IMPACT OF CR LEGISLATION, ACHIEVEMENTS AND LIMITS TO SUCCESS, 1955-80
SOCIAL
ECONOMIC
POLITICAL
LEGISLATION
1964 CR act- Ended legal segregation in the south.
1965 VR act - banned literacy tests, made it easier for black people to vote.
LBJ GREAT SOCIETY
By 1980, the percentage of black Southerners registered to vote was only 7% below the proportion of whites.
Number of black southerners elected to office doubled between 1969 and 80.
1960- No black officials in Mississippi
1980- Over 300 black officials.
Black social inequality was no longer embedded in the law and the vote ensured representation at many levels of govt.
1965 Education acts sped up school desegregation and helped black colleges.
GS programmes led to a 34% fall in black unemployment and a 25% fall in the number of black Americans in poverty.
LBJ used his executive powers to promote affirmative action:
- 1965 Executive order: institutions receiving federal funding had to employ more non-whites.
MLK's assassination created congressional guilt and and led to the passage of the Fair Housing Act 1968, but white opposition made it difficult to enforce.
Black social status improved after the CR act, as it ended legal social inferiority. Black Americans in the south now had equal access to most public places.
LBJ GS programmes led to a fall in black unemployment and the number of black people in poverty. It also led to black people having more access to college, and therefore higher paid jobs.
Poverty and violence in the ghettos remained a huge problem.
By the 1970s, about 40% of black families were classified as middle class.
Proportion of African Americans in poverty remained at about 33% (3 times that of Whites).
Average black earnings were half of those of white people.
1964 Act contributed to the rising number of African Americans who graduated from high school and obtained degrees, and thereby gained greater economic opportunities.
Busing- helped achieve racially mixed schools. This created white northern opposition, in places like Boston.
Boston- public schools separate and unequal. There were inferior education materials, such as racist textbooks.
Huge white opposition to the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Shows that racial tolerance and social equality could not be litigated into existence.
Integrationist provisions resisted by whites
But, busing was a very controversial topic. In 1975 congress improved anti-busing legislation
White Americans still clearly perceived black Americans as socially inferior.
VR act led the number of AA in congress to rise from 4 (1959) to 18 (1980).
Black voters were having an impact: In the 1960s, no major US city had a black mayor. In the 1970s, AA became mayors in several big cities such as LA and even southern cities such as Birmingham.
Proportion of black Americans in congress did not match up to their proportion of the population, therefore they were still underrepresented.
By 1980, the huge increase in black voting didn't lead to a proportional increase in black elected officials in deep south states.