The Search for Civil Rights

1. The Search for Civil Rights By Ashley Arents Do a Presentation for History class? ljhlhhljkh

2. Social Conditions between 1865 and 1929 • Harlem Renaissance (1919-1934) • Great Migration (1916-1970) • Segregation between blacks and whites • Ku Klux Klan (1866-1870) • Founded by confederate soldiers after Civil war. • Anti-Black, Jew, Catholic, and Communist. • Destroyed by president Grant in 1870 with Civil Rights Acts. Reemerged in 1915.

3. Harlem Renaissance • Literary, artistic, cultural, and intellectual movement that was also called the New Negro Movement. • Started in Harlem, NY after WWI and ended around 1935. • Raised significant issues about African Americans through the arts. Included Booker T Washington.

4. The Great Migration (1916-1970) • This was a long-term movement of African Americans from the South to the North. • About 6-7 million African Americans took part in this ‘migration’ • Approximately 500,000 went to Chicago. • Caused by a rise in lynching and racially-motivated murders that began after the Civil War ended. • There were better opportunities in the North, including schooling for children and voting for African American men.

5. Economic Conditions between 1865 and 1929 • Difficult to get good jobs in the South • …but they were able to rent their own land and farm. • Called Sharecropping • Former plantation owners would rent out their land to the African Americans • Most farmers in the South were sharecroppers by 1880 • However, they did not make much money because of dropping prices

6. Legal Conditions between 1965 and 1929 • World War I involvement • 14th Amendment: Minorities born in the USA get citizenship (1870) • 15th Amendment: granted black men the right to vote (1870) • Jim Crow Laws (1876-1968). • Basically overruled the above amendments when they were enacted after Southern reconstruction ended (1876). • Laws imposed on African Americans (Voting disfranchisements, public accommodations, living quarters, separate libraries, segregation, et cetera.

7. African Americans in World War I • 369th Infantry Regiment, the “Harlem Hellfighters” • During WWI, even the armed forces were segregated, but many African Americans still volunteered to serve in the war. • Many eagerly volunteered to help Allies’ cause • 350,000 African Americans had served in the war by 1918 • 369th Infantry Regiment most distinguished unit. 171 members were awarded the Legion of Merit.

8. Plessy v Ferguson (1896) • Upheld constitutionality of racial segregation • “Separate IS Equal” • June 7, 1892: Homer Plessy boarded whites-only train car. He refused to leave so he was arrested. Lost his case in all courts. • Upheld most of 1890 Louisiana State mandatory separation laws. • Destroyed most of 1875 Civil Rights Laws • Overturned in 1954 Brown vs. Topeka Board of Ed.

9. Dubois, Washington, and Garvey • All sought civil rights, but in different ways • Dubois took a more aggressive approach to achieve these goals. • Talented Tenth, “The Crisis” • Washington, although criticized by Dubois, took a calmer approach • Tuskegee Institute, Atlanta Compromise • Garvey was the most criticized of the three • Back to Africa movement

10. W.E.B. Dubois • Chief spokesman for the new 20th century black approach to racism. • Launched an open attack on “Atlanta Compromise”, accusing Booker T Washington of limiting aspirations of his race. • Believed that the talented 10th of blacks should lead the way. • Talented Tenth: Term coined by WEB Dubois in a persuasive essay by the same name. • Refers to the leadership class of African Americans. The phrase is used in the essay to describe the likelihood of one in every ten African Americans becoming successful.

11. W.E.B. Dubois Cont… • Niagara Movement (1905) • Opposition to disenfranchisement and racial segregation • National Association for the Advancement of ColouredPeople (NAACP) • Had the position of Director of Publicity and Research • Edited the monthly magazine “The Crisis” • Opposed Marcus Garvey, calling him the “most dangerous enemy to the Negro race”

12. Booker T. Washington • The chief spokesman for the commitment for blacks to receive a good education in order to climb the ranks and become rich. • Started the Tuskegee institute for blacks. Urged industrial skills over classical (art) education. • Felt that blacks should forgo agitating for social and political rights, and should concentrate on self-improvement and preparation for equality. • This is why WEB Dubois accused him of limiting the aspirations of African Americans

13. Booker T Washington Cont… • Tuskegee Institute: Opened in 1881. People could go from poverty to success through self-help and schooling. • Atlanta Address of 1895 (Atlanta Compromise) • Wrote several books about “rising from the ashes” of slavery. Up From Slavery (1901) • Washington himself was born a slave • Got a Master’s Degree from Harvard, Doctorate from Dartmouth college • Fun Fact: In 1901, he was the first African American to ever be invited to visit the White House. Invited by President Theodore Roosevelt

14. Atlanta Compromise • Compromise between African American leaders and Southern white leaders in 1895 • Southern African Americans would work each week and obey the white political rule, and Southern whites agreed to let African Americans receive a basic education and due process law. • The Compromise was largely penned by Booker T. Washington • Criticized by W.E.B. Dubois

15. Marcus Garvey • Created the Universal Negro Improvement Association and believed the only way for Black Americans to be equal was to have their own businesses, etc. • Promoted Back to Africa program. The program made many African government officials dislike him. • Back to Africa: (Revived in 1877) Seen as a solution to the rising African American population. Encouraged those of African descent to return to African homeland of ancestors.

16. Marcus Garvey Cont… • “Our union must know no clime, boundary, or nationality…let us hold together under all climes and in every country” • Garvey wanted to develop Liberia to make it more welcome to African Americans through the Back to Africa movement. • Intended to build schools, universities, railroads…et cetera. • Never actually worked and plan was abandoned in the 1920s. • Garvey was often criticized for his tactics. • W.E.B. Dubois stated: “Marcus Garvey is, without doubt, the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race in America and in the world. He is either a lunatic or a traitor”

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