The Rise of Segregation Resistance and Repression After

The Rise of Segregation

Resistance and Repression ¡ After Reconstruction, African-Americans were “free, ” but most lived in total poverty. ¡ Many were sharecroppers, landless farmers who had to hand over to the landlord a large portion of their crops to cover the cost of basic supplies. They stayed in constant debt.

Exodus to Kansas ¡ ¡ ¡ 70 -year-old Benjamin Singleton took action to escape the conditions of the rural South. He organized a mass migration of thousands of African Americans from the rural South to Kansas. Newspapers called it an exodus and the migrants became known as “Exodusters”. These people hoped to escape control by the very people that once held them as slaves

¡ ¡ ¡ Those that did not leave the South joined farmers alliance with poor white farmers. However eventually many realized the need for a separate alliance and created The Colored Farmers’ National Alliance. Many African-Americans joined the Populist Party because they believed it would unite the poor white and black people of the nation.

Crushing the Populist Revolt ¡ ¡ ¡ The Populist Party was weakened by the Democratic Party using racism to persuade white members to leave the party. The Democrats feared that a unified black and white voting population would create a situation like Reconstruction when anti. Southern Republicans dominated politics. They began to utilize methods to prevent African Americans from voting, such as literacy tests, poll taxes, and violent intimidation.

Legalizing Segregation ¡ ¡ In 1883, the Supreme Court set the stage for legalized segregation by overturning the Civil Rights Act of 1875 that prohibited keeping people out of public places on the basis of race. Segregation also existed in the North, however the difference in the South was that it was enforced by law. The statutes enforcing segregation were called Jim Crow laws.

¡ The Court’s decision said that the 14 th Amendment only provided that “no state” could deny citizens equal protection under the law. Private organizations and businesses-hotels, railroads, theaters and others-were free to practice segregation.

¡ Encouraged by this decision southern states passed laws to segregate every aspect of public life: railroad cars, dining halls, water fountains, restrooms, hotels and swimming pools. ¡ In 1892, an African-American named Homer Plessy challenged a Louisiana law that forced him to ride in a separate railroad car. Criminal court judge John Ferguson rejected Plessy’s argument that the law was unconstitutional. In 1896, the Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, upheld the Louisiana law and expressed a new legal doctrine: “Separate but Equal. ”

“SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”? ¡ Plessy Vs. Ferguson l This ruling established the legal basis for discrimination for the next 50 years. Public facilities were always separate, but they were far from equal.

Racial Violence ¡ ¡ Brutality leveled against African Americans increased drastically during this time period. Between 1890 and 1899, there was an average of 187 lynchingsexecutions without a court trialcarried out by mobs each year. 80 percent of these were in the South.

Emmett Till ¡ ¡ Use your yoga to look this up. American Experience: The murder of Emmett Till l http: //www. pbs. org/wgbh/amex/till/

African American Response Pg. 383 -385 l l l Ida B. Wells Booker T. Washington W. E. B. Dubois Pg. 383 -385 ¡ ¡ ¡ Memphis Free Speech Atlanta Compromise The Souls of Black Folk

The African American Response ¡ ¡ In 1892 a fiery young African American woman from Tennessee name Ida B. Wells, launched a fearless crusade against lynching. She pointed out that greed, not just racial prejudice, was often behind these brutal acts. She reported in the Memphis Free Speech paper that 3 African American grocers had been lynched for simply competing successfully against white grocers.

¡ ¡ ¡ A mob destroyed the papers printing press and drove her out of town. She relocated to Chicago and continued her campaign. She demanded a fair trial for those accused of a crime and fair punishment for those found guilty. Congress rejected an anti-lynching law, but lynching's decreased drastically in the 1900’s, mostly due the efforts of individuals like Wells.

A Call for Compromise ¡ While some protested the unfair treatment of society, others chose to advocate different approaches. One such person was the influential educator Booker T. Washington. He suggested that African Americans focus on economic goals instead of legal or political ones.

¡ Booker T. Washington gave a famous speech in front of mostly white audiencethis speech called the Atlanta Compromise- encouraged African Americans to delay the fight for civil rights and to instead focus on educational and vocational equality.

Voice of the Future ¡ This compromise provoked a strong challenge from W. E. B. Du Bois, leader of a new generation of African. American activists born after the Civil War. In his book The Souls of Black Folk, he stated that white southerners had continued to strip African Americans of their civil rights. ¡ He said this was true despite economic and vocational advancement. He said it was necessary to demand your rights be given.

¡ ¡ Du Bois was very concerned with voting rights and believed that voting was part of proper manhood and that denying these rights was barbaric. In the years that followed many African Americans continued to fight for an end to discrimination and for equal rights. This would prove to be a very long fight.