Segregation
in the Southern states
(1896-1968)
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Can the state of
Louisiana
mandate
separate railroad
cars for Blacks
and Whites?
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
"The object of the [Fourteenth] Amendment was
undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the
two races before the law, but in the nature of things
it could
notopinion,
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abolish
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unsatisfactory to either. . .
—Justice Harlan, dissenting
“We consider the underlying fallacy of the plaintiff's
argument to consist in the assumption that the
enforced separation of the two races stamps the
colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so,
it is not by reason of any-thing found in the act, but
solely because the colored race chooses to put that
construction upon it. "
“Separate but equal . . .”
• Schools
• Churches
• Restaurants
• Movies
• Hotels
• Libraries
• Housing
• ...you name it
“Separate but equal . . .”
• Schools
No Social Interactions Allowed
• Churches
• Restaurants
• Movies
Especially no intermarriage
• Hotels
• Libraries
• Housing
• ...you name it
The one significant institution
under the control of Blacks:
Their churches.
Central relationship between
Whites and Blacks:
Dominance
(tinged with paternalism)
• Blacks restricted to menial jobs
• Blacks supervised by whites, never
the other way around
• Whites control wealth and political
institutions
• Blacks denied even the right to vote
Frederickson’s Criteria for an
Overtly Racist Regime
1. Ideology: The differences
between us and them are
permanent and unbridgable.
2. Intermarriage is forbidden by
law.
3. Segregation mandated by law,
not merely by custom or private
acts.
4. Disenfranchisement of vote and
public office-holding.
5. Economic opportunities are so
limitated that members of
outgroup kept in poverty or
deliberately impoverished.
Marcus Garvey
(1887-1940)
Back to Africa!
W. E. B. DuBois (1868-1963)
• Sociologist
• Journalist
• Pan-Africanist
• Socialist/Communist
• Ghanian
The Civil Rights Movement
1954-1968
Three notable events near the
beginning of the movement:
• Brown v. Board of Education
• The Murder of Emmitt Till
• The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Brown v. Board of Education
of Topeka (1954)
“We conclude that, in
the field of public
education, ‘separate but
equal’ has no place.
Separate educational
facilities are inherently
unequal.
“Any language in Plessy
v. Ferguson contrary to
this finding is rejected.”
The Murder of Emmitt Till
(1955)
“Thar he.”
Moses Wright,
Sumner, Mississippi,
September 22, 1955
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery
Bus Boycott (1955)
The Organizations
NAACP
National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
SCLC Southern Christian Leadership
Conference
CORE Congress of Racial Equality
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car
Porters
SNCC Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee
The Objectives
• Overthrow the Jim Crow
Laws
• Integrate Public Facilities
• Eliminate Racial
Discrimination Generally
The Method
Nonviolent Civil Disobedience
M. K. Gandhi
Satyagraha
Why nonviolence?
• Ethical view: Pacifism
• Violence does not work
• Violence is incompatible
with the appeal to
conscience
Do ethical arguments make any difference?
How moral argument might lead to social
change:
The people making the argument keep things
stirred up, so that . . .
The only way to settle things down--and keep
society running peacefully--is to grant the point
and make the required changes; and . . .
The majority are willing to concede the ethical
point, however, grudgingly. Then,
The change is made.
Characteristics of Civil
Disobedience
• Nonviolent
• Public
• Aimed at specific laws, not at law itself
• Willing to accept punishment
• Addresses to conscience of the majority
• Last resort
Tactics
• Boycotts
• Marches and Public Demonstrations
• Sit-ins
• Freedom Ride
• Voter Registration Drives
• Law Suits
• Speeches, newspaper articles,
publicity, publicity, publicity
Were the civil rights demonstrators
really breaking the law?
Was “civil disobedience” really
disobedience to the law?
Ronald Dworkin
The White Resistance
Strom Thurmond
Dixiecrat Candidate
for President 1948
The White Resistance
Jesse Helms
Senator from North
Carolina
The White Resistance
“Massive Resistance”
• Refusal to obey court orders,
citing doctine of States’ Rights
• Integration of schools did not
really become effective until
1960s
• Notable battles over school
integration in Alabama,
Mississippi, and Arkansas
In 1963, Birmingham’s
First High School
Integration
• Richard Walker
• From Ullman to Ransom
• Later graduated from
UAB Medical School
• Now a local physician
Odessa Woolfolk
1964 Civil Rights Act
• Voting rights
• Public accommodations
• Equal opportunity in employment
• Desegregation of public facilities
• Nondiscrimination in federally
funded programs
• Establishes Civil Rights Commission
• Affirmative action training programs
The Original Arguments for
Affirmative Action
• Lyndon Johnson’s argument: the
analogy of the foot race
The Original Arguments for
Affirmative Action
• Lyndon Johnson’s argument: the
analogy of the foot race
• Role models and the vicious circle
• Necessary for combatting racism
• Compensation
1968: The Assassination
of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Three features of our current
situation that resulted from
the policy of massive
resistance:
• Multiple school systems
• The private Christian
Academies
• Republicans as the
conservative party
The Present
1968-2003
The Civil Rights Movement
The Women’s Movement
The Gay Rights Movement
The Rights of the Handicapped
The Animal Rights Movement
Where do we stand now on
the question of race?
• Jim Crow laws are gone
• Public facilities and schools (mostly)
integrated
• Housing and social life (mostly) segregated
• African-Americans hold many local political
positions
• The economy, wealth, and national political
power still (mostly) in the hands of Whites
• Affirmative action restricted and
controversial
Median Income (Men), 1960-2000
2000
1990
1980
1970
1960
Whites
29,696
27,182
26,519
27,088
21,294
Afr-Amer
21,662
16,522
15,936
16,069
11,202
Percentage*
73%
61%
60%
59%
53%
*Income of African-American men expressed
as a percentage of the income of White men
What ideal should we embrace?
Two competing ideas:
1. The Color-Blind Society
What ideal should we embrace?
Two competing ideas:
1. The Color-Blind Society
2. Black Pride and Heritage
What ideal should we embrace?
Two competing ideas:
1. The Color-Blind Society
2. Black Pride and Heritage
A model that might combine
these two: The position of
American Jews within the
larger society