Tag: segregation

04/26/11

The Black Movement

Black riot in the 1960s

In the 1960s, the Civil Rights Movement concerning African Americans continued to grow. This is a battle that blacks in America had been fighting for years, and while there was some advancement through various legislation, there was still great unrest in the black community. Violent outbreaks began in black ghettos; these conflicts involved angry blacks and mostly white police. They first broke out in Harlem in 1964 and began happening in various ghettos such as Los Angeles and Detroit. This violence was so widespread that many citizens feared a racial civil war would come out of it. While government recognized the riots and outbreaks, there were no outright proposals for any kind of change.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

The unrest that caused this violence spurred from the rampant legal segregation that had existed. During the 1950s, many began to fight it, no longer able to deny its injustice. However, it was in the 1960s that opposition began to turn so violent and recurrent.

04/13/11

What Happened to Rosie the Riveter?

During the 1950’s American quality of life was improving. During this period we saw the middle class grow and many people were financially stable. A big part of the affluent society of the 1950s was consumerism. With consumerism came a lot of advertisement for products. Most of those advertisement made the white male appear superior and some were even outright offensive to blacks and women.

Examples:

What happened to Rosie the Riveter? During the period of  WWII many women had factory jobs and they were supporting the family while the husband was out fight in the war. At that time womenn were doing jobs that were traditionally held by men. Just when you thought women were getting more respect and moving up in society poof and there goes an ad implying that a women can not open up a bottle of ketchup and their only job is to serve the men.

Did the affluent society only pertain to white male?

04/11/11

Montegomery Boycott

The bus where Rosa Park stood up to the injustices of the Jim Crow laws

 

Rosa Parks defies the Jim Crow laws by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger

During the 1950’s, the United States had in effect a series of injust laws the oppressed African Americans called the Jim Crow law’s. These law’s encouraged segregation by forcing African Americans to use separate facilities then the whites such as segregated public bathrooms or specific seating arrangements on public bus’s as well as bussiness’s that excludes African American patrons. Some of these unjust laws were deemed unconstitutional after the actions that were taken by Rosa Parks, a African American civil rights activist.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks defied one of the bias Jim Crow laws that were in effect. She refused to give up her seat to a white passenger and was arrested for her actions. Her arrest inspired a boycott of the montegomery bus company that lasted about a year and ended when the supreme court renounced that segregation in public transportation was constitutional.

04/3/11

To Secure These Rights

Postwar America saw a rising consciousness over the issue of racial inequality and universal human rights. In October 1947, a commission on Civil Rights issued a 178 page report called “To Secure These Rights,”  which prompted the federal Government to step up their actions against racial segregation and to assume responsibility in abolishing racial inequality. If these steps were not taken to secure the rights of non-whites, then our lives would be drastically different. We would be attending different schools (one for white and other for non-whites), different buses and job-opportunities for non-whites would be severely limited. We might have even had different blogs to post our assignments!!  The existence of racial segregation would undermine the very meaning of Freedom in America.