1945-1990 Assignments: Questions 5-10

Questions 5-10 5) The goals of black reform movements in 1890-1910 were contrasting. One viewpoint, held by Booker T. Washington, believed that individual achievement would garner respect from whites. He also believed that blacks should accept the fact that they are segregated and focus energy on self-improvement. However, people like W.E.B. Du Bois rejected the idea, noting that whites continued to be unwilling to accept blacks, no matter their success. Thus, Du Bois and others formed the NAACP and sought to bring back the right to vote in states that it had been taken away, to abolish segregation, and to end discrimination. They looked to bring political and social equality to all blacks. The goals of black reform movements between 1950 and 1970 were much the same. The discrimination was especially hard in the south, where people refused to accept the laws set forth by Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka and other lawsuits. The strategies used by reformers consisted of boycotts and peaceful protest. For example, the Montgomery bus boycott due to Rosa Parks’s arrest led to the Montgomery bus system losing lots of money, thus ending segregation on buses. The ultimate goal of the civil rights movement was to bring, as Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, “redemption and reconciliation” to America society. 6) While King was trying hard to integrate blacks into society, others worked hard to separate blacks and identify not with America, but with Africa. Starting from Marcus Garvey’s call back to Africa movement after WWI, many blacks were now encouraged to stop fighting for equality and instead “plant the banner of freedom on the great continent of Africa.” This contradicted King’s ideas of integrating into American society through peaceful protest. Violence and taking up of arms was instigated even further by white violence to blacks, such as the publicized event that took place in Philadelphia, Mississippi; here, three civil rights workers were kidnapped, beaten, and killed. Another group that vocalized separation and Black Nationalism was the Black Panther Party. The party took up arms and declared that “black men must unite to overthrow their white ‘oppressors’…” There was also Malcolm X, who even condemned Martin Luther King, Jr. and said that the main crime here committed by whites was that they made blacks hate themselves. Thus, black studies programs in universities sprang up and taught blacks to appreciate their heritage and culture. 7) The Reconstruction failed to make blacks completely welcome to the post-Civil War America. After Reconstruction, the Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws were implemented, segregation was rife as Plessy v. Ferguson made segregation in states legal, violence was everywhere as the Ku Klux Klan and others terrorized blacks, and opportunities such as education were limited to blacks. The Civil Rights Movement helped address many of these Reconstruction failures. For example, in Brown v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that it was now illegal to have segregation in educational facilities. This was important as it paved the way for future desegregation and integration actions, and trumped both Plessy v. Ferguson and the Jim Crow Laws. It also made education equal among whites and blacks in the US. Desegregation also occurred after many boycotts and peaceful protests. The Montgomery Bus Boycott initiated after the incident with Rosa Parks, helped gain blacks the right to sit anywhere they wanted on the bus. Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. helped provide a voice to blacks all around and inspired them to stand up for their rights and true equality. All of this led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited discrimination and segregation to blacks and women. It also ended the unfair practice of giving blacks extra voting requirements, which transcended the Reconstruction failure of giving poll taxes and grandfather clauses to black voters. Although violence against blacks and civil rights activists was still occurring, it did shrink significantly after the government began using federal troops to protect blacks. 8) Inspired by FDR, Lyndon B. Johnson set out to improve America. Although most America was living comfortably at the time, Johnson wanted to make America even grander. He sought to help out not only the poor, but to provide legislation that would help all social classes. Johnson brought about the department of Housing and Urban Affairs, which was similar to FDR’s Civil Works Administration and Works Progress Administration in that it helped revamp many of the nation’s building and infrastructures. Johnson also sought out to eradicate poverty. He implemented the Manpower Development and Training Act and the Economic Opportunity Act to help train poor people for new and better jobs. This is similar to FDR’s CWA and WPA because it decreased unemployment, made new jobs, and helped gave people more opportunities. Like the Fair Labor Standards Act of FDR’s New Deal, the Great Society also raised minimum wage under Johnson. Johnson was also a heavy advocate of conservation, bringing about heavy restrictions on water and air pollution and added more acres to wildlife refuges. This is similar to FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps and other federal projects to support conservation. Johnson also enacted Medicare, which provided the elderly with needed medical care and medical insurance. This is similar to the Social Security Act of the New Deal, as it also provided insurance to the elderly. 9) In an era of Communist threat, Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson continued Truman’s policy of containment. Eisenhower supported containment and also announced his own “domino theory”, which stated that if one country were fall to communism, the neighbors of that country will to, and so on. Thus, it was crucial to contain communism and prevent it from spreading. Ike launched a series of surveillance planes into Russia to spy on Russian activity. He also held down the arms race during the 50s with an “unspoken” agreement between him and Soviet premier Krushchev. Regarding communist China and Taiwan, Ike was able to boast America’s nuclear and military strength to keep China from invading Taiwan, thus containing communism. Kennedy was also a supporter of containment. Also in Vietnam, Ike heavily supported the South Vietnam government, giving them economic and military aid to fight against the communist North Vietnamese. He delivered the Kennedy Doctrine, which advocated the containment and eventual eradication of communism in the Western Hemisphere. To support his doctrine, Kennedy started up the Alliance of Progress, which gave billions of dollars in aid to Latin American countries on the verge of revolution. Kennedy also aimed end communism in Cuba, thus resulting in the Bay of Pigs fiasco. However, it was an effort to contain and reverse communism in the western hemisphere. Another area where Kennedy tried to contain communism was Southeast Asia. Here, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand were all under communist threat. In Laos, Kennedy contained communism through negotiations, which resulted in a neutral Laos. Like Ike, Kennedy supported Vietnam through aid packages at first. But realizing that aid packages were not enough, US troops were inserted to help fight the communist threat. Johnson continued Kennedy’s policies of containment in Vietnam. He sent additional troops to Vietnam and increased aid. Thus, Johnson waged war in Vietnam to contain the spreading of communism to South Vietnam. 10) The Civil Rights Movement and the Woman’s Movement transformed American society in many ways. With Martin Luther King, Jr. leading peaceful protests, blacks boycotting goods and services, and women advocating their rights, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This changed American society as segregation and discrimination were now illegal. Universities and colleges in America also began to change. During the Civil Rights Movement, Malcolm X stated that the biggest “crime the white man has committed has been to teach us(African-Americans) to hate ourselves.” Thus, educational facilities around the country began implementing black studies programs so blacks could learn to appreciate and celebrate their culture. Similarly, women studies and feminism studies have also been added to universities to bring to light women’s rights and discrimination against women. Women’s advocating of social reforms such as equal pay, birth control, and abortion rights also changed American society.