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Essay On African Americans In The Years 1945-55

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Essay On African Americans In The Years 1945-55
How far do you agree that the years 1945-55 saw only limited progress in improving the status of African Americans?
Between the years 1945-55 the rights of African Americans improved slightly, with improvement to social rights and the introduction of taking civil right cases to the supreme courts. Despite the marginal improvement in America I believe that the years 1945-55 only saw limited progress.
Under President Truman some steps in the right direction were taken, even after the African Americans fought for the US in the Second World War the army wasn’t segregated. One of Truman’s first acts was to desegregate the army this was an important step for the nation as the army was very popular and symbolic in the US. During Truman’s inauguration
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This would greatly improve the chances of him being re-elected as he knew that he was un-popular in the southern states meaning the votes from white Americans would be depleted. Truman attempted to tackle the housing problems that the African Americans faced, they lived in ghettos and 40% of housing was found to be sub-standard in places like Washington DC. In a bid to improve living conditions, Truman ordered the demolishment of the substandard housing and promises to replace and build more houses for the black citizens. More houses were demolished than there were built; the obvious problem being is that families were left without housing. Truman wasn’t fully committed to fulfilling his promises, although he had the right intentions things would often go un-finished. He was simply in it for himself, to stay as president for as long as possible, only his strategy was too gain the votes of black Americans by marginally improving black rights. Although Truman made the most progress in civil rights than any president had before himself, but it was still limited due to the wide spread racial hatred that covered

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