AAs in workforce increased eg. AAs in iron, coal and steel industries increased by 25%
NWLB set minimum wage and working hours
Therefore, the war increased opportunities and the opportunities did not exploit AAs
AAs in the military experienced life outside the segragated south - military still segragated
Some AAs achieved higher status through officer traiing and gallantry during the war
Double V campaign - highlighted the hypocracy of fighting Nazi's abroad
HINDER
Many AAs lost thier jobds when the war ended
Minimum wage (NWLB) stil lower than for whites
NWLB disbanded after the war
Would take Civil Rights Act (1964) to finally enforce pay equality
Onlt 10% of defence industries employed AAs in 1940
Race riots - in Alabama, 1943, 50 people were injured in riots after 12 AA welders were promoted
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Brown v BoE (1954)
HELP
Overturned Plessy v Ferguson - abolition of Jim Crow
Paved the way for MLK
Encouraged affirmative action - highlights how wrong Jim Crow was - changes mindset of American society
Led to more liberal SC rulings
Gave southern AAs belief in the political system (MLK)
By the end of the 1960s the percentage of AAs with a high school diploma had increased from 40% to 60%
HINDER
Opposition in the south - 'Brown 2'
Highlighted the weakness of the SC
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The presidency of LBJ
HELP
Pro-CR coalition of Republicans and Democrats
Even former presidents signed a statement supporting CR to emphasise cross-party support
Had congressional support
Civil Rights Act (1964)
Voting Rights Act (1965)
Fair Housing Act (1968)
Appointed Thurgood Marshall to SC
'Great Society' policies helped poor nothern AAs
Tackled poverty and increased funding for education HOWEVER limited by Vietnam
Pushed through more CR legislation than all the presidents before and after him - 'second Reconstruction'?
HINDER
Could potentially have achieved more considering he had the support of Congress
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Reconstruction
HELP
13th, 14th and 15th Amendments
Some AA involvement in politics, supported by Radical Republicans eg. Blanche K Bruce
Freedman's Bureau gave help to ex-slaves to acquire education and land
HINDER
Amendments only de jure
Hayes-Tilden Compromise = end of Reconstruction so federal troops withdrew - no longer enforced Amendments
eg. in 1947 only 12% of AAs were registered to vote - wasn't until the 1965 Voting Rights Act that de facto voting equality came about
Impact of the Freedman's Bureau was limited
End of Reconstruction saw the end of AA involvement in federal politics
From 1881 - 1969 there were no AA Senators and form 1901 - 1929 there were no AA Congressmen
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New Deal
HELP
Enabled some AAs to become independent farmers
Fair Pay Act benefitted AA women
HINDER
Many AA farmers could not pay their rents
Reduction in production meant 20 000 AAs lost their jobs
Minimum wage still lower for AAs (especially women)
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The presidency of Eisenhower
HELP
Brown v BoE took place while president HOWEVER he did not enforce the ruling (with the exception of Little Rock)
Emergence of MLK, Montgomery Bus Boycott
Formation of the SCLC and the SNCC
Civil Rights Acts 1957 and 1960 HOWEVER may have just been to win the black vote
Still significant as first CR legislation for 82 years
Sit ins (1960s)
HINDER
Muder of Emmett Till - suggests change in attitudes (horror of public) however also shows the continued lack of justice in the southern states - killers were found innocent by an all white jury
Eisenhower did not lead to country on CR - just responsed to events (as seen at Little Rock)
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The 1960s
HELP
CR, Voting and Housing Acts
Civil Rights Movement (MLK etc.)
Increased public awareness of the issue to a point where there was no going back
'Great Society' programmes
Alexander v Holmes Country BoE (1969) - SC ordered the immediate desegragation of public schools in the south
End of the decade saw the introduction of affirmative action by Nixon
Upheld in employment by Griggs v Duke Power (1971)
HINDER
The growing militancy of Black Power meant that many conservatives were against supporting further CR campaigns - loss in support and funding
CR movement became fractured following the death of MLK and the rise of Black Power
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