African American Supreme Court Essay
How accurate is it to say that the role of the Supreme Court was the most important factor in improving the status of African Americans in the USA in the years 1945–55?
Supreme Court was an important factor when it comes to looking at the improvement of African American’s status. It challenged various factors such as education, voting rights and simply their rights in general. Whilst this is true, it isn’t the only factor that had an impact, other factors include World War 2 and federal government, which too helped show improvements in the status of African Americans. Overall Supreme Court did have a positive impact on the lives of many African American people.
One factor that the Supreme Court targeted was the voting rights of black people in Texas. In 1944 Smith v. Allwright went to court to challenge the exclusion of African Americans from primary elections. This was extremely important as whoever won the primary elections would win the congressional elections. In result of this court case the court ruled that the …show more content…
Texan white primary was illegal because all citizens, despite their race, had the right to vote according to the Fifteenth amendment, which eventually led to the outlaw of all white primaries. However even though it was illegal to carry out all-white primaries some states in America still did it. Despite the fact that some states secretly still didn’t allow African Americans to vote, this was a break through as many states did now allow African Americans to vote, ensuring them some control of their future.
It is argued that the supreme court wasn’t the only factor in helping African Americans gain full access to voting, as if it wasn’t for the help of the NAACP it wouldn’t have been that successful. The NAACP were a multi-racial group of civil rights campaigners who spent their time fighting for the rights of black people and to oppose any discrimination and racial hatred. The NAACP was a large group, consisting of roughly 450,000 members at its best, and was best known for its campaigning against the legal base for segregation. In 1944 the NAACP backed Lonnie E. Smith and his fight against all-white primaries. They provided Smith with the necessary funds and experienced lawyers in order to support the court case, as without this the case wouldn’t have been as successful. This shows how even though the case was a success, it probably wouldn’t have been without the help from civil right groups as they funded the case.
Another case would be Morgan v. Virginia in 1946 which challenged segregation on interstate bus services. In 1944, Irene Morgan was fined $100 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person. She argued that it violated her constitutional rights and so, went to court. The court case did result in segregation of interstate buses being illegal, however many bus companies didn’t support and obey the change in law. This shows how even though there was de jure change, it didn’t lead to the de facto segregation that Morgan sought. So, in result a group of 16 CORE activists planned to travel on interstate buses in 1947, simply to draw attention to the fact that many companies were illegally discriminating against black people. This was called the Journey of Reconciliation and did successfully prove that bus companies, especially in the southern states, were ignoring the ruling. However it was also not very successful in bringing de facto change as many bus companies did still illegally discriminate. This shows how even though the supreme court appeared to be making changes and improving the status of African Americans, this wasn’t necessarily the case as they didn’t enforce their rulings very well.
Supreme Court also challenged other aspect of discrimination such as racism in education. In 1950 Sweatt v. Painter went to court to challenge segregation in education after Heman Sweatt was refused admission to the university of Texas law school. They argued that sweat was entitled to the same education as white people. However even though they sought integration the Texan court refused to integrate the law school, so, ordered a new law school to be built specifically for Black students. The new law school was inferior to that for the white people, as there were fewer students, fewer teachers and fewer books. So the NAACP rejected the ruling and took the case to Supreme Court. The Supreme Court agreed with the NAACP and order the University of Texas Law School to accept Sweatt as a student. This was hugely significant for African Americans as it now meant they had the opportunity to gain the same quality of education as white people. The support by the Supreme Court showed how they did respect their rights, and it led to the ground work for further challenging of the education system.
The second case that challenged education was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. This dealt with the education of younger students as Oliver Brown took the state of Kansas to court after they failed to provide his daughter with efficient education. She was forced to attend an all-black school that was 20 blocks away from her home, even though there were local white schools that were much closer. So, again with the support of the NAACP, they took the case to court, and after 3 years of battling the Supreme Court decided that the segregation was in fact illegal. They argued that segregation had a negative impact on the lives of black children as it often found they suffered from inferiority. They used to live by the term ‘separate but equal’ but had now realised that they had failed to provide black students with equal educational opportunities, and that the only way to overcome this would be to integrate the schools. This court case was highly significant as it was the first time integration was enforced in education for younger students, and it also got rid of the ‘separate but equal’ term.
The last case that went to Supreme Court challenging segregation in education was Brown II in 1955.
It was brought around because even though the first brown case resulted in de jure victory it didn’t result in de facto change. In result the NAACP asked the Supreme Court to establish a timetable for desegregating southern schools. The Supreme Court responded by producing Brown II ruling that stated desegregation will occur ‘with all deliberate speed’. This wasn’t seen as a success as many believed the ruling was far too vague and that change most likely wouldn’t have occurred for a long time. This would be an example of a court case failure as the Brown case failed to bring about desegregation of the southern education system. We know this as in 1957 only 750 of 6300 southern schools had desegregated showing how there was a lot more that had to be done. This did show, however, the reluctance of white authorities to put Supreme Court ruling in
action.
Even though the Supreme Court showed to have huge impacts on improving the status of African Americans, there were other factors that impacted it. Another factor being World War 2. In the early 1940’s the northern industry was booming which led to a wave of black migration from south to north. By 1950 a third of African Americans had migrated to the north due to reduction of segregation. In the south segregation was still highly enforced, whereas in the north it was much more relaxed. Also when they moved they found that they were receiving better wages which meant they could afford better housing, leading to them having better standards of living in general. Secondly, the Second World War improved the lives of African Americans as after fighting in the war, black soldiers were more confident and many of the soldiers’ self-esteem had grown, as when they went to England to fight they found that they were treated as ‘Black Soldiers’ rather than being discriminated against because of their race. For example, Woodrow Crockett, an American airman was one of the first black pilots in the American air force and in the last year of the war he flew 149 missions, none of which were shot down. This showed them just how bad things were in the south as there was a strong contrast in the way they were treated, leading them to demand more rights and make sure they were being treated with the respect they deserved.
Another factor was the work of the NAACP. The NAACP strongly believed that the motto ‘separate but equal’ was false as African Americans were still being treated as though they were inferior. They organised a variety of peaceful protests and boycotts such as the boycott of a shop in Lafayette, as the shop was known to not accept black customers. Another thing they did was investigate the lynching in 1946. Overall this investigation led to a reduction of lynching as people were beginning to be taken to court in conviction of their crimes. However lynching was still existent which we know due to the incident with Emmett till. Emmett till was a 14year old boy who was lynched for ‘flirting’ with a girl. Those who had committed the crime were found innocent and weren’t sentenced to any prison time. This shows how direct action from activist groups did have positive impacts, as the overall number of lynching had decreased, however, incidents were still reported.
The last factor that could been seen to have a significant impact would be presidential action. During this time period, presidential power had been passed over to Harry Truman, who was well known to sympathise with African Americans. In his youth he had been racist, but had grown to understand and support their rights due to what he had seen in the media, of how badly they had been treated. This eventually led to him supporting the civil rights movement. In 1947 he wrote ‘to secure these rights’ which was his attempt at sorting out the problems faced by African Americans. He also used his presidential power to appoint black people to high up places in the government sector. An example of this would be Ralphe Bunche who he appointed as the ambassador to the United Nations. He also desegregated the armed forces as he believed black soldiers should obtain the same quality of resources and equipment to that of the white soldiers. Lastly Truman made sure that he would be inaugurated in front of an integrated crowd, which had never happened before. This was all highly significant as it meant African Americans had someone in a powerful position, fighting their corner. It also brought a lot of benefit as the ‘to secure these rights’ report showed the inequalities faced by African Americans, and the ways to overcome them.
To conclude I strongly believe that the Supreme Court had a huge impact on improving the lives of African Americans. By targeting education, they ensured that they were getting the same quality of teaching as white students, which would be very important for the African Americans. They were often seen as being stupid, due to their previous lack of education, so with this new improved quality, it enabled them to prove how smart they were, which would have been important in fighting their campaigns. The other cases that targeted their general rights were also very important as they gained a lot of media attention, which in return led to some white people feeling sympathetic towards them. However it could be said that certain cases such as Brown II didn’t bring much de facto change, as they found it difficult to enforce new laws, when many Americans still had ‘segregated hearts’ which meant many people simply didn’t want integration. However I do believe other factors such as direct action and the work of the NAACP was important as without the help of these activist organisations many of the cases that had went to Supreme Court wouldn’t have been successful as they provided them with the necessary funds and information needed to make their cases eligible. On the other hand I do personally agree with the statement as I strongly believe the role of Supreme Court was the most important factor as it now meant that African Americans were able to fight their cases in court which showed progress in the treatment of African Americans.
Supreme Court was an important factor when it comes to looking at the improvement of African American’s status. It challenged various factors such as education, voting rights and simply their rights in general. Whilst this is true, it isn’t the only factor that had an impact, other factors include World War 2 and federal government, which too helped show improvements in the status of African Americans. Overall Supreme Court did have a positive impact on the lives of many African American people.
One factor that the Supreme Court targeted was the voting rights of black people in Texas. In 1944 Smith v. Allwright went to court to challenge the exclusion of African Americans from primary elections. This was extremely important as whoever won the primary elections would win the congressional elections. In result of this court case the court ruled that the …show more content…
Texan white primary was illegal because all citizens, despite their race, had the right to vote according to the Fifteenth amendment, which eventually led to the outlaw of all white primaries. However even though it was illegal to carry out all-white primaries some states in America still did it. Despite the fact that some states secretly still didn’t allow African Americans to vote, this was a break through as many states did now allow African Americans to vote, ensuring them some control of their future.
It is argued that the supreme court wasn’t the only factor in helping African Americans gain full access to voting, as if it wasn’t for the help of the NAACP it wouldn’t have been that successful. The NAACP were a multi-racial group of civil rights campaigners who spent their time fighting for the rights of black people and to oppose any discrimination and racial hatred. The NAACP was a large group, consisting of roughly 450,000 members at its best, and was best known for its campaigning against the legal base for segregation. In 1944 the NAACP backed Lonnie E. Smith and his fight against all-white primaries. They provided Smith with the necessary funds and experienced lawyers in order to support the court case, as without this the case wouldn’t have been as successful. This shows how even though the case was a success, it probably wouldn’t have been without the help from civil right groups as they funded the case.
Another case would be Morgan v. Virginia in 1946 which challenged segregation on interstate bus services. In 1944, Irene Morgan was fined $100 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person. She argued that it violated her constitutional rights and so, went to court. The court case did result in segregation of interstate buses being illegal, however many bus companies didn’t support and obey the change in law. This shows how even though there was de jure change, it didn’t lead to the de facto segregation that Morgan sought. So, in result a group of 16 CORE activists planned to travel on interstate buses in 1947, simply to draw attention to the fact that many companies were illegally discriminating against black people. This was called the Journey of Reconciliation and did successfully prove that bus companies, especially in the southern states, were ignoring the ruling. However it was also not very successful in bringing de facto change as many bus companies did still illegally discriminate. This shows how even though the supreme court appeared to be making changes and improving the status of African Americans, this wasn’t necessarily the case as they didn’t enforce their rulings very well.
Supreme Court also challenged other aspect of discrimination such as racism in education. In 1950 Sweatt v. Painter went to court to challenge segregation in education after Heman Sweatt was refused admission to the university of Texas law school. They argued that sweat was entitled to the same education as white people. However even though they sought integration the Texan court refused to integrate the law school, so, ordered a new law school to be built specifically for Black students. The new law school was inferior to that for the white people, as there were fewer students, fewer teachers and fewer books. So the NAACP rejected the ruling and took the case to Supreme Court. The Supreme Court agreed with the NAACP and order the University of Texas Law School to accept Sweatt as a student. This was hugely significant for African Americans as it now meant they had the opportunity to gain the same quality of education as white people. The support by the Supreme Court showed how they did respect their rights, and it led to the ground work for further challenging of the education system.
The second case that challenged education was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. This dealt with the education of younger students as Oliver Brown took the state of Kansas to court after they failed to provide his daughter with efficient education. She was forced to attend an all-black school that was 20 blocks away from her home, even though there were local white schools that were much closer. So, again with the support of the NAACP, they took the case to court, and after 3 years of battling the Supreme Court decided that the segregation was in fact illegal. They argued that segregation had a negative impact on the lives of black children as it often found they suffered from inferiority. They used to live by the term ‘separate but equal’ but had now realised that they had failed to provide black students with equal educational opportunities, and that the only way to overcome this would be to integrate the schools. This court case was highly significant as it was the first time integration was enforced in education for younger students, and it also got rid of the ‘separate but equal’ term.
The last case that went to Supreme Court challenging segregation in education was Brown II in 1955.
It was brought around because even though the first brown case resulted in de jure victory it didn’t result in de facto change. In result the NAACP asked the Supreme Court to establish a timetable for desegregating southern schools. The Supreme Court responded by producing Brown II ruling that stated desegregation will occur ‘with all deliberate speed’. This wasn’t seen as a success as many believed the ruling was far too vague and that change most likely wouldn’t have occurred for a long time. This would be an example of a court case failure as the Brown case failed to bring about desegregation of the southern education system. We know this as in 1957 only 750 of 6300 southern schools had desegregated showing how there was a lot more that had to be done. This did show, however, the reluctance of white authorities to put Supreme Court ruling in
action.
Even though the Supreme Court showed to have huge impacts on improving the status of African Americans, there were other factors that impacted it. Another factor being World War 2. In the early 1940’s the northern industry was booming which led to a wave of black migration from south to north. By 1950 a third of African Americans had migrated to the north due to reduction of segregation. In the south segregation was still highly enforced, whereas in the north it was much more relaxed. Also when they moved they found that they were receiving better wages which meant they could afford better housing, leading to them having better standards of living in general. Secondly, the Second World War improved the lives of African Americans as after fighting in the war, black soldiers were more confident and many of the soldiers’ self-esteem had grown, as when they went to England to fight they found that they were treated as ‘Black Soldiers’ rather than being discriminated against because of their race. For example, Woodrow Crockett, an American airman was one of the first black pilots in the American air force and in the last year of the war he flew 149 missions, none of which were shot down. This showed them just how bad things were in the south as there was a strong contrast in the way they were treated, leading them to demand more rights and make sure they were being treated with the respect they deserved.
Another factor was the work of the NAACP. The NAACP strongly believed that the motto ‘separate but equal’ was false as African Americans were still being treated as though they were inferior. They organised a variety of peaceful protests and boycotts such as the boycott of a shop in Lafayette, as the shop was known to not accept black customers. Another thing they did was investigate the lynching in 1946. Overall this investigation led to a reduction of lynching as people were beginning to be taken to court in conviction of their crimes. However lynching was still existent which we know due to the incident with Emmett till. Emmett till was a 14year old boy who was lynched for ‘flirting’ with a girl. Those who had committed the crime were found innocent and weren’t sentenced to any prison time. This shows how direct action from activist groups did have positive impacts, as the overall number of lynching had decreased, however, incidents were still reported.
The last factor that could been seen to have a significant impact would be presidential action. During this time period, presidential power had been passed over to Harry Truman, who was well known to sympathise with African Americans. In his youth he had been racist, but had grown to understand and support their rights due to what he had seen in the media, of how badly they had been treated. This eventually led to him supporting the civil rights movement. In 1947 he wrote ‘to secure these rights’ which was his attempt at sorting out the problems faced by African Americans. He also used his presidential power to appoint black people to high up places in the government sector. An example of this would be Ralphe Bunche who he appointed as the ambassador to the United Nations. He also desegregated the armed forces as he believed black soldiers should obtain the same quality of resources and equipment to that of the white soldiers. Lastly Truman made sure that he would be inaugurated in front of an integrated crowd, which had never happened before. This was all highly significant as it meant African Americans had someone in a powerful position, fighting their corner. It also brought a lot of benefit as the ‘to secure these rights’ report showed the inequalities faced by African Americans, and the ways to overcome them.
To conclude I strongly believe that the Supreme Court had a huge impact on improving the lives of African Americans. By targeting education, they ensured that they were getting the same quality of teaching as white students, which would be very important for the African Americans. They were often seen as being stupid, due to their previous lack of education, so with this new improved quality, it enabled them to prove how smart they were, which would have been important in fighting their campaigns. The other cases that targeted their general rights were also very important as they gained a lot of media attention, which in return led to some white people feeling sympathetic towards them. However it could be said that certain cases such as Brown II didn’t bring much de facto change, as they found it difficult to enforce new laws, when many Americans still had ‘segregated hearts’ which meant many people simply didn’t want integration. However I do believe other factors such as direct action and the work of the NAACP was important as without the help of these activist organisations many of the cases that had went to Supreme Court wouldn’t have been successful as they provided them with the necessary funds and information needed to make their cases eligible. On the other hand I do personally agree with the statement as I strongly believe the role of Supreme Court was the most important factor as it now meant that African Americans were able to fight their cases in court which showed progress in the treatment of African Americans.