What_Was_the_Situation_for_‘Blacks’_in_the_Usa_in_1945__(30_Marks)

The term ‘Blacks’ was/is used to describe people of African descent, and in this context refers to African-Americans, African Americans are people of African descent who reside in the USA and on the most part are U.S Citizens. In this essay I will discuss the situation and treatment of African-Americans in 1945 and compare the differences between the Northern and Southern States, and attempt to come up with a valid conclusion at the end. How did African-Americans get to 1945’s America' From the 15th century onwards white Europeans had really begun their ‘Europeanization’ of other continents, pre 1600 North America was still inhabited by Native Americans. However white immigrants began their colonisation of the North American continent, and in 1619 bringing ‘blacks’ with them to Virginia as the first African slaves. After this point the colonisation began increasing, spreading from the east side of America where the Europeans had first landed, across the U.S. In 1776 the Declaration of Independence was written, freeing the American colonists from British rule. The declaration states that ‘…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…’ which ironically was not the case as slavery was legal and, not only that, some of the writers of the Declaration were themselves slave owners. In 1787 slavery was made illegal in the Northwest Territory, but the U.S constitution states that congress cannot ban the slave trade until 1808, then, in 1808 the importation of slaves from Africa was banned. Between 1808 and around 1860 there are various attempts to have slavery banned in certain states (some successfully, others not), but really making little change to the situation. In 1861 the Confederacy is founded when the Deep South secedes, beginning the American civil war. The civil war took place over conflicting opinions on the matter of slavery, the confederacy not wanting to free their slaves because of the fear that the slaves, when free could be a threat to them and may exact some sort of ‘revenge’. In 1863 President Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring “that all persons held as slaves” within the Confederate states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” The civil war ends on April 9th 1865, then on June the 19th Slavery in the United States is effectively ended when 250,000 slaves in Texas finally receive the news that the Civil War had ended, the thirteenth amendment to the constitution is approved in December 6th the same year, officially prohibiting slavery. In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, defining citizenship as ‘Individuals born or naturalized in the United States are American citizens’, including those born as slaves. In 1870 the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution is ratified, giving African Americans the right to vote. The situation in 1945 Although it is clear that the situation for African Americans had improved greatly since the 1600’s, they were still not considered equal by any stretch of the imagination. The treatment of people was still based on their skin colour and the belief that being white gave you superiority. Although treatment was, in general, not as extreme as it had previously been with white superiority groups such as the Klu Klux Klan declining in popularity, there was still a underlying hatred for ‘blacks’ from a lot of people especially in the southern states. At this point, black Americans who had been fighting a war (the Second World War) against discrimination and racism returned to a country that was overridden with discrimination and racism. They saw that people of African decent in other countries weren’t getting treated in nearly the same way they began to realise that their way of life was unfair. The Economic Situation Much like when slavery was still legal, the primary jobs for African Americans in the south were in agriculture, where they would work for very low pay and as a result remain very poor. However war had forced the south to spend over $4.5 billion creating factories for war goods, ‘blacks’ couldn’t get jobs in them at first though due to racism and prejudice on the part of those hiring (a social issue). But this was resolved in 1941 when President Roosevelt, under the threat of ‘black’ activism issued an executive order creating the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC). The FEPC forced industries not to discriminate on the grounds of ‘race, creed, colour or national origin’. This had made the economic situation for ‘blacks’ better but it wasn’t to last as many were fired from their war time jobs to be replaced with returning white servicemen. Still the war period had vastly improved the economic situation for African Americans on the whole, this can be proved on statistics alone; the number of unemployed African Americans in 1940 was 937,000 but fell to 151,000 in 1945, showing a huge improvement. Simply due to the lower income made by ‘blacks’ in both the North and South meant they were forced into substandard housing (Ghettos) as they were unable to afford better. In the North ‘blacks’ were predominantly industrial workers and during war time there was a second wave of black migration from South to North (the first being ‘The Great Migration’). Again proved by statistics; in 1940 a quarter of African Americans lived in the North (primarily in industrial cities such as Philadelphia), but by 1950 it was nearly a third (a migration of about 500,000 during the war), this was driven by the ‘war boom’. It must still be kept in mind that although it jobs were better in the North the situation was still not ideal, ‘blacks’ would earn, on average, 50% less than their white colleagues and it was common for whites to object to the promotion of African Americans. Finally whites were still more likely to be employed over ‘blacks’ and example of this is in New York, where 6% of white men were unemployed compared to 10% of black men. The Social Situation Another job often occupied by African Americans was as domestic help, this could include: bringing up white children/nursing, cooking, cleaning and any other general services. This leads to the social situation for ‘blacks’ during this time, as although there was a very clear and often physically enforced hatred of ‘blacks’ in the South many white people also had a dependence on their services. African Americans were seen as inferior, especially in the South, and yet many of the richer or more ‘well off’ families required them just to manage their family lives, this led to the stereotype of the ‘good old-time negro’. This stereotype basically presented black people as happy to serve the ‘white man’ and ‘black’ domestic helpers would be encouraged to act in this way, or ‘blacks’ who seemed to fit the stereotype would be hired over more outspoken independent people. Efforts of black campaigners and/or ex soldiers would not just be ignored, but met with hostility in the south, causing an increase in lynching’s following the war. Lynchings were becoming much more uncommon in the South but ‘blacks’ were still often abused and certainly not treated with respect. It was common in the Southern states for African Americans to be banned from many places, for instance in Washington D.C. ‘blacks’ were banned from all cinemas, hotels and restaurants in the central district. As well as this 40% of African American housing was classed as sub-standard compared to 12% of white housing. Socially ‘blacks’ were much better off in the Northern states, there was some small segregation in the North, but racism was unpopular due to the huge South to North migration, education, eating and transportation facilities were not segregated meaning less ‘rigid’ racial etiquette and it wasn’t uncommon for blacks and whites to mix. In this time there was also a threefold increase in the black college population in the North, which can lead to better jobs in their future allowing ‘blacks’ to ‘better’ themselves and improve their social situation. The Political Situation Federal law made it legal for ‘blacks’ to vote, however southern states still found ways to make it hard for African Americans to vote, for example the ‘grandfather clause’ in some states, meaning that your grandfather had to be able to vote for you to be able to vote also. But campaigning and other factors meant that by the end of the war 15% of African Americans in the southern states could vote compared to the 2% before the war. Segregation was also legally enforced in the southern states as I have mentioned in ‘The Social Situation’ Section. In the North things were, again, much different: In six northern states ‘blacks’ held the balance of power, something that had never happened before. Also there were two African American members of congress by 1945 (from Northern states); In addition to this there were much more African Americans in the federal government by this time, holding important positions. Finally there was no legally enforced segregation in the North, Unlike the South. Conclusion In summary we can see that by this time (1945) in America, African Americans in northern states were far better off than those in southern states in everyway: They would receive better wages and better jobs (still unequal to that of whites), they were more likely to have a better standard of living and, in general, would be treated far more fairly. Although criticizing the Southern states for the racial discrimination and ignorance I feel It is important to remember that those in southern states had ‘much further to come’, in the sense that the treatment of blacks they were taught to be correct and moral was far worse than that in the North, meaning a bigger change in mind set was required. A majority of change in 1945 was due to ‘blacks’ showing their usefulness from war and at home during the war, also while fighting they had experienced that ‘blacks’ living in other countries did not experience the racial inequalities they did, creating a want for change. In 1945 the entirety of the U.S.A did not treat ‘blacks’ as equal to whites in one way or another, but most of the groundwork for change had been laid, and attitudes would not have to develop too much further for racial equality.