Race Relations, 1877-1932
KEY THEMES & ISSUES
1. Jim Crow & Disenfranchisement in the South
2. Sources of African American resistance
3. Techniques of African American resistance
Origins of Jim Crow 1877-1910
1890s: South moves from de facto to de jure segregation & disenfranchisement
1. Political factors
n aftermath of Populism; elite disenfranchisement of poor blacks & whites
2. Economic factors
cheap labor needs; sharecropping crisis
3. African American activism
first generation of southern blacks not born slaves
4. National factors
nativism; “scientific” racism
Plessy vs Ferguson, 1896
‘separate but equal’ doctrine
Separate & Unequal
Sources of Resistance
Individual
‘acts of refusal’
Institutional
Churches, colleges, fraternal organizations, etc
Organizational
NAACP, Urban League, etc.
Cultural
n jokes, folktales, speech patterns, dance, music etc…
n Resistance promoted:
n 1. Individual & collective pride
n 2. Group solidarity & identity
n 3. A possible basis for action & protest
Techniques of Resistance, 1
Accommodation
Booker T. Washington
Tuskegee Machine
Atlanta Exposition Address, 1895
Up From Slavery, 1901
BTW rejects open struggle for civil & voting rights
Favors educational & economic initiatives
Techniques of Resistance, 2
Education
Tuskegee, Fisk, Emphasis on vocational training, agricutlure, crafts etc..
Economics & Business
National Negro Business League
Techniques of Resistance, 3
Unions
United Mineworkers of America
Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters
Techniques of Resistance, 4
Politics
New York
Roscoe Conklin Simmons
Memphis
Robert Church
Direct Action
Street Car Boycotts, 1900-8
Armed Resistance
Robert Charles Riot, New Orleans, 1900
Techniques of Resistance, 5
NAACP
Classic Progressive organization
Expertise, propaganda, protest...
Courtroom challenges:
Anti-Lynching campaign
Dyer Bill
Anti-Peonage Cases
Bailey Case, 1911
Due Process Cases
Moore vs Dempsey, 1923
Anti-Disenfranchisement Cases
Guinn, 1915
World War One
Du Bois, “Close Ranks”
Suspends activism to help war effort
Blacks fight for Democracy abroad, Jim Crow continues at home
Race Riots:
East St. Louis, 1917
Tulsa, 1921
1920s nativism & KKK revival
Marcus Garvey
‘Back to Africa’
United Negro Improvement Association
Black Star shipping line
Negro World
Race Pride, Black Consciousness
Harlem Renaissance
Conclusions
1. The Jim Crow system in the South solidified between 1890 & 1910 to leave African Americans in the region legally disenfranchised and segregated.
2. Beyond the South, even in the absence of such rigid legal restrictions, racial prejudice & discrimination continued to deny African Americans equal political, social, educational and economic opportunities.
3. Throughout the nation, African Americans adopted a wide range of resistance strategies to combat the material and psychological effects of racism.