Blacks as second class citizens from 1945-55 in USA Essay Example

large sum of money for many. It is fair to say that white people considered themselves to be first class citizens with the blacks below them and that blacks views and feelings were not to be considered equal to their own, hence many whites thought that blacks did not deserve the vote.

Whites were also concerned that if blacks had too much power they could change the discrimination cast upon them by voting sympathisers into office.This attitude led to great numbers enlisting in the NAACP, raising numbers from 50,000 to 450,000 from 1940 to 1945. For the first time, blacks were being given a voice so they could protest against injustice and begin to challenge white supremacy. The NAACP began to campaign to make voting easier and in 1944 they won the Smith v. Allwright case when the Supreme Court ruled that primary elections must be open to voters of all races.

However the poor situation of black voting rights was not as extreme in the northern states.By 1945 black Americans were able to vote. However this did not always lead to sympathetic representatives because much depended upon the number of black voters in a constituency. In 1945 there were only 2 black members of Congress, hardly a fair representation of the number of black Americans in the country. Even in 1945, after WWII when Americans fought for democracy and freedom and to abolish fascism in Europe, black Americans faced daily segregation especially in the South. There were segregated schools and the black ones were usually inferior.

Even if you were well educated if you were black you were banned from sitting alongside a white person

in restaurants, cinemas or public transport. In 1945 southern blacks suffered de jure segregation under the Jim Crow laws that had first been introduced nearly 60 years previously. It was written into state laws that there should be separate waiting rooms, education, buses and even burial between whites and blacks. For poorer blacks there was far less inclination to challenge the Jim Crow laws and African-Americans would acknowledge white superiority by abiding by the rules.However there were signs of change, especially among the middle classes.

They were flocking to join the NAACP in order to mitigate segregation. Black soldiers returning form WWII were determined to fight racism at home after fighting against it in Europe. Outside the south and the Jim Crow laws blacks continued to suffer from de facto segregation in northern cities such as Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia. The black population was generally concentrated in ghetto areas and homes and schools were much inferior for blacks.Whites were just as unwilling as Southerners to mix with blacks in the North. They did not want to live near them or allow their children to attend the same schools as black children.

House prices actually decreased if there were black people living in the area, leading to the feeling of blacks as second class citizens. Although it was not written into law in the North blacks were still segregated form whites in most areas of daily life. Because of the inferior education blacks had far fewer opportunities to gain work.It seemed unfair that black soldiers had fought for America in the war yet were treated as second class citizens at home, not even allowed the basic

rights involving equal opportunities in the workplace. White owned companies practiced employment racism and it was made much more difficult for blacks to make money.

However increasing numbers of black Americans outside the South were achieving greater prosperity than ever before because of more well paid jobs being made available.Many found work in the car industry in Detroit and the meat packing factories in Chicago. A. Philip Randolph saw that pressure on the government and the use of black economic power propelled the quest for equality forwards. In the South, however, blacks were still being treated as second class citizens economically.

They could only find work in the worst menial jobs. Their colour trapped most African-Americans in low paid jobs that wasted any potential.In Texas, future president LBJ realised that in the segregation and inferior work that blacks had to do there was much waste being made of abilities that could help to develop the region. Black soldiers also found it very difficult to find work after returning home and found little respect or gratitude for their services in WWII. The middle class held the key to any development in civil rights. Most of the new members of the NAACP were middle class.

In 1944 the GI Bill of Rights offered great educational opportunities and war veterans were free to attend the educational institution of their choice.