American History II: Note Set #12: Turn of the Century Racism
American History II: Note Set #12: Turn of the Century Racism
"Jim Crow" Laws: laws passed in the South after the end of Reconstruction to limit the rights of freed blacks
Especially designed to keep southern blacks from exercising their voting rights
Examples:
Literacy test: individuals must prove that they can read before being allowed to vote; usually also required that the voter explain what they had read to a judge, who was always white
Poll tax: individuals must pay a special fee in order to vote; kept many poor people from voting
Grandfather clause: if your grandfather could not vote, you were ineligible to vote OR if your grandfather could vote, you were exempt from the literacy test and/or poll tax
Other Jim Crow laws requiredsegregation (separation of the races) in all public facilities
“De jure” Segregation
Segregation required by law
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 by choice; 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
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
Organization founded in the 1860s to oppose Reconstruction
The Klan used violence to prevent blacks from voting and to intimidate them from seeking legal help
In worst cases, the Klan resorted to lynchings, a form of mob violence involving torture, mutilation, and hanging
The Klan's power and numbers have waxed and waned over the years, but the group still exists today
The Exoduster Movement
As Reconstruction ended in the late 1870s, many blacks left the South to seek a better life
Many took advantage of the opportunity to own land in Kansas and other Great Plains states
Former slave Benjamin “Pap” Singleton (1809 – 1892) started this "Exoduster" movement, based on the idea that blacks would never be treated as equals in the South, so they should build separate all-black communities on the Great Plains
About 50,000 "Exodusters" left the South in 1879 & 1880 alone
Late in life, Singleton tried unsuccessfully to get the US government to create a special “black state” in the Oklahoma Territory
Black migration from the South to the Great Plains continued well into the 1900s
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 to the South for better opportunities and living conditions
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, arguing the Louisiana law was unconstitutional, but the US Supreme Court ruled that so long as facilities were supplied to both blacks and whites that were “separate but equal” then segregation laws were constitutional
Only 1 Supreme Court Justice dissented with the ruling at the time and it would not be until the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 that the Plessy decision would be reversed
The Wilmington (NC) 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-ran municipal government of Wilmington, NC, many of whom were black
A number of blacks were killed in the violence that followed (estimates range from 6 to over 100)
Both NC Gov. Russell and US Pres. McKinley refused to take any action against those responsible
Black Leaders Emerge
Booker T. Washington (1856 – 1915)
Launched the Tuskegee Institute, a vocational school for blacks in Alabama
Washington encouraged blacks to achieve their economic freedom by learning a blue-collar trade
Washington believed that racial equality would come slowly, having to be earned over generations
Washington became a controversial figure for his Atlanta Address of 1895, in which he explained his educational philosophies to a mostly white audience
W.E.B. Du Bois (1868 – 1963)
Du Bois strongly opposed Booker T. Washington’s ideas, referring to Washington's famous speech as the Atlanta Compromise
Du Bois argued that blacks should strive to achieve jobs in management and white collar fields, and be strongly politically active to protect their legal rights
Du Bois refused to accept segregation as a social norm and refused to wait for social equality
Ida Wells-Barnett (1862 – 1931)
Wells rose to fame after refusing to give up her seat on a train
Wells became an outspoken writer and newspaper editor who focused on racial relations and women's suffrage, as well as reporting the graphic details of lynchings
Marcus Garvey (1887 – 1940)
Jamaican born newspaper editor and race-activist
Garvey promoted his “Back to Africa” movement - the idea that most people of African descent should return to Africa and create an all-black society
Garvey created a sense of “black pride” in African cultural heritage for many African-Americans
Garvey lost support in the black community after meeting with the leader of the KKK (arguing that they should work together since they wanted the same thing) and after being convicted of mail fraud
The Niagara Movement
Civil rights movement founded in 1905, which sought a “mighty current” of change
The Niagara Movement called for an end to segregation and openly opposed the beliefs of Booker T. Washington
The NAACP (The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
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 W.E.B. Du Bois & Ida Wells; the NAACP 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!
Native American Suffrage Act: (also known as 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!