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The disadvantages that black Americans faced in the 1950’s
In the 1950’s black people were discriminated and mistreated beyond belief whilst white people lived a life of luxury with cars, televisions and money. Statistics from the ‘US Department of Commerce’ state that 18% of white people lived below the poverty line whilst 56% of black people lived below the poverty line.
From 1882 to 1968, 3,445 lynching’s were recorded and many were not recorded. This was one way of the many problems black Americans faced, although only 9 lynching’s were recorded from 1950 to 1968 this wasn’t the only way to mistreat black Americans. The American Congress wrote 27 amendments, the 13th stated that slavery was wrong so from December 6th, 1865 slavery was illegal. But soon after over 17 Southern American states invented Jim Crow Laws from 1876 to 1968 this meant that there was segregation with all public facilities such as, public transportation, water fountains and education services.(145) The name Jim Crow came from a famous white comedian who made racist jokes about other races.
Another disadvantage black Americans faced in the 1950’s was not being allowed to vote, white Americans intimidated then into not voting and even if they still weren’t intimidated blacks would have to pass a test to be able to vote and the majority of black Americans couldn’t write or read because they were uneducated this was because there were very few only ‘coloured’ schools and more no ‘coloured’ schools so their were very few educated non-white Americans. In the only black schools they had bad equipment and lowly qualified teachers so the education standard for black students was bad. Jobs were also segregated because white Americans were given high paying jobs that were usually easy and enjoyable whilst black Americans were given hard manual labour jobs with very low wages, this meant they lived in ghettos and slum neighbourhoods which had very high crime rates.
Economically black Americans faced disadvantages because they had low wage jobs so they couldn’t afford houses in safe neighbourhoods statistics from the ‘United States Department of the Treasury’ show that blacks were earning a maximum of $3,828 per year whilst whites were earning a minimum
of $7,057 a year this also supports the job segregation as white American bosses gave whites the higher paying jobs and blacks the lower paying jobs.
As a result
This obstacle caused Blacks to not have a voice in the USA’s political decisions. Furthermore, they were left with the worst jobs in town and had the poorest schools because of segregation (The Change in Attitudes.). In the southern states, compared to White schooling, the Blacks received one-third of school funding. The White people dominated the states and local government with their decisions and made sure that the Blacks were weak. They weren’t being treated in hospitals because the doctors refused to do treatment on them.
In 1860-1960 there was lynching in the United States. When the confederates (south) lost the civil war the slaves got freedom and got rights of human beings. This was just to say because segregation wasn 't over in the South and didn 't go away for over 100 years. Any black person in the South accused but not convicted of any crime of looking at a white woman, whistling at a white woman, touching a white woman, talking back to a white person, refusing to step into the gutter when a white person passed on the sidewalk, or in some way upsetting the local people was liable to be dragged from their house or jail cell by lots of people crowds, mutilated in a terrible
More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (Issues of Our Time)
Degrading low paying jobs were the only jobs available for black men. Women worked as servants for whites. Men had to work in mines, clean up toilets or work as police officers abusing their own people. “Shit-men-belligerent immigrant workers who, because of what they did, were looked upon by many black people-went about the communal lavatories picking up buckets of excrement”(83). Working as servants for whites was one of the better jobs for black women. Blacks could not walk around freely in their own country without carrying a passbook. Without a passbook, blacks could not work or travel. The passbook had to be paid for by black families who did not have any money. They were arrested and put in jail if their passbooks were not in order. Blacks were trapped with no way out, not even the hope of education.
Blacks were driven out of skilled trades and were excluded from many factories. Racist’s whites used high rents and there was enormous pressure to exclude blacks from areas inhabited by whites.... ... middle of paper ... ...
In the 1920s and 1930s, segregation was a massive thing for everyone. Minorities were looked down upon mainly because of their different skin color and culture, as people from all over the world started to come to America because of its freedom that it offered. They did receive many of the rights that was said to be given, nor much respect, especially from caucasians. They were mostly slaves, workers or farmers for caucasians. Although they would work as hard as they can, they wouldn’t receive fair pay. In the result of that, they were never able to live the life of a middle-class citizen. They were always low on money. Also, taxes would bug them as it would rise only for the lower-class...
Blacks were discriminated almost every aspect of life. The Jim Crow laws helped in this discrimination. The Jim Crow laws were laws using racial segregation from 1876 – 1965 at both a social and at a state level.
While we all would agree that racism is immoral and has no place in a modern society, that was not the case in the U.S. in the 1940s. At the time African Americans were treated as second-class citizens, it was made near-impossible for them to vote, and they were discriminated in many ways including in education, socially and in employment. It was a time in which segregation and racism perforated the laws and society, a time in which African Americans were “separate but equal,” segregation was legal and in full force. Apartheid was also everywhere from the books to in society. Blacks were not truly seen as equal as they were seen the the lesser of the two and it very much felt that way. Blacks were oppressed in many ways including having unreachable requirements to vote, such regulations included literacy tests, poll taxes, and elaborate registration systems, but it only started there.
Although the 13th Amendment ended slavery, it did not solve the problem of unjust treatment towards African Americans. “Jim Crow Laws were laws in the South based on race. They enforced segregation between white people and black people in public places such as schools, transportation, restrooms, and restaurants. They also made it difficult for black people to vote” (“Civil Rights for Kids”). These laws promoted the idea of “separate but equal”. “The name "Jim Crow" comes from an African-American character in a song from 1832. After the song came out, the term "Jim Crow" was often used to refer to African-Americans and soon the segregation laws became known as "Jim Crow" Laws” (“Civil Rights for Kids”). These laws created segregation and made white Americans superior to all other races. The laws were in place for 77 years, but the harsh effects lasted for many years to come.
Jim Crow, a series of laws put into place after slavery by rich white Americans used in order to continue to subordinate African-Americans has existed for many years and continues to exist today in a different form, mass incarceration. Jim Crow laws when initially implemented were a series of anti-black laws that help segregate blacks from whites and kept blacks in a lower social, political, and economic status. In modern day, the term Jim Crow is used as a way to explain the mass incarcerations of blacks since Jim Crow laws were retracted. Through mass incarceration, blacks are continuously disenfranchised and subordinated by factors such as not being able to obtain housing, stoppage of income, and many other factors. Both generations of Jim Crow have been implemented through legal laws or ways that the government which helps to justify the implementation of this unjust treatment of blacks.
This made the blacks immediately a lower class of people and before they knew it they were getting pushed to the back of the bus and not allowed to use the same bathrooms or water fountains as white people. 2,) Today American life is like a tossed salad. When people starting migrating to America many years ago, this country was known as a melting pot. Meaning that everyone just pretty much blended in with each other. This became a problem though. People didn’t always mix very well, as they all had come from different cultures and had many cultural differences and also just many different lifestyles.
Today, the United States is considered to be one of the most diverse countries in the world with regards to its citizens being of a different race and ethnic background other than white, but sadly this was not always the case. During the post-emancipation era, also known as the period of “redemption” for southern whites, was a time of great racial violence and hate from most white individuals, typically farm and plantation owners, towards the newly freed slaves emancipated after the civil war, which of whom were predominantly black. Right before the civil war, society was separated into two racial hierarchies: white, and black. If an individual was of any color other than white they were labeled as a slave and considered someone’s, referring to white slave owners, property. After the civil war America’s social lifestyle and overall government changed dramatically due to the emancipation of slaves in the south. When African Americans were emancipated the idea and concept that was once accepted, any individual other than white is considered to be insubordinate and a slave, was now abolished and considered inhumane. This caused a major disruption within society because former slave owners lost huge amounts of manpower that use to work and generate profit by making enslaved individuals farm their land. As a result, once wealthy farmers and plantation owners became the poorest of poor with no one to work their fields and no money to even hire anyone because of post-war fees that needed to be paid. With that being said, African Americans are considered now to be citizens of the United States but sadly were not treated equally by their white peers till the Civil Rights Act (1964); and from the time of reconstruction through the period of...
middle of paper ... ... During the late 1940s and early 1950s, many African Americans were subjected to racism in America. Blacks during this time had few opportunities and were constantly ridiculed by whites based on the color of their skin. Numerous blacks ridiculed themselves and their own race based on the color of their skin.
In a society where a racial divide is growing more and more prominent everyday, black lives are being put into the spotlight. White people have always had the upper hand in America, but exactly how much of an upper hand do they have? It has always been apparent, since the first developed human society, that with power comes opportunity. With the lack of power and opportunity in their own right, people of color miss out on options for betterment and equality. In a society where there are very few people of color in the top one percent of the economy, obviously the opportunities are going to be limited for the remaining ninety-nine percent. Lacking in opportunities, the remaining ninety-nine
Disadvantages of Black Americans in 1950's Black Americans faced many disadvantages during the 1950's. In short they were discriminated; from public services, to cafés and restaurants. After the American Civil War in 1865, black people in the American south were no longer slaves. But they had never gained equality with whites. Blacks had remained second classed citizens throughout their movement to America, with the worst paid unskilled jobs in farms and factories.