18.3: New Civil Rights Issues

Economic equality, poverty, and the rise of militant leadership

Urban Problems

1. de facto segregation – segregation by practice (it is a fact)

2. de jure segregation – segregation by law (the jury)

3. Whites did not want social and economic equality with AA

4. White flight – whites moving to suburbs

5. Low paying jobs/income

6. Low work positions

7. Poor neighborhoods: overcrowded, dirty, crime, drop out, single parenting

8. Hopes raised but nothing else =

Urban Violence

a. Harlem, Watts, Chicago, Detroit….

b. Needed economic equality: opportunity in jobs, housing, and education

D. Kerner Commission

1. Committee appointed by Pres. Johnson to study causes of urban violence

2. Conclusion: racism against the AA community was the cause

3. Johnson ignores many recommendations due to white opposition

The Shift to Economic Rights The Chicago Movement

MLK moves into AA neighborhood in Chicago

Hoped to bring change in housing

Led march through white neighborhood; met with resistance

Mayor Daley - CPD to protect marchers

New programs dev by bankers and realtors to promote open housing

No real change

Cicero, Illinois

“Black Power”

2. Stokely Carmichael; head of SNCCa. Wanted only Blacks to fight “for the cause” (Kling)

b. Emphasized Black pride

Malcolm “X” Little

a. member of the Nation of Islam

b. advocated armed self-defense & black nationalism

c. received a lot of press/controversial

d. Hajj/returns w/“Ballots or Bullets” theory

e. Assassinated during speaking engagement

3. Black Panthers

a. Developed to fight police brutality in ghettos of Oakland, Ca.

b. FYI… Organization greatly

involved in community service

Mao Zedong-Black Panther Connection

“Power flows out of the barrel of a gun.”

C. April 4, 1968 James Earl Ray assassinates MLK

Violence erupts throughout the US/125 cities

E. Civil Rights Legacy

* Civil Rights Act 1964; banned discrimination in public places and employment due to race etc.

* Civil Rights Act 1968; banned discrimination in housing

Ended de jure segregation School integration College enrollment

increased

Black pride AA curriculum Entertainers 2/3rds registered voters 7,000 elected officials* Affirmative action:

making special efforts to hire or enroll groups that have suffered from discrimination in the past