assignment

the Civil Rights Movement – series of attempts to end legalized segregation, help with huge inequalities faced by blacks

- included: protests, demonstrations, lawsuits, courtroom battles

Brown vs Board of Education (Topeka) 1954 (originally filed for Linda Brown)

- began as 5 separate court cases, were consolidated by Supreme Court

- Oliver Brown’s name was put first on list (felt having a man first, increased their chances)

- essentially reversed the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision that said ‘separate but equal’

- the culmination of decades planning by NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)

— objective: attack Jim Crow by identifying situations where the civil rights of African Americans had been violated; bring suit against that agency

— goal: Supreme Court declares segregation unconstitutional in that case and all similar cases

Linda Brown

- though, in principle schools were desegregated, the ideology behind Jim Crow / segregation continued; Brown V Board of Education was continually fought, especially in the south

- Prince Edward County (central Virginia) got around B v B of E by closing its public schools

— all white children went to private schools for 5 years; no education for black children

nonviolent direct action protest - 1st protest: bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956

- March 2, 1955 – Fifteen year old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on the bus and her case was initially going to be used by the NAACP

— however, after the incident she became pregnant by a married man and the NAACP hesitated to use her case since she would be put down due to the mores of the time

— her pregnancy would also have been used against her in trial due to the social mores of the time

— was also in Montgomery, Alabama

- December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks also refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama

- NAACP used Rosa Parks’ case to bring to the Supreme Court

nonviolent direct action: confronted de jure segregation on the streets, not in court or legislatures

- example the Montgomery bus boycott

- based on Christianity, Henry David Thoreau and Gandhi

- objective is to confront the forces of evil(institutions) , rather than the individuals doing the evil; desire to win friendship, support of enemies

- Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a lot about nonviolent direct action (which can be (and has been) used in many other applications)

— at the time of the bus boycott, King was a new pastor in Montgomery; he lead this effort

- used many techniques depending on the situation: sit-ins, protest marches, demonstrations, prayer meetings, voter registration drives

— response to these nonviolent direct actions was violence by police as well as groups like the KKK

landmark legislation – 2 laws passed in 1964 and 1965 by Congress – both initiated by Lyndon B. Johnson

1. Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination on grounds of: race, color, religion, national origin or gender

- applied to publically owned places such as swimming pools, parks, businesses and other facilities open to the public (and any programs receiving federal aid)

2. Voting Rights Act of 1965

- the same standards are to be used to register all citizens to vote (federal, state and local elections)

— banned literacy tests, whites only primaries, etc

— especially helped Southern blacks to vote

the success and limitations of the Civil Rights Movement

1. changing subsistence technology

- the rigid competitive system of Jim Crow is not enforceable when population industrializes and moves to urban areas

2. an era of prosperity

- the 1950s into the 1960s was a prosperous time for the US

- this prosperity reduced the intensity of intergroup competition (especially in the north; not so much in the south)

- when times are prosperous, reduced resistance to change

- overall, minority groups are not as likely to be considered a threat

3. increasing resources in the black community

- the prosperity also increased the economic and political resources of blacks

- interconnected African American controlled organizations and institutions emerged (example: churches, colleges)

4. assimilation goals

- the goals of the Civil Rights Movement were seen to be appropriate and reflective of US values (liberty, equality, freedom, fair treatment) by many (mostly northern whites / not so much by the south)

5. coalitions

- alliances with other, more powerful groups increased resources of black community

- example: white liberals, Jews, college students

6. mass media (especially TV)

- when mass media showed footage of blacks being attacked for demonstrating their rights — this was frequently the first time northern whites really saw / understood what was going on

though de jure segregation was ended, discrimination in jobs, distribution of wealth, political power, etc continued

Developments Outside the South

de facto segregation

- inequality, segregation that appears to be voluntary by both blacks and whites, but isn’t

- this de facto (by tradition) segregation results from government and quasi government agencies (real estate boards, school boards, zoning boards)

- in the north racial discrimination wasn’t as overt but existed (labor unions, employers, white ethnic groups, etc)

- African Americans have dealt with greater poverty, higher unemployment, lower quality housing, inadequate schools

- blacks expressed concerns with above through urban unrest and the black power movement

urban unrest

- riots began in 1965 in Watts, Los Angeles and spread throughout US cities

- though racial riots were not new, but the new riots were more likely to be blacks rather than whites as aggressors

— in particular white owned businesses in black neighborhoods were targeted

— another concern – police brutality

the black power movement

- loose coalition of organizations, spokesperson – many proposed viewpoints that to some degree differed with the civil rights movement

- some groups preferred not assimilation into white society, but increased black control over schools, police, welfare programs, other public services

- emphasized black pride, African heritage, Black Nationalism

- some felt that assimilation would require blacks to become part of the system of oppression

- these concerns were brought out by Marcus Garvey in the 1920s

the Nation of Islam

- made distinction between racial separation and racial segregation

— racial separation – a group becomes stronger with autonomy and self-control

— racial segregation – system of inequality – black community is powerless and controlled by majority

- desire to develop own resources and be able to deal with majority group from a position of power

- best known spokesperson – Malcolm X

Protest, Power, and Pluralism

the black power movement in perspective

- by late 60s, US weakens in its commitment to racial change, racial equality

— didn’t just go away, but went underground

— at this point black power is part of US black culture, awareness

gender and black protest

- though often relegated to clerical type positions, African American women provided an important cornerstone for the movement

Black-White Relations Since the 1960s: Issues and Trends

- numerous advances in black / white relations and inequality, but a long way to go also

- many thought that the US entered a ‘post-racial’ era with the election of Barack Obama

- however, we saw increases in hate groups and hate crimes towards blacks after his election wins and inaugurations

- over the last year and a half prejudice and discrimination towards blacks and other groups (Jews, Muslims, Hispanics, some Asians) have had a huge increase

continuing separation

- in 1968 a presidential commission looked at urban unrest; then warned that US was ‘moving towards 2 societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal’

- as stated above, though there was a brief period when many (not all) felt racism towards blacks was no longer, we now know this is not true – and hadn’t been true during that time period

- over time, there have been more riots; example the 1991 beating by the police of Rodney King

— riots emerged after the trial that acquitted the police officers of almost all charges

- in 2009 in Oakland, CA, Oscar Grant (23 year old black man) was shot in the back by police officers at a subway station

— the officer shooting him claimed Oscar was reaching for a weapon, but Oscar had no weapon

the criminal justice system and African Americans

- in the US considerable mistrust between law enforcement and the black community

a biased criminal justice system?

- a long history of abuse, harassment, mistreatment of black citizens by police

- police often perceived as an ‘occupying force’

- perception of bias increased after Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman

- recent (2007) research: blatant and overt discrimination has been reduced, but biases remain (but this same study done in 2017 may have different results)

- today these biases are more subtle, not always seen, especially by majority society

- black children, juveniles and adults more likely to be watched, followed, arrested than white juveniles / adults

the war on drugs

- not just a ‘war on drugs’ – the war has been aimed primarily at the form of a drug (cocaine) that is cheaper and therefore used more in the black community

- though both powder cocaine (used by more upper class whites) and crack cocaine (used more by lower class blacks) are illegal, their abuse is differentially treated

— punishments for crack cocaine have been much more severe than powder cocaine

- in figure 5.1 we see higher arrest rates for drug abuse violations for black juveniles than for white juveniles

- a similar finding in research done on use of marijuana

— though use rates are the same for black / white youth, black youth are 3.5 times more likely to be arrested

— according to Brent Staples, this is due to black being more likely to be watched, stopped, frisked and profiled

racial profiling

- police use race as an indicator in trying to determine whether a person is suspicious or dangerous

- recent study on preschoolers and grammar school children also found that black children were more likely to be perceived as more ‘dangerous’

- these tactics increase the resentment, distrust and fear of law enforcement by the black community

the new Jim Crow?

- some see the above as a continuation of Jim Crow in that once arrested, blacks are more likely to be brought to trial, convicted (especially of felonies)

- the stigma of a felony conviction drastically reduces gainful, legitimate employment; ineligible for many government programs including student loans

— result: individuals are marginalized, excluded, treated as second class citizens

increasing class inequality

the black middle class

- evidence of black middle class families from prior to Civil War

— mostly due to occupations / businesses that serve African American community

- though everyone was hit hard by the recession (2007), it was especially problematic for black families

- figure 5.2 shows the disparity in wealth (accrued over time) for blacks / whites

urban poverty

- the manual labor / factory / manufacturing jobs have left US cities, where many blacks are concentrated

- as our society has moved into a post industrial subsistence technology, service jobs are prominent

— however the more stable, better paying service jobs require more education, but the inner cities have very inadequate schools

- blacks more likely to live in highly impoverished neighborhoods and do not have equal access to societal resources, such as education that allows for upward social mobility

modern institutional discrimination

closed networks and racial exclusion

- a study in 2003 looked at students graduating from a trade school

- the black and white students were very similar in education, training, etc; however, whites almost always got jobs afterwards and these jobs were better paying and more secure

- interviews revealed that training / personality were not the reason for the differences

— what mattered was not ‘what you know’ but ‘who you know’

— white students had access to better networks in the job market

the differential impact of hard times

- overall, African Americans are more vulnerable to both medical and economic problems

- hits this population earlier, hits harder, creates more stress, last longer

- example: unemployment rates in figure 5.3

- another example: home ownership (which is an important part of wealth creation)

- 2008 survey

— compared to white families black and other minority families are 3 times more likely to have been victims of the subprime home loans

— then, due to these loans are 2 times more likely to lose a home to foreclosure

— in many instances the black community was specifically targeted for these loans

the family institution and the culture of poverty

2 ways of explaining black, inner city poverty

1. ‘culture of poverty’

2. structural

culture of poverty

- the black family is structurally weak (primary proponent was Patrick Moynihan, 1965)

— more female headed households

— higher rates of divorce, separation, desertion, illegitimacy

— the above supposedly represents a ‘crumbling’ family structure, thus leading to more and more poverty

- in figure 5.4 we see black / white differences have increased

- therefore the ‘logical’ conclusion would be to ‘fix’ the ‘flaws’ in black families, the community

structural

- the matriarchal family structure, etc are NOT causing the problems, but are the result of these problems

- the real problem is related to many structures of society

— continuing prejudice and racism reduces educational, housing opportunities; decreases employment possibilities

— in particular African American men not as able to support a family due to: high rates of unemployment, incarceration (higher than majority population, but not due to any innate character differences), violence (including death)

- black families are more likely to be in poverty since men are not as able to support families and black women are at the bottom of income hierarchy

- some of these male / female employment differences result from de-industrialization

— good blue collar jobs are gone; what’s left are the female concentrated, low income service jobs

- overall, the problem of poverty in the inner city, black community is a reflection of the racism (and sexism) in our society

figure 5.5: income by race / gender

mixed race and new racial identities

- in the US ‘race’ is usually thought of as a black / white issue

- more ‘mixed’ children are being born

- society (and how individuals see themselves) is not as starkly black / white as before

possible identities for ‘mixed race’ individuals (from a small sample, not generalizable in percentages – but useful as a tool of understanding)

1. border identity — those with ‘border identity’ do not see selves as either black or white

- validated border identity

— see selves as biracial and society ‘validates’ this (family, friends, community)

- ‘unvalidated’ border identity

— see selves as biracial, but are not validated by society

— society sees them and treats them as black

— can create conflict between self-image and how others define them

2. singular identity

- see self not as biracial, but as just black

- consistent with the traditional view of race as black or white

3. transcendent identity

- reject idea of race

- not define self as either black or white

- instead define self as an individual

4. protean (changes as a person moves through different groups and social context changes)

traditional prejudice and modern racism

- textbook describes decline in traditional, overt prejudice / racism

- however, over the last 2 years this has not been true

- though prejudice measures have declined since 1940s (WW II), today many people are feeling more comfortable expressing (and acting on) prejudices that have been held in families over generations

another way to look at prejudice is – there is a new form, modern racism

- traditional stereotypes based on genetic inferiority are rejected

- however, this perspective is a ‘blame the victim’ perspective

— minority groups are considered to be responsible for change, improvements (society and societal structures should not be used)

Assimilation and Pluralism

acculturation (look at secondary structural assimilation and primary structural assimilation separately)

- using the Blauner hypothesis, we can see where African Americans, brought into this society as a colonized group have had (continue to have) more problems

secondary structural assimilation

- integration in public areas such as employment, schools, political institutions

residential patterns

- one way of looking at public integration

- figures 5.8 and 5.9 indicate an overall lack of integration in the US

school integration

- since Brown v Board of Education, some integration has been achieved in schools

- but still a long way to go

figure 5.11 indicates a decline in the gap of high school educational attainment for blacks / whites

however, figure 5.12 indicates there are still problems with a gap in college educational attainment

political power

- there has been an increase in political power for blacks, but it is still low

jobs and income

- in this area as well: improvements, but not equality

primary structural assimilation

- there has been an increase in inter-racial friendships / marriage – again, much room for improvement