Social Situation of Blacks 40 years following the Civil Rights Act - Research Paper Example

Social Situation of Blacks 40 years following the Civil Rights Act Persons of color in the U.S. enjoyed vastly different economic and social circumstances 40 years following the 1964 signing of the Civil Rights Act. Living as a black person in the 1990’s and beyond is challenging. The inequality and hardships associated with racism and segregation persist but all would agree not to the extent of the 1950s and years prior when blacks were treated as second class citizens with regard to almost every aspect of public life. Two generations later laws have changed and minds have evolved. Black Americans play an essential role in the cultural, social and political framework of the nation. They have become a significant constituent of one of the country’s main political parties, have been fully integrated, both legally and socially speaking, into the armed forces, constitute more than 10 percent of Army officers and are over-represented culturally in areas of sports, music, TV and movies. Though blacks are still not represented proportionately in corporate boardrooms, the rate of ascent in this area has been impressive. Black Americans have made great strides in many areas since the 1950s but inequality and racism is still a reality affecting health, political, social and economic conditions for this long oppressed segment of society. Soldiers returned from World War II to n American on the precipice of an economic boom. The financially comfortable middle class segment of society was rapidly expanding. Jobs were plentiful, new homes were being built by the hundreds of thousands in pristine new suburbs amid the rolling hills outside of town and happy families were growing. The “American Dream” was unfolding all across the country, at least for white families. During this time of unprecedented prosperity black families still faced discrimination in all facets of life. Blacks were not allowed to live among the whites in the suburbs and were kept out of the expanding job pool due to widespread employer discrimination policies. Therefore they were forced to reside in older urban neighborhoods taking the place of whites who had fled en masse to greener pastures. Even job candidates who were well qualified routinely faced employment discrimination during the 1950s. The majority of black men, no matter their background, had no choice but to settle for demeaning unskilled jobs for low pay. Jim Crow laws were still in effect throughout the southern (ex-Confederate) states during the 1950s. These laws were meant solely to repress black citizens by segregating the races into “separate but equal” segments of society. Of course separate is never equal especially not for black southerners prior to the Civil Right Act which abolished these repressive state and local statures. Jim Crow laws discouraged blacks from by forcing people to take literacy tests and collecting “poll taxes” to be able to vote. Bigotry was practiced openly and encouraged by laws. Black children attended sub-standard schools with little hope of gaining a good paying job after graduation. The races were divided physically, culturally and economically. Prior to the war the best many black families could do is work as sharecroppers, tending the fields like they did a century before and for very low wages. Following the war farming became more mechanized. Blacks workers had no place to go for work except North to cities like Detroit where a shortage of labor existed. A steady migration of black families occurred throughout the 1950s creating the ghettos that remain to this day. (Enisuoh, 2005). Forty years after the Jim Crow era, black families are the poorest of all other ethnic or racial groups in the country. Nearly a third of black children live at or below the poverty line and their odds of reaching middle class status are significantly less than those of poor white children. The fractured nature of the black family structure is not just a stereotype and is not the only reason for these gaps in economic status, but it is a main factor. About half of black children are raised by single mothers but just12 percent of those living with both parents are poor. “At least three simulation studies ‘marrying off’ single mothers to either the fathers of their children or to potential husbands of similar demographic characteristics concluded that child poverty would be dramatically lower.” (Hymowitz, 2004). The black homeownership rate in 1960 was 39 percent compared to 66 percent for whites, a very apparent economic disparity that had not changed since 1900. Part of the reason this number stayed steady was the mass black migration to jobs in the north. Migrants are not as likely to own homes especially those who are migrating to urban areas. In the decades since 1960, the racial disparity in homeownership has lessened. “In 1990, the last year examined, the racial gap was 19.5 percentage points, compared with 27 points in 1960. Because white homeownership rates were rising over this period, all of the narrowing of the gap reflects a faster pace of growth among black household heads.” (Margo, 2005). During the 1950s, as blacks faced continued systematic forms of discrimination, the need for a civil rights movement to protect the rights of an oppressed segment of society became increasingly apparent. Groups that included both blacks and sympathetic whites held rallies, sit-in’s, and marches throughout all regions of the country but the focus was in the south where blacks were subject to archaic Jim Crow laws and brutal acts of violence including lynching’s and black church bombings. Although other parts of the country did not have these repressive, targeted laws, blacks still faced discriminatory practices in many aspects of their lives including housing, schools and employment. “Government policies, while not always based formally on race, were frequently designed in ways which benefited whites at the expense of black and other non-white citizens.” (Kaplan, Valls, 2007) Violent acts against both black persons and the whites who supported the American concept of “liberty and justice for all” were commonplace but the perpetrators were seldom prosecuted. Thousands of people were killed by bigoted mobs mainly in southern states from the time of emancipation following the Civil War until well into the 1960’s. The early 20th Century and especially the 1950s was a time of unprecedented economic and social progress for white persons, including white European immigrants, who enjoyed many federal programs including education for returning soldiers, FHA loans for housing and others that gave people access to jobs, business loans, homeownership and education which raised many white families into the middle economic class. However, these programs were usually not unavailable to blacks due to unsanctioned prejudicial policies involving banking practices, access to health care, employment opportunities, insurance, homeownership and other all too common discriminatory practices. (Kaplan, Valls, 2007) In the decades following the Civil Rights Movement that ignited during the 1950s, some criticize that blacks are still underrepresented in local, state and federal political offices because Democrats take their votes for granted and have been deficient regarding actively advocating their interests and aspirations for public service. This criticism ignores two important facts. One, Democrats passed the Civil Rights Act over Republican opposition and has been the only political party that consistently promotes the black agenda and political ambitions. Two, blacks have made great political gains during the years following the death of Jim Crow laws. Prior to the first black President being elected in 2008, blacks made significant strides in achieving positions of power. Justice Clarence Thomas was appointed to the Supreme Court by Republican President George Bush in 1991. Thomas is the second black to occupy a seat on the high Court and breaks the mold in that he is ideologically ultra-conservative. In 1963 John Lewis joined Martin Luther King in the March on Washington. He was the youngest person to speak at the rally at age 23. In that year there were no blacks in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. First elected to the House in 1986, Lewis is now one of 38 blacks in the House. There are, however, no blacks currently in the U.S. Senate. Carol Mosley Braun, a black woman, served in the Senate from 1993 through 1999. Edward William Brooke, III served from 1967 to 1979. Roland Burns and Barack Obama are the most recent black Senators. “After more than 200 years of hope, heartache, and hard work, African-Americans are closer than ever to having true representatives in the House. (African-Americans are 12.4 percent of the U.S. population and 9 percent of House members.)” (Wilmore, 2012). To augment their impact on federal programs and policies, black Congressional members often combine their efforts to expand their influence via the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). According to Ronald V. Dellums, (D Cal.) and CBC member, “We get up every day with the idealism and the optimism that our participation can bring about change.” (Wilmore, 2012). Growing numbers of blacks are currently serving as mayors, governors and assorted local officials. Black persons are also becoming increasingly influential in the political process by exercising their right to vote, a privilege not always freely enjoyed by this faction of society. Politicians, both black and white, seek their backing in electoral campaigns. No one questions that black Americans have made great political strides since the 1950s but as many black leaders claim that bigotry still exists in America and the American political system. “In 1963,” says Representative Lewis, “there was a greater sense of purpose and optimism among African-Americans about the possibility of progressive (forward thinking) change. But today we see that racism is more pervasive than previously thought.” In spite of an upsurge in black voter registration due to the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, black voter participation is still relatively low. Blacks still remain under-represented in the political arena. (Wilmore, 2012). Medical services for blacks in the 1950s were separate and substandard. Public facilities were racially segregated in several regions of the U.S., in addition to the south. Many hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices were as well. Black medical facilities, much as black schools of the time, were vastly inferior. Patients routinely received poorer quality health care services under unsanitary conditions. “In 1952, a report by the Women's Committee to End Discrimination in the Medical Services established a link between hospital segregation and higher mortality rates of black patients.” (Smith, 2008). This imbalance in medical care likely played a role in a disparity in life expectancy that greatly favored whites, a situation that continued into the 1960s. Civil rights activists of the 1950s concentrated their efforts more so on issues such as integrating schools, housing and public accommodations while the disparity of health care delivery was a forgotten tragedy. Medical care facilities, much the same as restaurants, restrooms and water fountains, were strictly segregated by race in the 1950s. This separate and unequal health care system was both a curse and blessing for blacks. Although blacks were receiving lower quality health care, the doctors and dentists offices served as organizing centers for civil rights causes, as did black churches. Black health care providers along with ministers were able to organize their community in relative peace because they were isolated therefore insulated from the white community. During the 1950s most white and black health care providers had little hope of ever seeing much change in the racial imbalance of health care. “In most communities, racial integration in hospitals and health care was too difficult an issue, and efforts instead focused on the integration of schools and public accommodations, which seemed easier to achieve.” (Smith, 2008). The practice of segregating medical facilities dramatically diminished in 1964 due to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act which prohibits federal money to fund any organizations that engages in discriminatory practices. When Medicare became law in 1966 it forced hospitals and clinics to integrate their staffs. More than 1000 medical facilities that previously employed whites only integrated their staffs within four months. However, other types of medical facilities such as nursing homes were not affected by the federally mandated integration effort. Doctors are exempt from Title VI regulations. The recent and controversial Affordable Care Act aside, health care delivery in the country has been left to the forces of the marketplace to determine its and its patient’s fate. Little concern has been directed toward racial segregation. “In spite of progress in eliminating disparities, health care remains quite segregated and may be becoming more so.” (Smith, 2008). Though the civil rights era brought advances in health care services for blacks, segregation remains a fact of life. Medicare statistics show a great variation of care due to segregation still existing in hospitals, nursing home and outpatient care. (Smith, 2008). Black students were largely excluded from all-white universities during the 1950s therefore attended Black Colleges which are still in existence today. “In the 1950s students attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities in hopes of achieving their version of the American Dream by defeating well enforced stereotypes.” (Caton, 2012) Black students were accustomed to being educated separate from whites because it’s the only way they had known. The Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case officially ended school segregation in 1954 and federally forced integration of nine black students at the then all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 sent a strong message that the law would be followed agree with it or not. Though the letter of the law integrating schools is generally followed, the spirit of it was never realized. The country’s schools are, in effect, more segregated decades following the Brown decision. Millions of black students are trapped into high schools popularly referred to as “dropout factories” where large percentages do not finish and of those who do few will be academically ready for college or skilled in a vocation. “In African American populations, two of every five students attend intensely segregated schools.” (Orfield, 2009). Most black dominated schools are segregated by race as well as poverty. The greatest number of dropouts in the country, by percentage, occurs in non-white schools which lead to great numbers of practically unemployable young black people. Schools in poor neighborhoods remain extremely unequal with regards to funding, curriculum and qualified instructors. Schools in impoverished areas endure many disadvantages including the issues associated with more students from single-parent households, housing instability, insufficient staffing, nutrition and health problems, more exposure to drugs, crime and gangs and less exposure to high-achieving classmates along with several other conditions that powerfully affect student achievement levels. Times have changed since the 1950s. Segregation of the races is no longer considered acceptable whether in schools, medical facilities, water fountains or anywhere else. The social situation for blacks has improved immensely since the dark ages of Jim Crow laws. Blacks are far more represented in positions of power and carry much more political influence. Personal attitudes have also evolved greatly. No one argues that blacks have come a long way from the civil rights protests days but few argue that this long subjugated segment of society have a long way to go still before real equality is attained. The century’s long oppressive techniques applied to blacks that began to end during the 1950s created a segment of society that is less-educated, more impoverished and is separated by cultural differences from their white counterparts. The Civil rights Act righted a wrong but true equality will take many more generations. Blacks have made impressive and relatively great strides in all these deficient areas and many more but still suffer from systematic segregation by whites in the not so distant past and present as well. Works Cited Caton, Shanese. “The Quest to Racially Integrate: African Americans and Higher Education” Trinity College May 3, 2012 Web. June 27, 2012 Enisuoh, Andrea. “The Life and Legacy of Malcolm X.” Socialistalternative.org August 29, 2005. Web. June 27, 2012 < http://www.socialistalternative.org/literature/malcolmx/> Hymowitz, Kay. “An Enduring Crisis for the Black Family” The Washington Post December 6, 2008. Web. June 27, 2012 Kaplan, Jonathan and Valls, Andrew “Housing Discrimination as a Basis for Black Reparations,” Public Affairs Quarterly July 2007. Web. June 27, 2012 Margo, Robert A. “Historical Perspectives on Racial Economic Differences: A Summary of Recent Research” National Bureau of Economic Research. Winter 2005 Web. June 27, 2012 < http://www.nber.org/reporter/winter05/margo.html> Orfield, Gary. “Reviving the Goal of an Integrated Society: A 21st Century Challenge” The Civil Rights Project UCLA January 2009 Web. June 27, 2012 Smith, David Barton “Eliminating Disparities in Treatment and the Struggle to End Segregation” University of Dayton School of Law Web. June 27, 2012 < http://academic.udayton.edu/health/11Disparities/disparities02.htm> Wilmore, Kathy. “Civil Rights: How Far Have We Come?” Scholastic 2012. Web. June 27, 2012 Read More