Minorities in America Series:
African-Americans—Post-Slavery Era
Segment descriptions
Sampler – Minorities in America Series
African Americans-Post-Slavery Era
2’-32” (84’ lecture.
Why, after Reconstruction ends, do blacks in the South
find themselves in a situation significantly worse than
slavery?.
play sampler
1
Post-Civil War Era. What to do with freed
slaves who are 97% illiterate?
Reconstruction. Mixture of Northern
motives: revenge, political, economic, and
moral. Alliance between ex-slaves and
poor whites after given land. Compromise
of 1877 ends Reconstruction and Union
troops withdraw, coloring South’s history
since.
2
Re-emergence of the Master Class. The
KKK and a state of terror.
Why the federal government does
nothing. The rise of sharecropping, in
some ways is worse than slavery. The
myth of the South’s “Gone With The Wind”
perception of itself as victim.
3
The one-party South. The struggle for its
control ultimately worsens blacks’ lives for
years to come. The Populist Party, the third
party, is formed as an alliance between the
poor blacks and poor whites. In the 1896
election the Populist Party decides to
support the losing candidate. This leads to
the Populist Party collapse and ultimate
demise. Now the upper class whites are in
control of the Democratic Party and no
longer need to curry favor with the blacks.
4
Jim Crow Era. Racial segregation takes
hold. Plessy versus Topeka Board of
Education Supreme Court decision allows
education to be separate but equal. Every
Minorities in America Series:
African-Americans—Post-Slavery Era
Segment descriptions
conceivable institution is sharply
segregated. Lynching is wide spread.
State and local governments are compliant.
The federal government does nothing.
5.
Early 20th Century
The Progressive Era reforms totally
neglected race. The racism of Teddy
Roosevelt. President Wilson segregates
D.C. civil service. Racial stereotypes in
Hollywood films such as “Birth of a Nation.”
6
Black community debates over role of
blacks. Booker T. Washington, an exslave, advocates blacks to learn a trade to
make a living. W.E.B. DuBois, a Nornerner
and academic scholar, a founder of
NAACP, advocates blacks to strive for
equally through education and political
action.
7
Jack Johnson. A flamboyant black who
dates white women is outrageous to whites,
is a hero to blacks. He becomes
heavyweight champion of the world, which
enrage white pride and they look for “The
Great White Hope” who will beat Johnson
on a rematch. He is falsely arrested under
the Mann Act, jumps bail, flees to Europe,
becomes diminished, finally loses his title
and his life tragically in a car crash in 1940.
8
WWI. Blacks in the army are
segregated, but experience non-racist
treatment by the French, which is
resented by white soldiers. After the
war, black veterans seek greater
equality, are disappointed.
9
1920s. Jim Crow Era still in full swing.
Harlem Renaissance. Great black cultural
awakening. Literature, poetry, the arts,
jazz, carries over to the white world.
Marcus Garvey. Black Nationalism.
Belief that integration will never happen.
Back to Africa. Questionable success in
1920s. KIKK revival. National influence of
Democratic Party.
Minorities in America Series:
African-Americans—Post-Slavery Era
Segment descriptions
10 1930s. The Great Depression. The
blacks know poverty which gets worse.
Migration of blacks from rural South to cities
in North during WWI for industrial jobs.
Difficult transition. Met with hostility by
Northern whites. Murderous race riots
against blacks. FDR’s New Deal.
Sharecroppers do not benefit from
subsidies. Eleanor Roosevelt. Had been
a genuine social worker. Sincere concern
for blacks. Marian Anderson is blocked by
Daughters of the Revolution from singing in
D.C. Eleanor Roosevelt sponsors and
attends her concert at the Washington
Monument. She supports the skills of
Tuskegee black pilots during WWII by
insisting they pilot her. FDR appoints
blacks to positions of authority in his
administration.
11 WWII ends the Great Depression. Great
need for labor for war production becomes
golden opportunity for blacks (and women).
Blacks meet the challenge of equal
opportunity. They resist giving up jobs to
returning white veterans. This is birth of
modern civil rights movement. Episode of
black soldiers on train being made to give
up their seats to German POWs/
12 Sports. Joe Louis. Boxer knocked out by
German Max Schmeling, hero to Nazis. On
rematch, he Kos Schmeling in 1st round, is
hero to blacks and whites in America.
Jackie Robinson. Sports are segregated.
Robinson in separate Negro baseball
league. Brooklyn Dodger owner, Branch
Rickey, chooses Robinson as first black in
white major league. He becomes 1947
rookie of the year. He endures hatred,
viciousness by whites. Becomes enormous
hero of African-Americans.
13 Cold War Era. Paul Robeson. High
achiever in academics, sports. Earns law
degree, does acting. His singing voice is
unforgettable and brings great fame to him
from around the world. He is associated
Minorities in America Series:
African-Americans—Post-Slavery Era
Segment descriptions
with Communist Party, and is a supporter of
Russia. Very outspoken, he is ostracized
by the U.S. as a subversive. His health
suffers and he dies.