Race and Civil Rights in the Cold War Era

Wednesday March 21, 2012

     Today we discussed Chapter 11.  This chapter deals with education, equality, civil rights, and more.   The court case Sweatt v. Painter took a stance against Plessy v. Ferguson (which said that separate was not equal).  This court case only dealt with one person and did not affect as many as Plessy.  This is because it dealt with higher education and no children were involved.
     In court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education (I & II), evidence was used to describe how the children and students were affected.  The positions of the schools came into place.  Often, whites would abandon an old school and build a new one.  The old school was left to the blacks to use, often being unsafe and not having enough qualified teachers.  Under the 14th Amendment, separate is not equal because the students were not exposed to the same opportunities and experiences as the white students.  Simply being separated from the whites had an emotional effect on the students.  I mean, wouldn't anyone who was being ostracized from society have a few emotional issues?!
     Document 2 was about Brown v. Board of Education II.  This targets discrimination and the courts called for desegregation.  Though the courts said that ALL schools had to desegregate, it called for "all deliberate speed."  This basically means that the court recognizes that the desegregation process can be slow, so they are allowing time for towns and schools to work in into their systems.  the NAACP did NOT like this!  Mainly because the group knew that the southern states would take their sweet time desegregating the schools.  The NAACP wanted is NOW, not whenever it was convenient.  And even though everyone was "equal" now, there was still discrimination in schools and the workplace.  There was even lynching and murders, such of that of Emmett Till.
     Document 6 was the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  This act discussed that there has to be equal employment opportunities for everyone, no matter what.  This, however, is easier said than done.  Even today employers can discriminate against someone applying for a job, but use a different reason as for not hiring them.  Also, since, technically, employees are not supposed to talk about their salaries with others, employers can also pay each person differently.  If there was a problem with difference in pay, the employer can say things like 1. "they have been working here longer and have more seniority" or 2. "this person has more knowledge and works harder than others do."  So if they want to, employers can be as discriminatory as they want, just as long as they have some legitimate reason to back it up.
     During the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement many advances were made.  After reading Doris Kearns Goodwin's book, however, I have learned that it was extremely difficult for Lydon Johnson to keep up with his Great Society and the Vietnam War at the same time.  I always enjoy learning about history that has directly impacted our nation.  Even though I know the Civil Rights Movement was a time of struggle, I am still thankful that there were people willing to put themselves out in the open and fight for their cause.  Heck, if it wasn't for this movement, being a female, I would probably be getting paid less than minimum wage, working long hours, and have little protections and rights!