Segregation in the South during the 1960s And 1970s
Abstract
Segregation in the south was mainly by race and resulted to distinctions with regards to income, education, residence, and employment. Segregation in the south brought forth the ancient and even recent societal and organizational segregation. Segregation took many forms including, gender segregation, residential segregation, employment segregation and even educational segregation among other types. Some actions which portrayed the highest degree of these segregation included Africans enslavement in huge plantations, involuntary blacks emigration, forced relocations to reserves, the internment of minorities including the Japanese Americans, setting up of immigrant enclaves and forced displacements among other actions which were inhumane. However, later on, there emerged different movements which sprung up to discourage segregation. These movements were referred to as black power movements, and their main aim was to discourage the notion that people had different capabilities, knowledge and talents based on the color of their skin and even their origins. Although some of these movements received resistance, some were successful and even won the support of major political figures.
Introduction
The act of segregation was founded on the idea that particular people were not complete humans due to their skin color and place of origin, and therefore did not qualify to enjoy the clean and developed environments that other humans enjoyed. Segregation in the South took different forms, including De jure and de Facto segregation. De jure segregation was legally enforced while the de facto segregation came as a result of pressure piled on the populations which drove them to seclusion. Therefore, de facto segregation was defended by individuals and even agencies as individual choices of those in seclusion, since the personal choice was and is still a very imperative value in the south. On the other hand, the de jure segregation was an act meant to ensure the perpetuation of racial subordination. Men and women separation took place mainly in educational and workplace setting and played a major role in the subordination of the females' status in a more indirect manner as compared to racial segregation which encouraged racial hierarchies in these settings (Kreyling 2008). Racial segregation was however not regarded as an important communal practice before the abolition of slavery since the act of slavery in itself was a very satisfactory subordination scheme. In some regions, the isolated populations resided in easily identifiable residences since the whites did not wish to share the same residential areas as them since they could be politically and even socially equal to them. The de jure form of segregation was very rare since it was in most cases uncalled for, as the de facto segregation brought forth the intended outcomes, and there were minimal public schemes which necessitated segregation. In other regions, there were different schools for whites and other racially discriminated populations. Despite the effects on health and education, segregation had on the affected individuals; there was not much done to alleviate their plights. There was evident of the relationship between access to quality life through accessing quality education, employment opportunities, and healthcare provisions. The difference in the way of life which the blacks and other segregated populations lived brought forth ridiculous origin confusions and color mix hence, even more, integration between the populations most affected by segregation.
The Emergence of Segregation in the South
The abolition of slavery meant that other forms of support would be necessary to promote racial subordination. Later on, there emerged informal segregation practices all within the south, especially in public transport and other public service provision areas and utilities. To respond to these practices, a Civil Rights Act was endorsed by the Congress in 1875, banning segregation in communal facilities and areas. However, the enacted Act was held unconstitutional in 1883, by the Supreme Court arguing that the fourteenth amendment barring countries from negating equal law protection did not allow the Congress to implement private discrimination laws.
Later on, the whites pursued the reinforcement of racial hierarchies after the reconstruction. Many states in the south adopted laws which required segregation in schools, transportation, and many other settings. The Supreme Court maintained such legislations concluding that discrimination was prohibited only in association with political and civil rights and not with social rights which were encompassed in transportation and education. The doctrines from the courts stated that states could pursue segregation if there were equality in the utilities offered. However, no federation embraced equality necessities are important, and all the segregated public utilities for African Americans' use were in substantially worse conditions than those used by their white counterparts (Kreyling 2008). The extension of the Jim Crow’s regime by the southern legislatures was stirred up by the approval guaranteed by the Supreme Court permitting segregation. Therefore, the expansion encompassed separate drinking water fountains, separate sports facilities including golf courses, swimming pools, and parks, separate courtrooms sitting arrangements and even separate courtroom bibles.
The Rise of the De Facto Segregation
The isolated populations persistently mounted legislative constraints to the alienation, at first concentrating on the facilities inequalities. Subsequently, the Supreme Court was fully convinced of the inequality regarding separate installations. With the decline of the significance attached to the de jure segregation, brought about by invalidation or the repeal of statues particularly racially discriminatory, there emerged an increased preference for the de facto form of segregation. Residential segregation faced significant rise following the movement of the blacks from the rural areas to the urban areas, with the children ultimately having to attend segregated blacks’ schools (Porter and Bratter 2015). In other instance, the law strengthened residential segregation with the Supreme Court holding different ordinances which were unconstitutional, but which facilitated residential segregation. To respond to the situation at hand, the southern private developers and agents dealing in real estate started incorporating provisions known as restrictive covenants in house purchase agreements which required that reselling of the houses were only to be conducted if the buyer is from the same race as the owner of the home ("Rebellion In Black And White: Southern Student Activism In The 1960S" 2013). Eventually, after the entrenchment of trends in segregation, the Supreme Court decided to hold these restrictive agreements as unconstitutional. Policies regarding national housing strengthened residential segregation while the state authorities regulating housing required real estate developers to incorporate restrictive agreements, thereby supporting the housing authorities’ actions of segregating their buildings. Coupled up with the deviations of wealth owned by the whites and the blacks, these procedures facilitated the creation of ghettoes which held a large number of Hispanic Americans and the black Americans (Houston 2014).
Later on, de facto segregation was legally challenged by enacted antidiscrimination laws in the 1960s, however, on a wider scale; these legislative challenges faced painful failures. Courts and legislatures viewed this kind of discrimination as individual’s choices and varied economic capabilities which drove people to purchase housing of different qualities. In the early 1970s, Lewis Powell, and William Douglas fought for the abandonment of the differences between the de facto and de jure segregation. The court, however, did not consent to this, partly because the liberals were more aware that the courts were incapable of taking on the de facto discrimination elimination task while the traditionalists were anxious that the law lords would make attempts to take the challenge.
Gender Segregation
Gender discrimination was also a very common social practice in the south. This kind of segregation was in most cases initiated by early feminists and labor unions, Federal laws adopted protective labor legislations which prohibited women from specific professions which were regarded as women inappropriate, or even restricted a number of time women were allowed to render their professional responsibilities, however, left untampered the employers contracts with men relating to the type of profession or the number of working hours. Considering the in-depth information regarding safety in the workplace which was compiled by Louis Brandeis, a public advocate, the Supreme Court went ahead to restrict the total working hours for women. The women were additionally prohibited from working as bartenders, except for instances where these bars were family ventures. These segregating labor laws were founded on the traditional role of women but were defended as sincere considerations of women’s best interest since they were more susceptible to injuries and illnesses if they worked for longer periods in different situations which the courts considered unfavorable for these groups.
There were additionally more complicated impacts on the gender systems after the establishment of women and girls academic institutions. The women were technically forced to take on courses which were centered on childbearing and housekeeping, on the other hand, their male counterparts were offered more professionally promising careers and courses. Different academic institutions nevertheless also offered the women and girls a space to enhance without the pressure from competition, additionally; these female students were offered frameworks of knowledgeable, mature females to emulate.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act prohibiting segregation in the workplace founded on gender led to the invalidation of proprietor work guidelines and the protective labor legislations which had the capability of creating various departments for women and men. Within the twentieth century, the feminist organization dismissed the assumptions of the protective laws and began undermining these legislations which have promoted the segregation of women and girls’ academic institutions. Later on, different academic institutions which had earlier on been segregated decided on their will to abandon the social practice and the number of academic institutions which segregated men from women considerably reduced. The Supreme Court ruled the segregation of females from the Virginia Military Institute unconstitutional (Porter and Bratter 2015).
Impacts of Segregation
The segregation brought about negative social and emotional impacts to the blacks. First and foremost, there emerged a rift between the whites and the blacks which is still present till now. Apart from that, the blacks faced dire living conditions and due to hunger, poor healthcare services, poor education and even housing, there occurred a massive loss of lives and the suppression of great minds and talents ("America In White, Black, And Gray: The Stormy 1960S" 2007). Additionally, there was massive property destruction due to the demonstrations of the blacks who protested against the murders of their fellows by the white police. The segregation also led to a reduced development professionally, since the blacks were denied equal opportunities as compared to their white counterparts.
Civil Rights Movements
The blacks struggle for indiscrimination took a peak in the 1960s as a result of several victories that these isolated groups had recorded in the previous year; the victories increased the diligence of segregated population and drove them more into seeking equality. Several groups, therefore, emerged including the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference), the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Peaceful Confrontation) among others. These groups mostly consisted of black students and clergymen (Brazil 2016). Within that same year, there was a peaceful demonstration from the black students at an isolated lunch counter (Houston 2014). These students managed to capture the attention of the media, and this promoted, even more, demonstrations all through the south. In the following year, freedom rides were organized by civil rights workers. In the freedom rides, the whites and the blacks boarded vehicles heading towards discriminated bus terminals which were situated in sights most likely to stir up a confrontation.
Additionally, in trying to fight segregation, the civil rights associations organized rallies one of them including the 1963 "March on Washington". These rallies in most cases included almost half a million people, converged on the capital to show their unshaken commitment to equality. Motivational figures including Martin Luther King made the day by giving out touching speeches. It is in such rallies that Martin Luther King told of his dream where the discriminated and those who practiced this social vice would come to an understanding and even sit together.
Initially, the degree of success did not match the civil rights organizational rhetoric. At first, the president showed reluctance to urge the whites to support the ambitions of the civil rights movements since he needed them to vote for him. Circumstances, propelled by the blacks, however, tied his hands when a black student was denied admission into a university since he was black, forcing the president to send troops to the university to maintain the law (Horne and Hall 2006).
Militant calls coupled up with violence demanded reforms. There were deadly riots in major cities. In 1968, the rioting became even worse, and the civil rights movements got temporarily shaken by the cold assassination of Martin Luther King Jr and Robert Kennedy. As a result, a great rift was established separating the conservative backlash and the developing militancy, which brought forth a deep wound to the national psyche.
After that, civil rights movement managed to be irreversibly integrated into the American life fabric since it gained support from the state administrative regulations, congressional enactments, and even courts decisions. The issues of segregation legality were concluded, and the only remaining tasks were the implementation of access and even equality. After the year 1970, arguments regarded the actions which would be taken to ensure that racial balance was achieved and maintained. These schemes and policies were therefore seen as attempts to promote equality in employment, housing, healthcare and education (Stefani 2015).
Conclusion
In summary, it is evident that segregation in the South was brought about by the whites' beliefs that the blacks has little capabilities and therefore inferior. The segregation took de facto and de jure forms of the de facto segregation achieving more superiority to the other. This form of segregation was applied indirectly and was, therefore, easy to defend, unlike the de jure segregation. Additionally, the discrimination designed to ensure that the blacks and the whites did not gain equal access to career opportunities, healthcare, and even housing. The segregation additionally resulted in enmity, deaths, loss of properties due to riots and even poor living conditions especially for those individuals who were discriminated. The year 1970, brought forth relief as the civil rights movements gained the support from courts and other state regulations, and finally attempts to ensure that racial balance was achieved and maintained became the main issue.
References
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