Segregation

African American History

Segregation, whether de facto or de jure, is discriminatory De facto segregation-segregation by

habit, fact or tradition. De jure segregation -segregation by

law.

Challenges to segregation have taken two general forms. One form was insistence on equal treatment

through integration. – W.E.B. Du Bois

The other major challenge to segregation came from those who urged the establishment of independent black states or nations that would not be subservient to white people. – Marcus Garvey.

The movement against segregation: Began to gather momentum in the

1930s. particularly de jure segregation in the South,

Along with appeals to conscience, black leaders began to find economic leverage– Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. – Economic viability of the AA.

Segregation slowly fades away.

In 1948, President Truman issued an order to desegregate the armed forces.

In 1954, The Supreme Court ruled that segregation meant inequality and declared separate schools for blacks and whites unconstitutional.

Finally, with the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, and the 1968 Fair Housing Act, de jure segregation was ended.

The dismantling of de jure segregation did not come about smoothly: An incident in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956

proved to be the start of one of the most important popular movements in U.S. history. (Rosa Parks,)

King with thousands of boycotts, demonstrations, sit-ins, and marches occurred as blacks and their sympathizers sought to overturn the laws protecting racial segregation.

Reports and photographs of demonstrators being beaten by Southern law enforcement officers or attacked with police dogs and fire hoses had a strong impact on national opinion.

The North and the South… The courts and the federal government began to

respond to a growing popular discontent. As desegregation progressed in the South, attention

began to shift northward. – Targets in the North, however, were more elusive.

Segregation in the northern cities did not rest on laws so much as on attitudes, customs, and economic relationships.

These were more difficult to confront with nonviolence. Frustration and resentment grew in the black communities– Vestments..

Riots.

In 1965 the Watts area of Los Angeles erupted into a riot that lasted for several days and left 34 dead.

For three successive summers, outbursts of rebellion occurred in cities across the country.

The most massive was the Detroit riot of 1967, which lasted nearly a week, claimed 40 lives, and destroyed property worth $250 million.