Explain The Struggles For African Americans In The 1950's

247 Words1 Page

Throughout history, many African Americans have faced a long battle for equal rights. They started making progress in the 1800’s when they got slavery abolished, but they still were not treated equal to the white citizens of the United States after the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. The struggles they faced caused the fight for equality accelerated starting in the 1950’s. The struggle brought on by the African Americans to gain equality in many different aspects of everday life is know as the civil rights movement. It had lasted from 1954 to 1968. African Americans were denied many rights that would make them equal to the other white citizens of America. According to document 1a, in the U.S. before 1960, many public schools

Show More
Related

  • Medger Evers

    2036 Words  | 5 Pages

    During this time in southern states, black people were not allowed to vote. They could not go into restaurants or other public places inhabited by whites. They had to use separate water fountains, separate bathrooms, separate churches, and even go to separate schools. Blacks had to sit in the back of buses and other forms of public transportation. If they had a seat and there were no empty ones left when a white person entered a bus or other seated area, the blacks had to stand or get off. This was evident when three black men were at the courthouse and there were no seats left in the front row and they had to stand so that the white children could be seated. There were also extensive literacy tests that had to be passed. Again, many of these "free" blacks had ancestors that were slaves. They were not taught to read. Therefore, they could not teach their children or grandchildren to read. It was thought...

    Read More

  • Racial Challenges African Americans Faced Throughout History

    1752 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...of religion, the freedom to assemble and civil rights such as the right to be free from discrimination such as gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation. Throughout history, African Americans have endured discrimination, segregation, and racism and have progressively gained rights and freedoms by pushing civil rights movement across America. This paper addressed several African American racial events that took place in our nation’s history. These events were pivotal and ultimately led to the establishment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Civil Rights Act paved the way for future legislation that was not limited to African American civil rights and is considered a landmark piece of legislation that ending racism, segregation and discrimination throughout the United States.

    Read More

  • The Civil Rights Movement in 1955

    1720 Words  | 4 Pages

    Despite the 14th and 15th constitutional amendments that guarantee citizenship and voting right regardless of race and religion, southern states, in practice, denied African Americans the right to vote by setting up literacy tests and charging a poll tax that was designed only to disqualify them as voters. In 1955, African Americans still had significantly less political power than their white counterparts. As a result, they were powerless to prevent the white from segregating all aspects of their lives and could not stop racial discrimination in public accommodations, education, and economic opportunities. Following the 1954 Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional, it remained a hot issue in 1955. That year, however, it was the murder of the fourteen-year-old Emmett Louis Till that directed the nation’s attention to the racial discrimination in America.

    Read More

  • Civil Rights in Sports

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Civil Rights Era became a time in American history when people began to reach for racial equality. The main aim of the movement had been to end racial segregation, exploitation, and violence toward minorities in the United States. Prior to the legislation that Congress passed; minorities faced much discrimination in all aspects of their lives. Lynchings and hanging...

    Read More

  • Historically Black Colleges and Universities

    1952 Words  | 4 Pages

    Through out history education has been a topic of many concerns. Historically Black Colleges and Universities were established to try and provide freed slaves education they were not able to obtain. For African Americans in the 20th century attending school was a burden. The children had to withstand long walks to get to their designated schools, being denied classes that the white students had in their schools, outdated books and hand me down classroom materials. African Americans all across the United States fought for their kids rights to get a good education, education provided to white only schools. There was a period of time schools were able to legally deny a student acceptance into their institutions based solely on the color of their skin. Many African Americans tried and majority of them got denied. Students at all levels were being denied, from Pre-K all the way up to college. After many attempts to integrate schools parents of the children being denied education just like the white kids, they realized it would be easier to just build their own schools.

    Read More

  • The Success of The Civil Rights Movement in the 1950's

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1950s was a great success for the civil rights movement; there were a number of developments which greatly improved the lives of black people in America and really started the civil rights movement, as black people became more confident and willing to fight for their cause.

    Read More

  • The Long Struggle for Civil Rights

    2179 Words  | 5 Pages

    African Americans have a history of struggles because of racism and prejudices. Ever since the end of the Civil War, they struggled to benefit from their full rights that the Constitution promised. The fourteenth Amendment, which defined national citizenship, was passed in 1866. Even though African Americans were promised citizenship, they were still treated as if they were unequal. The South had an extremely difficult time accepting African Americans as equals, and did anything they could to prevent the desegregation of all races. During the Reconstruction Era, there were plans to end segregation; however, past prejudices and personal beliefs elongated the process.

    Read More

  • The Disadvantages that Black Americans Faced in the 1950’s

    495 Words  | 1 Pages

    The disadvantages that black Americans faced in the 1950’s. In the 1950’s black people were discriminated against 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.

    Read More

  • Alice Walker

    843 Words  | 2 Pages

    Before the Civil Rights Movement, which took place from 1955-1968, African-Americans had a difficult time establishing an identity and their rights. However, for many African-Americans, the Civil Rights Movement developed a purpose for one’s life and progressed African-Americans’ status and rights in society. Although some people may argue that the Civil Rights Movement was not productive and only caused conflict and havoc, due to the majority of African-Americans still employed in low-level jobs and many towns affected by the Civil Rights Movement being torn apart and degraded, those effects were only temporary and tangible to others. The Movement had a much more profound effect of giving one a purpose or “spark” in life, which later led to African-Americans demanding more rights and equal status in society.

    Read More

  • Effect of African Americans on World War II

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    Before World War II, although Abraham Lincoln had spoken the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and the U.S. had gone through the Civil War around 1861, not much had significantly changed for African-Americans. Really nothing changed for African-Americans until much later, around the 1960s, when schools legally had to integrate African-Americans and whites. In relation to other events, World War II began in 1939, Jackie Robinson started on first base in 1947, and Rosa Parks was arrested in 1961. Therefore, at the time leading up to and shortly before World War II, there was not much effective action in terms of equal rights for all races. However, as seen here, after World War II, equality between races became a very prominent, pressing issue. This can partially be traced back to the effect of African-Americans in World War II.

    Read More

  • Disadvantages of Black Americans in 1950's

    4048 Words  | 9 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compromise of 1877

    2202 Words  | 5 Pages

    The passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States gave African-Americans recognized rights under the law. However, a national commitment to the civil and political rights of all U.S. citizens without regard to matters of race was destined to last less then a decade.4

    Read More

  • Does Freedom Need To Be Won More Than Once Analysis

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    The African Americans were tired of being slaves, and they wanted their rights back. They won the Civil War and earned their rights, but they were still discriminated against. For example, due to Jim Crow laws, they did not get the same quality transportation that the white people did. Even today, African Americans are being discriminated against by law enforcement and other people who believe that they are plebeians.

    Read More

  • The Struggle for Freedom Among African American Citizens

    1390 Words  | 3 Pages

    It wasn’t easy being an African American, back then they had to fight in order to achieve where they are today, from slavery and discrimination, there was a very slim chance of hope for freedom or even citizenship. This longing for hope began to shift around the 1950’s. During the Civil Rights Movement, where discrimination still took place, it was the time when African Americans started to defend their rights and honor to become freemen like every other citizen of the United States. African Americans were beginning to gain recognition after the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, which declared all people born natural in the United States and included the slaves that were previously declared free. However, this didn’t prevent the people from disputing against the constitutional law, especially the people in the South who continued to retaliate against African Americans and the idea of integration in white schools....

    Read More

  • Essay On Civil Rights Movement

    2889 Words  | 6 Pages

    This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War, American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment, they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights federally enforced carried into the next century. Through non-violent protests, the civil rights movement of the 1950 and 1960’s led to most public facilities being segregated by race in the southern states....

    Read More

More about Explain The Struggles For African Americans In The 1950's

Open Document