Segregation

Segregation

Jim Crow Laws Designed to keep blacks

from exercising their rights under the 15th Amendment

Literacy tests: had to prove you could read and comprehend in order to vote

Poll taxes: had to pay a fee to vote

Grandfather clauses: anyone whose ancestor had voted in past elections was exempt from literacy tests or poll taxes

Other Jim Crow laws would enforce segregation in all public facilities

The Ku Klux Klan Founded in the 1860s Used violence to

prevent blacks from voting and to intimidate them from seeking legal help

In worst cases, resorted to lynching – mob violence involving torture, mutilation, and hanging

Reached peak strength in 1920s, but still exists

Benjamin “Pap” Singleton

1809 – 1892 Escaped slave Believed that blacks

would never be treated as equals in the South, promoted idea of black separatism

Started the Exoduster movement

Late in life, tried unsuccessfully to get US government to create a special “black state” in Oklahoma

The Exodusters As Reconstruction

ended in the late 1870s, many blacks left the South to seek a better life in Kansas and other Plains states

About 50,000 left the South in 1879 & 1880 alone

Migration continued well into the 1900s

Wilmington Race Riot

November 10, 1898 Democratic Party members

and white supremacists illegally burned the offices of the black newspaper the Daily Record and overthrew the Republican municipal government of Wilmington, NC, many of whom were black

An unknown number of blacks were killed in the violence that followed (est. of 6 to over 100)

NC Gov. Russell and US Pres. McKinley took no action against those responsible

“De jure” Segregation

Segregation under the law or legal segregation

Many Southern states passed laws banning blacks and whites from mixing in public spaces such as restaurants, schools, hospitals, theaters, restrooms, etc.

“De facto” Segregation

Segregation “in fact”

Not required by law, but rather due to social norms

For example, many churches and neighborhoods remain segregated today due to de facto segregation – by the choice of the people

Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 Homer Plessy (who was

1/8th black) was arrested in Louisiana for sitting in a whites-only car on a train

Plessy sued, saying the Louisiana law was unconstitutional, but the Supreme Court ruled that so long as facilities were supplied to both blacks and whites that were “separate but equal” then de jure segregation was legal

Only 1 Justice dissented with the ruling!

Booker T. Washington

1856 – 1915 Launched the Tuskegee

Institute in Alabama Encouraged blacks to

achieve economic freedom by learning a blue-collar trade

Believed that racial equality would have to be earned over generations, would not come overnight

Received great attention for his Atlanta Address of 1895 in which he explained these philosophies to a mostly white audience

W.E.B. Du Bois 1868 – 1963 Strongly opposed Booker T.

Washington’s ideas, referred to his famous speech as the Atlanta Compromise

Argued that blacks should strive to achieve jobs in management and professional fields and be strongly politically active to safeguard their legal rights

Refused to accept segregation as a social norm, also refused to wait for social equality

Later emigrated to Africa

Niagara Movement

Founded in 1905 Civil rights

movement which sought a “mighty current” of change

Called for an end to segregation and open opposition in the black community to beliefs like Booker T. Washington’s

Ida Wells-Barnett 1862 – 1931 Rose to fame after

refusing to give up her seat on a train

Became an outspoken writer and newspaper editor who focused on racial relations, lynchings, and women’s suffrage

The NAACP Founded in 1909 “to promote

equality of rights and to eradicate caste or race prejudice among the citizens of the United States; to advance the interest of colored citizens; to secure for them impartial suffrage; and to increase their opportunities for securing justice in the courts, education for the children, employment according to their ability and complete equality before law.”

Founders included Du Bois & Ida Wells; replaced the Niagara Movement as the premiere civil rights organization in the US

NOT a “blacks only” organization – has historically had as many Jewish members as black!

Marcus Garvey 1887 – 1940 Jamaican born newspaper

editor and activist Endorsed his “Back to Africa”

movement - the idea that most people of African descent should return to Africa and all Europeans should leave Africa

Once met with the leader of the KKK, arguing that they should work together since they wanted the same thing!

Created a sense of “black pride” in African cultural heritage for many African-Americans

Convicted of mail fraud and deported in 1927

Considered a prophet in the religion of Rastafarianism

The Great Migration

Between 1910 and 1930, about 2 million blacks left the South in an effort to escape racism and to find good industrial jobs in Northern and Midwestern cities

This migration continued into the 1970s, but has since reversed – today, many blacks are leaving the North and moving south

Native American Suffrage Act

Also called the Snyder Act of 1924 or Indian Citizenship Act

Gave US citizenship to all Native Americans without requiring them to surrender their tribal affiliations

Act was pushed through by whites – Indians had learned enough not to trust the federal government’s promises!