Race Relations and the Early Civil Rights Movement

• 1. 1877-1918

2. Segregation in the South Following the reconstruction many southern statesincluding Georgia practiced segregation. Segregation means that blacks and whites were notallowed to be together in public places. Whites liked segregation because it meant they didnot have to associate with blacks. Also, because whites were in power they often enjoyedthe best seats at facilities and African Americans hadto endure the inferior ones. 3. Jim Crow Laws To ensure segregation many southern states passed theJim Crow Laws. Jim Crow Laws required blacks and whites to remainseparated. This included riding separately in different forms oftransportation. (Buses, Trains, Etc) Also required blacks and whites to remain separated atdining facilities as well. 4. Plessy v. Ferguson The supreme court made the Jim Crow Lawsconstitutional in the famous case in 1896, known asPlessy v. Ferguson. In the state of Louisiana it was illegal for blacks toshare the same railway car as whites. Homer Plessy, aman who was part African American broke this law bysitting in a whites only car and was arrested. The supreme court ruled against Plessy stating thatsegregation was constitutional as long as both facilitieswere equal. 5. Booker T. Washington Washington was a former slaves who pushed for blacksto learn a trade, like farming, teaching, or some otherform of manual labor. Washington felt that as blacks proved themselves inthe different trades, African Americans would begin tobe treated as equal citizens. Washington was responsible for founding theTuskegee Institute in Alabama on teaching differenttrades. Many felt he was the most famous African Americanduring the time. 6. W.E.B. DuBois DuBois taught at Atlanta University and stronglydisagreed with Washingtons ideas on how to attainequality with whites. DuBois believed African Americans should strive to beIntellectuals (well educated). With increasing education blacks could achievepositions of leadership and influence, which wouldallow African Americans to change their standing insociety. Known as the father of social science. Wrote and studied about African Americans. 7. Controversy: Washington vs DuBois In 1895, Booker T. Washington gave a controversialspeech in Atlanta to a mostly white audience. In his speech he supported segregation. This pleased the whites, because they enjoyed hearinga leader in the African American community sawsegregation was ok. 8. Controversy: Washington vs DuBois Many blacks were upset with Washington and hissupport of segregation. W.E.B. DuBois was especially mad. DuBois felt the ideas and views of Washingtonsspeech were outrageous, and he labeled Washingtonsspeech the Atlanta Compromise because he believedWashington had sold out his own people to win favorwith the whites. 9. Controversy: Washington vs DuBois In response to views like Washingtons, many African American intellectuals met on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls in 1905. Led by DuBois. (They were not allowed hotel rooms on the American side) They discussed how they might help the black cause. Their discussions gave birth to the NAACP (NationalAssociation for the Advancement of Colored People) 10. John and Lugenia Burns (Hope) The Burns provided intellectual leadership and socialactivism in Atlantas African American Community. John Burns served as the first African American presidentat Morehouse College Lugenia Burns was a social activist and welfare worker. She organized the Atlanta Neighborhood Union in 1908. The Union provided a health clinic, clubs for boys and girls,and vocational classes for children. Lugenia also fought to improve schools, streets, andsanitary facilities.Also, fought against discrimination policies in the YMCA. 11. Disfranchisement Even though African Americans right to vote wasprotected by the 15th Amendment, many southernstates found ways to keep blacks disfranchised Disfranchised means unable to vote. States came up with disfranchisement laws such as: Grandfather Clause Must be a veteran of theConfederate Army, or a descendent of a veteran inorder to vote. Must pay a poll tax and pass a literacy test at the timemany African Americans were poor and illiterate. 12. Racial Violence When the disfranchisement laws failed to keep AfricanAmericans from exercising their right to vote, manysouthern states would turn to racial violence to deterAfrican Americans from voting. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) would useviolence, intimidation, and lynchings to keep blacksfrom exercising their 15th Amendment rights. The period from 1890 1930 was the bloodiest periodof racial violence in Georgias history.