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Segregation of Minorities
African Americans were being discriminated against in employment opportunities and housing just because of their race. Some laws prevented groups from certain residential areas. Some realtors also practiced "steering", or making assumptions on where someone would live based on the color of their skin. Landlords also required larger security deposits from black families over others. -
Interracial Marriage
Interracial realationships are highly segregated against. Laws were put in place that prevented interracial marriage through government certificate. Tactics like sit-ins worked to protest against interracial marriage. MLK Jr. was a strong advocate for standing up for African American rights non-violently. When it came to any black segregation MLK would ask for a solution no matter what it was, interracial marriage was definitely on his list of solutions to stand up for. -
Widespread Segregation
Plessy v. Ferguson was meant to create laws in favor of no more racial segregation so they put laws in place to avoid this, they agreed that facilities could be segregated as long as the segregated facilties were equal in quality. Although these laws are set in place, these separate facilities are still obviously not equal. -
Widespread Segregation (cont.)
Tactics like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Sit-ins, and freedom rides were great examples of tactics that were used to support the end to segregation. Rosa Parks was an advocate for taking a stand against public segregation in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Malcom X was a strong believer in protests, which were often used to hopefully put an end to public segregation. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
After finding Homer Plessy guilty of breaking Louisiana state law, the chief justices of the Supreme court deemed that segregation was not in violation of the 14th Amendment. In 1909, a handful of activists formed the NAACP. -
15th Amendment and Segregation Laws
Although the 15th amendment was in place to allow all races to vote some states didn’t follow the law and passed laws that prohibited racial minorities from voting, which still keep the segregation in place. State laws weren't the only problem, as many African Americans were intimidated or harassed by racist groups, and in 1940, a mere 3% of voters were African American in the South. -
Plessy v. Ferguson (cont.)
They fought many battles, fighting disenfranchisement in New York in its early years, by leading lawsuits in cases of disenfranchisement. They most notably fought against the laws that allowed for public school segregation. In 1954, in the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Supreme Court finally ruled segregation in schools as unconstitutional. -
Widespread Segregation (cont..)
Results that correlate with public racial segregation are Heart of Atlanta V. United States (outrules public segregation in general), Brown V. Board of Education (outlaws segregation in schools), Civil Rights Act of 1964 (outlaws segregation in schools and other public accommodations), and Bailey V. Patterson (outlaws transportation segregation). -
Voting Rights
President Johnson was moved by the march of Selma to Montgomery march and Martin Luther King Jr., protested the right of the African Americans to vote and for them to be treated as equal. The Voting Rights Act made it legal for blacks to exercise their right to vote. -
Interracial Marriage (cont.)
The main result that corresponds with interracial marriage is the Loving V. Virginia, this result struck down laws banning interracial marriage as violations of the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. -
End of Residential Segregation
The March on Washington was a march in 1963 to protect against racial discrimination and for jobs and freedom. MLK also gave a speech where he fought for civil rights for African Americans. The civil rights act of 1964 helped solve this issue by prohibiting discrimination based on one’s race. President Kennedy proposed this bill, but once assassinated President Johnson was the one who signed this act. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibited housing discrimination.