Describe the position of black people in the USA in 1945 Essay

Blacks in the USA in 1945 were non conside loss as meet the treatment of people was based on their skin colour, a apply that had been going on for numerous years originally, tear d ingest afterward the reconstruction of society after the Civil War in which the blacks were liberated from thrall. In theory, blacks were free to work and live where they wanted, unless the figures at the time told a different story by 1960, around 17% of the workforce of pink-collar workers, i. e. professional, technical, administration, and so forth, were blacks, while the puritys remained the majority at 47%.The blue-collar work, such as craftsmen, manual labourers, etc. jobs that are renowned for needing less(prenominal) skill and schooling had 40% of the workforce as blacks, and 36% were whites. Blacks just werent provided the learning and qualifications to do the professional types of work due to separation of black and white facilities. Not only were they held back at getting the hi gher-class jobs, they were paid less for the same work that whites did in 1950, blacks earned about 53% of a whites wage.This figure remained the same over the next 20 years, with it rising 11% to blacks earning 64% of a whites wage. All over the USA, blacks were discriminated against in almost exclusively areas of life, whether it is the justice of the state, or just by the custom of the local society. after the abolishment of slavery, slaves had the choice of moving away from their former homes and having their own lives unfortunately, some a(prenominal) a(prenominal) blacks didnt subscribe to got any bills to move halfway crossways the USA to the northern states that had fought to free them.Those who did have the finance to travel seldom had overflowing money afterwards to sustain a good none of life after they had move. The custom of de facto came into play in some of the northerly states ghettos and places where the majority of the population were black sprung up i n towns and cities. Segregation by custom in the North was contrasted with segregation by law, or de jure, in the South- Jim gasconade laws forbade blacks, for example, to enter white facilities, or sit on buses with whites, etc.Places where de facto was in force came up with other ways to separate blacks from whites to obligate the Southern order of things red lining was when banks were not allowed to give money for mortgages if they suspected it would be a risky investment- if a black family moved into a certain area, it would lower the prices of the surrounding houses. This meant that places such as ghettos were strengthened up, when the majority of the population were black.This type of segregation wasnt by law, barely by custom, blacks werent forced to live in black areas, however they felt pressured to live in certain places because of the practises such as red lining in put together. Although it is in the Constitution that everyone is able and has the same civic rights , it is beliefs like red lining that push a wedge among races it whitethorn not seem constitutional, but it is up to the Supreme judgeship in the USA to decide what is constitutional.They decided that slavery was lawful in general due the fact that the Southern states parsimoniousness was based on slavery they were needed to produce cotton, the main export in the 19th century. Without them, the economy would have fallen apart. After the 13th amendment to the Constitution, slavery was no eternal legal, but the Supreme Court still remained to overlook state laws that proceed disparity and practices that could be seen as worse then slavery- for example, the Ku Klux Klan were allowed to terrorise and kill blacks, yet lynching was not made illegal.The Supreme Court stated that the 14th amendment forbids states, but not citizens, from discriminating (1) Separate facilities for blacks and whites were considered as the etymon to the discrimination problem the Supreme Court believe d that the blacks were separate but advert when they were forced to use different buildings, transport, schools and hospitals then the whites.Since the Supreme Court O.K. laws and could declare them unconstitutional if they wanted to, they were the ones who the blacks has to convince if they wanted to change anything in legal shells, the trial had to be taken to the Supreme Court to have any impact, since the State Courts were always going to be in opt of the Jim Crow laws. The Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896) case was when Homer Plessy refused to sit in the coloured gondola of a train and sat in the white section instead. The case went to Supreme Court, and they ruled that Plessy was guilty and sentenced him to pay a fine or go to jail.This was considered the most shameful ruling of the Supreme Court in history it shows the extent of the discrimination against blacks, even after slavery was abolished- even though Plessy was 1/8 black and 7/8 white, he was still considered as black i n the eyes of the Louisiana law. Although many people thought that this ruling was shocking, at that place wasnt much that could be done, since they did not have a definite leader to show them what the do everything that the movement did was relatively unorganised, with maybe one person leading the others. tidy sum such as Martin Luther poof jr. and Booker T. Washington act to unite blacks under one leadership, but it did not work, because everyone has different aspect on what should be done about the discrimination problem. Dr Martin King Jr. was a black leader that advocated peaceful resistance because of this, many whites authoritative him because they knew that he would not cause violence, but blacks did not like this as peaceful protest could only take them so far- they felt that King was languider then some of the other extremist black leaders, such as Malcolm X.Kings approach to fighting against their oppression wasnt adequacy to keep the blacks following him they pre ferred people who were willing to do more than for the benefit of all blacks. Another leader who was thought as weak by fellow blacks was Booker T. Washington he was accused of creation an accommodationist to the whites, as he wasnt campaigning for equal civil rights, he was concentrating on equal job opportunities- this wasnt what the blacks were fighting for they wanted to be free to do what the whites could do, not only in jobs but in other aspects of life too.The leaders of the movement were not united, and then they were not strong- many leaders were critical of others, for example, W. E. B DuBois criticised Washington, saying that blacks cannot get fond equality if they do not get political equality first. The saucy freshet is a phrase used to explain the actions taken after Black Tuesday when the US Stock market crashed to stop the effects of the mental picture disturbing the lives of the public.Laws were passed to help stop the consequences of the mental picture beco ming a long-term problem within the first hundred days, President Roosevelt passed a law that lowered workers salaries and pensions by up to 15%- a move that people did not like, yet it saved a deal out of money for the government. Another act was passed that stated that the government could inspect banks before letting them open again so they could see if the bank was legal to lend and hold money.This prevented banks lending out money that they did not have, therefore they did not losing money for their customers and wouldnt have to close, as they would have to have done if they did lend out money they didnt have. The New Deal was produced so the government could help all of those that were affected by the Depression this helped the blacks because they were some of the poorest people in the USA at the time, and as many as 8% of blacks were unemployed in 1955.For the blacks, the New Deal about improved their way of living as it was designed to help everyone without discriminatio n. presently after New Deal was set up, the situation for blacks was improved socially by the outbreak of the Second World War. When the Americans were brought into the war, they needed as many men as they could to fight blacks had regiments where they could join and be equal to whites, but they still were not allowed to belong to the same regiment as the whites- there were some who did, but they were rare, they normally belonged to an all-black regiment.At the end of the war, the blacks got more pushy they were allowed to fight for their country, but America wasnt even grateful enough of them to let them be equal. This would have enraged African Americans since they had fought so tricky to be a part of America, so the Civil Rights movement operation increased, which put pressure on the government to do something.The Nazi political orientation also pushed the government into action, because what the Americans were doing to the blacks could be compared to the Germans discriminat ing against the Jews in Germany the blacks realised this, so demanded equality, as they didnt want the same to happen to them. In conclusion, the agency of blacks in 1945 was not equal to whites even after a century of supposed freedom from slavery, blacks were still treated as inferiors to whites. Laws and acts were in effect that encouraged the discrimination of blacks.Amendments such as the rights for blacks to vote and the rights for them to be equal were passed, but there were so many other laws that cancelled them out. Jim Crow laws in the South and practises such as red lining in the North made it impossible for blacks to be seen as equal politically, whilst rebellions by extremist whites and groups such as the Ku Klux Klan stopped blacks gaining any social standing(a) or equality.Blacks were supposed to be equal, but by 1945, some may comment that the position of them was worse then slavery, as the blacks were on their own in there poverty and discrimination before, they ha d their slave owners who would clothe and range them to keep productive workers- they would never be out on the streets as slaves, but as free people, they received basically no help.Things that whites took for granted, such as clean and good-quality facilities, and jobs that are fair and just are things that blacks counted themselves prospered if they managed to get any equality. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and W. E. B. DuBois tested to get equality, both through violence and peaceful means, but it didnt have much effect to the political and social standing of blacks.The discrimination of blacks continued right into the 20th century, even up into the 21st century. It was let up going for the blacks right to equality, but actions by both blacks and whites changed things for the better. However, in 1945, blacks were not considered as equal, but as 3/5s of a human being. Bibliography (1) http//www. alternativeinsight. com/Reparations-Slavery. hypertext markup language Field, Ron Civil Rights in America 1865-1980 Cambridge University Press http//www. lawbuzz. com/can_you/plessy/plessy. htm http//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/New_Deal.