Transcript New Civil Rights Issues

New Civil Rights Issues
Chapter 25
Section 3
Urban Problems
• Despite laws being put in place to end racial discrimination, it was
very hard to enforce these laws. Conditions were still very poor
for blacks with only 15% holding a professional level job compared
to 44% of whites.
• African Americans as a whole also earned less than whites. On
average an African Americans’ family income was 55% less than
whites.
• The lack of money coming in made it difficult for many blacks to
afford to live anywhere outside of the cheaper houses and
apartments of the inner city. 70% of Blacks lived in large citites.
The Watts Riot
• Riots broke out in Los Angeles, specifically the Watts
neighborhood, due to police brutality against African Americans.
The riots lasted 6 days, and killed 34 people. The riots only ended
after 14,000 members of the National Guard showed up to stop
the violence.
• Johnson would then create the Kerner Commission, this
commission looked in to the causes of riots and how to prevent
them from happening. The commission was able to create 2
million jobs, and also created 6 million public housing units.
Watts Riot aftermath
Black Power Movements
• Black power movements began within the African American community
when there was very little changing even when Civil Rights legislation
written into law. Some blacks that believe in the black power movement
believed that African Americans should control the social, political, and
economic direction of their struggle.
• The main thing that black power movements stressed was pride within
the African American community and culture.
• Black Panthers were a group that believed a revolution was necessary
and they urged African Americans to arm themselves. They believed that
if whites would not given them rights, then they would force them to
give them rights
Black Panthers
Malcom X
• Malcom X spent 6 years in prison for a burglary conviction. While
in prison Malcom X converted to Islam, specifically the Nation of
Islam, unlike mainstream Islam, The nation of Islam, or Black
Muslims stressed black nationalism. They believed in segregation
and wanted to take it a step further by wanting to create their
own self governing communities.
• Malcom X did not advocate violence, but they did advocate self
defense. They believed that if attacked unprovoked that they had
the right to defend themselves “by any means necessary”.
King Assassination
• By the 1960’s the civil rights movement had fragmented into
dozens of organizations with different philosophies. Some groups
advocating violence clashed with groups that wanted nonviolent
change. Many whites who had supported civil rights changes early
on withdrew their support.
• On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis
Tennessee. Riots broke out in over 100 American cities due to
Kings death.
• Following his death, Congress passed the civil rights act of 1968,
which promised fair housing practice and made racial
discrimination illegal in the housing market.