The time period between the 1890-s and the World War I, known as the Progressive Era, was difficult and controversial in American history. It was the time of industrial and urban development, political changes, economic growth (Frankel, and Dye 1). At the same time racial discrimination was prominent in the South, regardless of the legislation which abolished slavery and promoted equality between white and black members of the society. ‘Jim Crow laws’, or rules, applied mostly in Southern states, introduced segregation. Its beginning is associated with the Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896 (Williams). The progressives managed to bring important changes to economy, politics and social life of the country, but they failed to assure the rights for African American population. This discussion examines the following issues of Progressive Era in the United States.
Progressive reforms assured inhabitants of inner cities not only better living and working conditions but also a reformation of their civil freedoms and rights.
Progressives legalized segregation and racial inequality with racist “Jim Crow laws”.
Racial inequality, the legacy of Progressive Era, retained until the second half of the 20th century.
It is true that for the majority of American population progressive reforms seemed positive and very important. These were changes in political, labor, industrial and social fields (Tobar). Reformed education had to bring up “effective citizens” (Herrick 289). Improved living conditions in inner-cities – settlement houses for immigrants, sanitation reforms, and beautification – assured healthier and safer environment for lower-class men, women and children (Macgregor 22). In means of politics municipal and state reforms were held with the intent to “clean up” municipal and state governments, to get rid of corruption (McGeehan, and Gall 238). There were also reforms related to antitrust policies and monopolies, as well as workplace policies, safety, labor unions, minimum wage and established working hours for women and children (Tobar). In the minds of the progressives, both Republicans and Democrats, progressivism was much more than a social movement, but a way to bring significant change in the society. The reformist approach consisted in assuring the society safe working environment, education available for all people, as well as government free of corruption. Fast industrial development demanded dealing with economic and social issues, hence the reforms. Moreover, middle-class representatives, especially women, devoted much effort to philanthropy and support for the poor (Herrick 290).
Regardless of all innovative reforms and improvements racial issue was not solved. Quite the opposite, racial equality was something people of color could only dream of. In fact in the Progressive Era segregation became legalized, while it was often presented as an attempt to protect African Americans from prejudice. Slavery abolition and the right of African Americans to vote became nothing more than a meaningless phrase in Progressive Era. In the South social segregation and disenfranchisement of African Americans was considered the “return to sanity, the final system” (Woodward 3). Some historians believe that the racial issue was simply the so-called ‘blind spot’ in the progressive policy. However others are positive of the fact that most of the country leaders of the Progressive Era, especially Woodrow Wilson, were racists and this policy of segregation together with ‘Jim Crow laws’ made up their intentional political course (Tobar). Woodward believes that segregation existed in the beginning of the 19th century in the North, and then transferred to the South with slavery abolition as an attempt of white politicians and upper-class representatives to return to the familiar order of things. This resulted in segregation of all public spaces, schools, churches, libraries, parks, rail cars, workplace and even restrooms and drinking fountains (Woodward 3). While the segregation implied assuring ‘separate but equal’ spaces for white and black citizens, ‘Jim Crow laws’ named so after a caricature of a black man legalized institutional racism (Anderson 116).
It was rather ironic that progressive in many ways, the politicians of the Progressive Era supported and legalized racism. The shameful and painful history of so-called ‘slavery by another name’ (Blackmon) has long remained a secret. Decades after slavery abolition the African Americans of the South were still not free. Toughened legislation regarding offences on the part of African Americans sent people to prison, and it resulted in convict leasing system which was in fact the extension of slavery, only much more advantageous economically. Similar servitude practices for African Americans were introduced by sharecropping and peonage. In fact, black people were enslaved, sold and exploited till World War II. Things changed after WWII, when social consciousness and Black Nationalism developed. African Americans fought in the WWII. American citizens in general did not only protect their motherland and peace but also witnessed the terrors of Nazism. The issues of racism and segregation started to be associated with Nazism, which was intolerable in a democratic society like the United States (Whitfield 5). It however took another decade, a lot of WWII veterans’ abuse, and southern states governors’ opposition to at least officially end the era of ‘Jim Crow’. There were a number of civil right groups that stood for rights of African Americans, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference headed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. being one of them. It was President Lyndon Johnson’s administration (Rosenberg 15) that had meetings with civil rights leaders and that eventually signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965 (Williams). These acts officially abolished segregation and inequality, but there still was a lot to resolve and reform in this field of American life.
Works Cited
Anderson, William L., and David Kiriazis. “Rents and Race Legacies of Progressive Policies”. The Independent Review 18.1 (2013): 115-33. ProQuest. Web. 20 June 2016.
Blackmon, Douglas A. Slavery by Another Name. New York: Doubleday, 2008. Print.
Frankel, Noralee, and Nancy S. Dye. Gender, Class, Race and reform in the Progressive Era. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1991. Print.
Herrick, John M. “Progressive Era (United States)”. Encyclopedia of Social Welfare History in North America. Ed. John M. Herrick, and Paul H. Stuart. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc., 2005. 289-292. Print.
MacGregor, Sherilyn. Beyond Mothering Earth: Ecological Citizenship and the Politics of Care. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2006. Print.
McGeehan, John, and Morris Gall. Let’s review: U.S. History and Government. New York: Barron, 2007. Print.
Rosenberg, Jonathan. “Unlikely Allies in Civil Rights Fight; Martin Luther King Jr. and President Johnson Teamed Up”. The Christian Science Monitor: 15. Feb 15 2005. ProQuest. Web. 20 June 2016.
Tobar, Hector. “Book Review; A President Left in the Shadows; Woodrow Wilson Championed Many Progressive Reforms, but His 'Genteel Racism' Undermined His Legacy.” Los Angeles Times Oct 13 2013. ProQuest. Web. 20 June 2016 .
Williams, Jasmin K. “A Crowning Moment in American History” New York Post: 30. Nov 07 2008. ProQuest. Web. 20 June 2016.
Withfield, Stephen J. The South in the Shadow of Nazism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2012. Print.
Woodward, C. Vann. The Strange Career of Jim Crow. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print.
