmart grew out from Arkansas and leading banks such as Wells Fargo had a presence in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ron Harris’s article “the myth of the ‘new south’ in Ebony Magazine (1979): “To be Black in the South is, for the majority of Black people, still to be poor, undereducated, and socially isolated from the White community.”
Greensboro Massacre, North Carolina (1979)
40 Ku Klux Klansmen and American Nazis opened fire on an anti-Klan demonstration in Greensboro, North Carolina, killing five anti-racist activists in a span of 88 seconds. Those killed were members of the Communist Workers’ Party. Ten other activists were injured. No one was convicted in the massacre, but a jury did find the Greensboro police liable for cooperating with the Ku Klux Klan in a wrongful death. Local pastors in Greensboro are now calling on the City Council to issue an apology for the events that led to the 1979 killing
