The Disadvantages Black Americans Faced in the Early 1950s

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The Disadvantages Black Americans Faced in the Early 1950s

Throughout the years 1920-1973, and especially during the 1950s, black

people faced many injustices in America. They faced social,

economical, physical and political disadvantages and were also at a

disadvantage because generally, whites were in power. These

disadvantages will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

Because whites were in power, black people faced a major injustice.

The policemen, jurors and judges tended to be white. These whites in

power were often biased towards black people, simply because of their

race. An example of such an injustice would be in April 1963 when

Martin Luther King was arrested whilst leading a peaceful

demonstration in Birmingham, Alabama. The chief policeman who was a

white man ordered his men to attack the other demonstrators. As a

result, 3300 black people were arrested.

The political disadvantages faced by black people were mostly about

voting. White people deliberately set criteria for voters, which they

new that black people wouldn't be able to meet. For instance, they set

up a poll tax, which many blacks obviously could not afford to pay due

to their poor income from menial jobs. Literacy tests were also made a

legal requirement for potential voters. Due to the poor education that

blacks had received at their poorer segregated schools they could not

pass the literacy tests and therefore could not vote. Although many

blacks attempted at the literacy test, they were almost always said to

have failed it.

Social disadvantages that black people faced derived from 'Jim Crow

Laws'. Named after a white comedian's old song character and the way

that Jim Crow poked fun at black people, 'Jim Crow Laws' were laws,

which discriminated against blacks and encouraged segregation.

Examples of segregation would be the poorer schools that black people

had to white people, which resulted in poorer education. Also, buses

were segregated. The front of the bus was reserved for whites whereas

the back of the bus was reserved for blacks A black person was also

expected to give their seat to a white person if no further seats were

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