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The Civil Rights Movement In The 1950's

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Whilst the civil rights movement improved the life of African American’s in many ways, it was not until later that such minorities felt true improvement in their lives. Life during the 1950’s had only improved to a small extent, and despite more opportunities and higher wage earnings, there was only limited progress in solving the problems of segregation: violence continued, new employment opportunities and voting rights were not readily available and whilst there was change in the areas of transport and education, many important areas were still lacking.

Many of the problems African American’s faced stemmed from the Jim Crow Laws enacted from 1876-1965, which were passed to separate blacks and whites in as many aspects of life as possible. This act was supposedly aimed at making separate but equal accommodations for both races but in reality these laws created segregated barriers and discrimination, where blacks were often treated as inferiors and put at a disadvantage ultimately making racism and prejudices systemic. In the South, Jim Crow laws existed to alienate black Americans. Due to these laws, African-Americans were forced to use segregated schools, public restrooms, transportation, and neighbourhoods. Failure to abide by explicit laws and accepted cultural norms resulted in fines, …show more content…

As apart of his ‘Fair Deal’ programme, Truman committed the government to building houses in deprived urban areas in order to address some of the economic problems faced by African Americans. The intention was to demolish badly constructed homes and slums and replace them with suitable living conditions. Yet, despite trying to provide decent housing, fewer houses were built than anticipated and thus there was a reduced amount of housing actually available, which meant many African American’s were left

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