...War II, the second is Presidents and the third is Civil Rights Organisations. There are a few significant factors that occurred as a result of the Second World War. For example, the 'Double V Campaign' of 1942. Two months after the Bombing of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese, the Pittsburgh Courier (the most popular black newspaper in America) published the campaign to everyone. It called for a victory on two fronts, it was a campaign for African-Americans to give their all in the war effort and for black people to fight racial discrimination back home in America. The editor of the newspaper wrote "We call upon the President and Congress to declare war on Japan and against racial prejudice in our country." This was significant because it gave African-Americans a chance to prove how much of a positive impact they could have on the war and this in turn could show current white racists a different view on them. Additionally, it could be argued that because it was quite a big newspaper, more people across America would see it, and therefore it could potentially have more of an effect on the general opinion. Another factor was the black soldiers who returned home as heroes after the Second World War. It changed the attitudes of white people all across America but more specifically, white soldiers who had fought alongside them in the war. Before the war, white servicemen were disgruntled by the fact that black people were fighting with them, afterwards they treated them as equals...
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...Progression of black rights during 1945-1955 can be clearly seen but was a long and slow process, although the awareness of racial equality dramatically increased. Various factors were involved. Factors such as: presidential involvement and the use of media post WW2.We also see improvements in education and NAACP. More importantly how the NAACP and southern states responded to these factors, later shaping the result to black civil rights. During this time America saw two presidents come to power: Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) and Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961). Both of which affected the civil rights movements in different ways. Truman who was vice president to Roosevelt was elected officially in 1948, Born in Missouri in the late 19th century he had been brought up in an area that saw racism towards coloured people as a natural occurrence, and this was also the case for Truman. Truman had first encountered blacks as family servants with his ancestors previously owning slaves. Truman had told his sweet heart Bess that: “One man is as good as another, “So long as he is honest, decent and not a Nigger or a Chinaman”. (Sanders, 2003, p60) So he is an unlikely candidate to eventually be bringing the lack of rights of the blacks to light and standing behind the civil rights movement later in his career. With the number of racial murders on the rise in the south, Truman set up and implemented a civil rights committee to produce a report “Secure These Rights” brought attention to the...
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...Fight for your Right! American History Since 1865 HIS204 Gwendolly Noble Ranita Wallace August 11, 2013 African Americans are one of the most significant humans on this earth. There has been so many historical events that have evolved around the African American community. African Americans and the fight for their right against America. On major idea was the African American community to have the courage to fight for the rights of the African community. One specific topic of the African community was the ability to stay strong and succeed with the events that were happening. African Americans had to take the pain and heartache to gain their rights for any challenge they were fighting for. Many may disagree on the fact that African American should be able to be equal and free under the American rights in the Constitution. In my opinion the African American people should not had to of fought so hard to become equal if they were born as American, even slaves that were set free. The African American people should have had the same equal rights. African American men and women were beaten and forced to be less of the American because of the color of their skin. It was not always the fight for African Americans to have power but to equal as Americans. These movements that the United States have witnessed only made a way for the African American people to consider themselves as equals and proud Americans. African American should have the right to be equal and have the same opportunity...
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...was lessened by other factors that brought about change such as the civil rights groups and President Truman. These factors were able to convert de jure change into de facto change; something the Second World Wars alone was unable to do. World War Two had a dramatic effect on civil rights for Black Americans. Over 1.2 million black men joined the U.S army during the war and the experience radicalised them. Northern blacks were often trained in rural military camps in the Southern states, this was their first experience of formal racial segregation. They were appalled to know they were fighting a racist opponent, yet being treated as a second class citizen and receiving prejudice treatment back home. Consequently, the black soldiers used the ‘Double V’ sign, which meant they were fighting for two victories: victory overseas and victory over racism at home. The war also began to change the racist attitudes of whites. The United States and her allies were fighting a racist opponent, Hitler, who passionately believed in a ‘Master race’. In the past, white supremacy groups such as the Ku Klux Klan had presented racism as something that was both natural and noble, however, the racist atrocities carried out by the Nazis showed the full horror and dangers inherent in racism. This convinced many people that racism should be opposed in all circumstances. In addition, the courage shown by the black soldiers fighting in the Second World War changed the outlook of many white soldiers. In...
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...Josephine Edmondson-Deigh University of Phoenix Week#5 Assignment Historical Report on Race: African Americans Letter to a Friend Hev Phoung Dear Winston, You have been a dear friend to me for over twenty years since we met in grade school, which is why I was surprised that you did not know much about the U.S. history of African Americans like me. Of all the years we have known each other; you have only recently started to ask me questions about my background and the history of my people. This is an interesting realization; considering the years of discrimination and suffering under the label of “different” that African Americans have endured in our history, the fact that I have been your friend for ten years and you never once considered me different enough from yourself, a White man, to ask questions about those differences is an amazing indicator of how times have changed for the better! The only explanation I have for these recent questions is that you must be taking an African Americans course in college that requires you to learn the history of African Americans. In any event, I would be happy to answer your questions. Your questions about the experience of African Americans throughout U.S. history have answers that could be found if researched properly, but since space in a letter is limited, I will try to keep it short. Your questions about the experience of African Americans throughout U.S. history have answers, but, since you have limited time frame...
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...According to the Essential of Sociology written by David B. Brinkerhoff, Lynn K. White, Suzanne T.Ortega, and Rose Weitz, it is states that “Racism is the belief that inherited physical characteristics associated with racial groups determine individuals’ abilities and characteristics and provide a legitimate basis for unequal treatment.” In the human history, racial discriminate is a one of the important social issues. Racism has been unavoidable and ubiquitous in societies for centuries. People who did not suffer racial problems usually think racial discriminate is not a big deal and also think it is rarely occurred. But it is still widely prevalent in everywhere all over the world. W.E.B Du Bois, who was an African-American civil rights...
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...effectiveness of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s limited by internal divisions? (30 marks) During the Civil Rights Movement great improvements were made gradually for the small minority groups in USA, for example Black African Americans, Hispanic groups and also women. However, from the very beginning there were internal divisions within the civil rights movement as well as external divisions. These partitions were caused by four major factors; methods such as peaceful protest and violence, ideology, effects of tension from jealousy and rivalry and lastly personalities of the different civil rights organisations and their leaders as they were competing for media attention and public recognition. These divisions did limit the effectiveness of the civil rights movement as they slowed down the process and cause many complications. These divisions were extremely clear thought out the 1960s as there was the development of Black Power and their methods of violence which is a contrast to Martin Luther King’s approach which was peaceful protest. In the early 1960s many successes came about for the civil rights movement especially for SNCC and of Martin Luther King. The Greensboro sit-ins led by SNCC in 1960 is an example of a triumph as they demonstrated that civil rights campaigns could spread quickly and also showed that other organisations could work together as the sit-ins attacked all aspects of segregation and it lead to the extending of the existing NAACP campaigns against...
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...What led up to the assassination of a man and his impact after. Medgar Evers a man born on July 2, 1925 and died on June 12, 1963, was a civil rights activist in Mississippi. His full name was Medgar Wiley Evers and lived in Mississippi who grew up in a farming family in Decatur Mississippi. In 1943 Medgar Evers was drafted into the American Army to fight in World War II in France and Germany. In 1946 Medgar Evers received honorable discharge. Later on in his life he would become a Civil Rights Activist who would fight to end injustice. Medgar Evers took a stand for an end to racial injustice by becoming one of the first blacks to apply for admission to the University of Mississippi Law School, helped integrate “Ole Miss.”, and was NAACP’s first field...
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...of higher education, the utilization of out-of-state scholarships, and the state’s attempt to provide a separate facility all contributed to Sweatt’s piece of mind. The legal battles mentioned above and the future Supreme Court case would ultimately affect his ability to carry through with his desire to become a lawyer. During the research on Sweatt is became evident that predominately all of the author’s acquired their information from NAACP historical records. Records that contained personal conversation, documents, letters, and trail transcripts. Since its inception in 1909, the NAACP has been fighting for African American civil rights, especially in eliminating segregation in higher education. Author’s Michael L. Gillette, Bill Weaver, and Oscar C. Page articles, and Gray M. Lavergne book describe NAACP’s litigation efforts on this subject. In the mid-thirties, the NAACP litigated Donald Murray efforts to apply entrance into the University of Maryland Law School. The Maryland Court of Appeal decision made two...
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...African Americans have all the same rights as white Americans do today; however it has not always been that way and they have had to fight to be treated equal. The main topics that will be covered in this paper will be the 15th Amendment, the creation of the NAACP, Malcolm X and the Black Muslims, Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka, Kans., Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, and the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. African Americans were slaves until the Civil War ended in 1865; however the United States was still divided on the rights of African Americans. African Americans even though they were freed from slavery they were not treated equally and did not have all the same rights as white folks did such as voting rights. The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870 and stated “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." (Bowles, 2011, 1.1). This was an important step for African Americans to be treated equally in the United States. However it was just the beginning and the Southern States would try to fight this Amendment by created many different barriers for the African Americans to block their rights to vote. Some of these barriers that were used were poll taxes and literacy tests, along with intimidation and violence. Thomas Mundy Peterson of New Jersey became the first black person to vote because of the 15th Amendment...
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...struggle specific groups and individuals faced throughout the time period. Beginning with Ida B. Wells in the 1890, and ending with the struggles the NAACP faced in the 1950’s, the ability to build support was often met with the challenges of racism and oppression. No other person exemplified this struggle more so then Ida B. Wells. Even though Ida enjoyed a substantial following through her writings of books, and speech making, she still faced threats to her and was even exiled and forced to leave the United States, and go to England. Although dealt this major setback in her forced move to England, Ida. B. did not become discouraged and continued her work in fighting for equality for blacks in the South. In her writing of the Red Record, and Southern Horrors, Ida was able to capture the horrific climate lynching in the South. Because of this work, Ida transformed many peoples perception of the South where before her work many believed that almost all types of oppression ended with the conclusion of the Civil War. As a result of this shift in public opinion, Ida began receiving substantial funding from not only whites in the North, but also from England; whom the South depended on heavily because of their trade relations. Through these efforts, Ida was responsible for starting groups such as the anti-lynching Bureau, and the NAACP. These organizations that were formed in large part because of Ida B. Wells can be judged as perhaps the biggest reason why lynching in...
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...Racism in America The question should be how did racism in America begin? I think that it is probably fair to say that racism began with the Middle passage. The Middle Passage was the slave ships that brought African Americans to America from Africa. The slaves were perceived as being less than human fit for labor, bondage and beatings. Their only function was to be brought to America to work in the cotton fields and build America up to the standards that the Caucasian Americans expected. Slaves were usually fed straps from their Masters tables, given ragedy clothes to wear, they worked from sun up until sun down, and they were not paid. They were beaten if they talked backed back to the Master or did not produce the labor that was required by the Master. The Caucasian by all accounts was thought to be superior and better than slaves were because they owned the land, crops, plantations and houses; the poor slave did not own anything. What did the slave ship look like? Slaves were placed at the bottom of the ship; then men, women and children were chained to one another. With very little movement possible, they suffered and many of them died. This was not an easy voyage. The voyages to America from Africa took months and people got very little air in the bottom of these ships. They were fed but they had to eat lying down in chains and they were fed worst than animals. They were allowed on the deck occasionally where they were washed with water that was poured on them. Many...
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...“Assess the significance of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the struggle for civil rights in the USA” In the southern society pre-1955 black Americans where thought of as second class citizens. Southern states had white only restaurants, white only rest zones in bus centres, water fountains etc. in the south of America is was common that buses were segregated, with specific areas on a bus reserved for white customers and other seats for black customers. The Civil Rights Movement is often said to have started with the actions of Rosa Parks from Montgomery, Alabama, in December 1955. Rosa Parks was a civil rights activist who protested against Montgomery’s racially segregated buses. She protested by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to white American man, “she decided on that day she wasn’t going to move. There was no assault” , this resulted in Rosa Parks getting arrested for breaking the Montgomery Bus Segregation Laws. It was said that Rosa Parks reaction after a hard day’s work and was not pre-planned. But evidence suggest that the Bus Boycott had been a while in the planning . After Rosa Parks arrest all black Americans stayed off the buses for a total of 382 days which caused the bus company to lose 65 percent of its income leading to great economic pressure. This led to the community organising a car pool which carried many of the passengers the buses would have carried, this showed great community spirit and how powerful people working together could be. Following the...
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...References acadamia.com, studymode.com, Franklin, J., & Moss Jr., A. (2000). From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans. Eighth Edition. New York, NY: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Lawson, Steven F. “Segregation.” Freedom’s Story, Teacher Serve©. National Humanities Center. Retrieved on July 7, 2012. http://www.history.com/topics/slavery. NAACP: 100 Years of History. Retrieved from http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history My Dearest Friend Charlotte, It is nice to hear from you after all these years that we have been apart and gotten so busy in our lives to keep in regular contact. I am glad to hear that things are going so very well for you and your family. In your last letter I read that you would like to knowmore about my race and would like to use some of it for your paper for your class. I would be very happy to share some insight on my race and give you some background information on African Americans. The African decent has shaped the course of American history for over 500 years, such as the fight against slavery to the March on Washington. In the early 17th century white European settlers turned and went from indentured servants, which were mostly poorer Europeans to a cheaper labor source: the African slaves (History, 2009). In 1619 a Dutch ship brought 10 Africans to the British colony on Jamestown, Virginia. From that time on slavery spread quickly throughout the American colonies. The Stono Uprising in September of 1739 in South Carolina...
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...How far had civil rights movements made progress between 1945-1950? The period between 1945 and 1955 was regarded as the start of civil rights movements. It has been argued that during this period, civil rights movements had made progress, having an enormous impact, bringing tangible changes to the African-American community. To assess how far the progress had been made, it is important to take into consideration how it affected the Black community in America between 1945-1955. First of all, it is undeniable that during the 1945-155 period, there was a degree of support from the Federal Government. One of the most significant government supports was from Predisent Truman, who made several attempts to call for changes and racial equality to African-American community since he was horrified by attacks on black servicemen from Second World War. In September 1946, he created a civil rights committee with liberal members, whose reports would draw attention to unacceptable situations, to investigate on the racial problems. In October 1947, the committee gave Truman their report, which was entitled as “To Secure These Rights”, saying that the USA could not claim to lead the free world while black were not equal. It advocated eliminating segregation from US life by using federal power, recommending immediate action to remedy existing racial matters. The report was revolutionary in a country where relationship between Whites and Blacks was still tense. To make these recommendations...
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