How far do you agree the lives of black americans did not improve much between 1944-55 free essay sample

There is a great deal of evidence to support and argue the statement above regarding the lives of black Americans and whether they did or did not improve much between 1945 and 1955. Black American’s social position, especially in the South, did not improve much, neither did their voting rights. There was also a huge racially motivated backlash to the Brown v Topeka ruling which did not help to improve the lives of black Americans. However in the North there were a number of social, economic and political changes within the education system and other institutions such as the interstate buses, which aimed to improve lives of black Americans. Unfortunately the impact was limited and de facto change did not, in the majority of cases, happen. The social position of African Americans between 1945 and 1955 suggests there was little improvement in their lives. This is because in the Southern states of America, the roots of slavery, there was still a lack of status for black Americans in 1945 and many suffered from poverty. We will write a custom essay sample on How far do you agree the lives of black americans did not improve much between 1944-55? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page After the Second World War, where black Americans served for their country abroad, many thought this would lead to great social change. However in Washington D. C, for example, black Americans were banned from all restaurants, cinemas and hotels and were not recognised by white people for their achievements in the War. This belief of white supremacy and black inferiority was enforced by the ‘Jim Crow’ laws which intended to ignore de jure rulings by allowing segregation. This suggests the lives of black Americans did not improve due to the legalised segregation still present at 1945 in certain states, especially ones in the South. Another factor that would agree the lives of black Americans did not improve much between 1945 and 1955 was their limited voting rights. There was some improvement in terms of their growing political power, as American politicians such as William Hastie appointed American Americans to political positions so he could appeal to the masses. Black voters in 1945 were beginning to hold greater voting power, as they could sway the election vote either ways. However this political improvement in the lives of black Americans was extremely limited as Southern states found ways to disenfranchise local African Americans. For example a ‘grandfather clause’ was introduced meaning a black American could only vote if their grandfather had been able to vote. This did not improve their lives in any way as it removed many black Americans ability to vote, which in a sense, removed their right to change their country for the better. Another example of this voting manipulation so the government ‘appeared’ to improve the lives of black Americans by giving them the right to vote was literacy tests. Education was extremely unequal between races, with many black Americans illiterate due to inequality in education. This meant many did not pass the literacy tests and were therefore not allowed to vote. Even educated African Americans struggled to pass the literacy tests and state governments did not apply them fairly. Therefore the lack of voting rights for black Americans suggests little improvement in their lives between 1945 and 1955. Lastly, the backlash to the Brown v Board of Education of Topeka (1954) could also be seen as not improving the lives of black Americans. After Brown’s daughter was refused entry to the local school due to racial segregation, the NAACP and Thurgood Marshall, a leading African American lawyer, took the case to the Supreme Court. The de jure ruling stated that segregation was illegal in American schools. However the immediate reaction from white people was not positive but extremely racist, which did not help to improve black American’s lives. Racists, especially in the South, were led by Senator Harry F. Byrd to put up ‘massive resistance’ which would ignore the de rule ruling and defend segregation within schools. In addition to this, middle class whites set up The White Citizen’s Council which promoted the continuation of segregation within schools and funded white state schools that wanted to become private to avoid desegregating. This de facto reality suggests little improvements to education and to the lives of African Americans, as many schools just ignored the de jure ruling and refused to desegregate schools. One of the reasons for this was the Supreme Court failing to put a timescale on when desegregation of schools should occur. Therefore many white schools just chose not to desegregate their schools, continuing inequality within the races and not giving black Americans a better chance of a successful life in the future. This meant the lives of black Americans did not improve as there still was inequality in education with black Americans receiving little improvements by 1955 than what they had in 1945. On the other hand, there was some improvements, although many had limitations, made for black Americans between 1945 and 1955. An example of this was the increased migration to the less segregated Northern states. By 1950 almost a third of black Americans lived in the North. This was because the wartime boom led to increased employment opportunities in the North, reducing the number of African Americans unemployed to 151,000 by 1945 (almost 750,000 less than in 1940). This economic change improved black American’s lives as they had greater job opportunities, which meant there were better paid than they were before. There was also less legally enforced segregation in the Northern states which meant black Americans had a lot more social freedom which improved their lives massively. However these improvements were not present in the South, as highlighted by the death of Emmett Till in 1955. He lived a desegregated life in the Northern city of Chicago, and was visiting family at the time in the Southern state of Mississippi where segregation was still present. Emmett was murdered just for ‘flirting’ with a white woman, which was not an illegal act, however ‘The Segregated Heart’ meant that there was a huge outrage from white racists for his actions. Therefore this suggests a clear North v South division regarding racial segregation, and if a black American lived in the South between 1945 and 1955, you were less likely to have an improved life. These economic and political changes suggests, in the majority of cases, black American’s lives did improve between 1945 and 1955 which was mainly due to living in the North where there was much more liberal attitude. Another factor which did help to improve the lives of black Americans between 1945 and 1955 was the publication of ‘To Secure These Rights’ and direct action taken by President Truman at the time. The report made in 1947 highlighted the problems of lynching, police brutality towards black Americans, voting rights, discrimination in the armed forces, lack of employment and education and finally the discrimination in the area of health. All of these factors showed just how much African Americans were not receiving the equal treatment as white people. However the report was not meant to be negative, as there were many recommendations that federal governments should enforce to ensure equal civil rights for all Americans. Despite this the report was not totally useful, as many of the recommendations did not lead to de facto change, as many local governments were racist and just ignored the report. Instead, President Truman used his government power to oppose new reforms such as the Executive Order 9980 which enforced equal employment opportunities and the Executive Order 9981 which called for racial equality in the armed forces. The report and direct action taken by the President suggested improving the lives of black Americans between 1945 and 1955 was beginning to happen, although the political changes did not successfully improve their lives due to the continuity of racism in all levels of society, especially within governments. The work of the NAACP helped massively to improve lives of black Americans between 1945 and 1955 by taking segregation cases to the Supreme Court. An example of this, as mentioned earlier, was the Brown V Topeka ruling which highlighted racial inequality within education which led to the Supreme Court unanimously deciding segregation within schools should be abolished. Another example of legal case regarding segregation was Morgan v Virginia in 1946. Irene Morgan, a black American was fined for refusing to give up her seat to a white person whilst travelling on an interstate bus, where moving to the different state meant abiding by the segregated rules on that bus services. The NAACP, with the help of Thurgood Marshall, a leading civil rights lawyer, took the case to the Supreme Court and the de jure declared segregation on interstate buses broke the Fourteenth Amendment and must be abolished. Both of these court cases helped to improve lives of black Americans as they were no longer ruled by what the law said and many places were becoming segregation. However this improvement was limited as there was little de facto chance as it was difficult to regulate whether states were enforcing the new laws. Therefore court cases did help to improve the lives of black Americans between 1945 and 1955 however there were limitations to these legal changes. To conclude there is a great amount of evidence that supports and argues whether the lives of black Americans did or did not improve between 1945 and 1955. The lack of social position and voting rights, especially in the South, suggests the lives of African Americans did not improve and they were just as bad as they were in 1945 than in 1955. Also the huge racial backlash towards the Brown case suggested although legal changes were beginning to happen by 1955 in order to improve black American’s lives, the de facto change was unlikely to happen due to the continued racism from many white people. However the social, economic and political changes made between 1945 and 1955 did suggest some improvements were being made by the government in order to improve black American’s lives but many were just not enforced due to racist state governments. Although changes were beginning to happen within America for improving civil rights between 1945 and 1955, it is clear that in 1955 little had changed within society and the lives of black Americans had not improved. This is mainly due to the continuity of racism, especially in the South that occurred at all levels of society, including governments were meant to enforce desegregation.