4.04 Challenges to Civil Rights

How Did African American Leaders Differ in Their Views of Civil Rights?

African American reformers had been working to improve social conditions for African Americans for decades before the 1920s. However, several leaders took different paths in their approach to solving the problems faced by African Americans in the 1920s. Successes did not come easily. It was not until the 1930s with the administration of Franklin Roosevelt and the efforts of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt that African Americans began to see true social gains.

How Did Women Win the Right to Vote?

African Americans were not the only minority group that sought to increase their rights during this period. Women, too, hoped to make gains by achieving the right to vote. During World War I, women had taken on jobs and other responsibilities while American men were fighting overseas. This helped expand notions of women's capabilities and led many, including President Wilson, to believe that they should have the right to vote. The move to win the vote for women intensified at the beginning of the 20th century. Women's suffrage was legal in some Western states, like Wyoming, as early as 1890. Many states in the central part of the country allowed for partial suffrage, meaning that women were allowed to vote in some elections. However, several states in the South and along the East Coast refused to let women vote in any elections. Following WWI, suffragists organized on the local, state, and national levels to fight for the right to vote. The activism of local groups and the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt aided suffragists. They were inspired by British suffragists who employed unusual tactics. New ways for suffragists to call attention to their cause included visiting people at home and publicly heckling government officials. The National American Woman Suffrage Association also benefited from the leadership of Catt. Catt was a highly effective organizer, who was able to widen the base of support for women's suffrage. She pursued efforts to achieve suffrage at the local and state levels. Catt stressed ladylike conduct for her workers so that women's suffrage would seem less threatening to the social order. Other suffragist groups took more radical approaches. The National Women's Party, founded by Lucy Burns and Alice Paul, focused on a federal solution. They organized women from across the country as they pushed for a Constitutional amendment and had their followers picket the White House 24 hours a day. Congress passed the 19th Amendment in 1919, giving women the right to vote. The struggle was finally over.

What Challenges to Civil Rights Arose After World War I?

After World War I, Americans were eager to return to a life focused on issues at home. Many Americans became fearful of foreign people and ideas. Immigrants from southern and eastern Europe became targets of fear and suspicion. Isolationism became a powerful force, as it had been in previous decades. And that force gave way to a prejudice against any people who were somehow considered "un-American." Of course, any prejudice that existed against those considered "un-American" was in itself unbiblical. The New Testament talks about a God who does not respect one human over another (Acts 10:34); a command to love our neighbors (Matthew 22:39); and a directive to take the gospel to all people (Mark 16:15). Isolationism caused the government and the public to act in a variety of ways—both legal and illegal. Laws were passed to restrict the number of immigrants allowed to come to the United States. Vigilante groups such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) that had once terrorized African Americans resurfaced in the 1920s. The KKK expanded the focus of their hate beyond African Americans to immigrants, Catholics, and Jews. In many areas of the United States, tensions ran high between races. Race riots erupted from Chicago, Illinois, to Rosewood, Florida. African American civil rights leaders worked to reduce prejudice and discrimination. Meanwhile, women organized to win the right to vote. Immigrant groups as well as Native Americans struggled to find their place in society.

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington called for African Americans to improve their economic skills and learn trades. Washington created the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama to train African Americans in agriculture and industry. He believed African Americans could advance in society by gaining marketable skills and working hard. This would lead to cooperation between the races. He told a white audience in 1895: "To those of my race ... who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man ... I would say: 'Cast down your bucket where you are'—cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom we are surrounded."

Why Did Racial Violence Erupt in the 1920s?

During the 1920s and the Great Migration, many African Americans moved to cities in the North. By the end of the decade, more than 40 percent of African Americans lived in cities. But many white residents resented African Americans. Black workers competed with white workers for factory jobs. Some African Americans were hired to replace white workers who were on strike. Racial tensions rose and race riots occurred in several cities.

The Rosewood Incident

In 1923, a group of white men in Rosewood, Florida, reacted to a rumor that a black man had assaulted a white woman. A mob found two men suspected of being accomplices. They jailed one and lynched the other. The jailed man's cousin was believed to be harboring the main suspect. A mob surrounded the cousin's house. A gun battle broke out, killing two and wounding four. Many African Americans retreated to nearby swamps, frightened by the escalating violence and racial tension. The next day, a group of 200 men, some from as far away as Georgia, attacked Rosewood, slaying animals, burning buildings, and killing African Americans in what became known as the Rosewood Incident. Some white residents of Rosewood helped African Americans escape the violence. But most residents fled to Gainesville and cities in the North. Rosewood became a deserted town. Newspaper accounts listed as many as 21 people killed. But the courts claimed there was insufficient evidence to prosecute any of the rioters.

Race Riots

In Chicago, for example, white and black residents battled each other in the summer of 1919 when an African American teenager strayed into a segregated area of a Chicago beach generally frequented by white citizens. For seven days, the city was torn apart by shootings, arson, and beatings. The police force was largely sympathetic to the white rioters, and only the intervention of the state militia brought the violence to a halt. Thirty-eight people were killed and hundreds injured. Race riots were not limited to the North, though. In 1921, race riots in Tulsa, Oklahoma, destroyed the wealthiest black community in the United States. As many as 300 people are believed to have died.

What Was Life Like For Other Minority Groups?

Ironically, the "100 percent Americans" who became a larger part of American life in the 1920s were Native Americans. In 1924, Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act, which granted U.S. citizenship to Native Americans. Much of the support for this law resulted from sacrifices made by Native American soldiers in World War I. In addition, two of the most famous celebrities of the 1920s were of Native American descent. Jim Thorpe, a Sauk and Fox Indian, was considered one of the greatest athletes in the world. Will Rogers, a popular comedian, was of Cherokee descent. "My people didn't come over on the Mayflower," he said. "We met the boat." Despite the granting of citizenship and the popularity of Native American citizens, the extreme poverty of Native American peoples in the United States persisted. In Florida, life changed for the Seminole Indians. By the 1920s, many Seminoles were living in poverty in the Everglades. The Seminole economy had collapsed. Poor harvests, droughts, and dwindling fish and game strained their ability to live off the land. As a result, they were increasingly forced to abandon their traditional lifestyle. However, with advent of the automobile, Florida became a popular destination for vacationers. Many Seminoles embraced the tourism industry as a new way to make a living. They marketed their culture. They put on exhibitions and sold their crafts in souvenir stores. They also began moving onto federal reservations in south Florida. By 1938, the federal government had set aside more than 80,000 acres of land in Big Cypress, Hollywood, and Brighton for them. The Seminoles were able to write their own constitution and govern their political affairs by popular vote. Life did not change only for Native Americans. During the 1920s, nativist sentiments reduced immigration from foreign countries, especially those in Asia, to a trickle. However, Mexican immigration was not as widely affected. Immigrants from Mexico continued to enter the United States, specifically the Southwest, to fill low-wage jobs. Widespread poverty in Mexico, high unemployment rates, and revolutions pushed nearly 500,000 Mexicans across the border to the Southwest and to northern cities to work in factory jobs. Many Mexican immigrants settled in regions where family members or other acquaintances from Mexico were already living. Although these laborers often found higher paying jobs than those in Mexico, many Mexican Americans lived in extreme poverty in the United States. As a result, all members of the family were often forced to work to contribute to the family's income. While employers were glad to have the pool of low-cost Mexican workers to choose from, many native-born Americans resented these workers for coming to the United States and taking their jobs. Illegal immigration from Mexico is one of the most controversial topics in Washington D.C. today. Should illegals be deported since they broke our law, or should we extend compassion towards these people looking for a better life?

Marcus Garvey

Marcus Garvey believed African Americans should not attempt to make inroads to mainstream society. Instead, he argued that blacks should create a separate society where whites would not be able to exert influence. In 1914, Marcus Garvey founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The UNIA focused on performing charitable work for African Americans and was known for its ability to promote black businesses. It also called for African Americans to return to Africa. To accomplish this, the UNIA chartered a shipping company called the Black Star Line. Thousands of UNIA members assembled in Harlem at a Black Star Line meeting. They produced the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World. It listed a dozen complaints about the treatment of African Americans. These included lynching, Jim Crow laws, and their ability to get jobs. It echoed the Declaration of Independence, stating, "Be it known to all men that whereas all men are created equal and entitled to the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and because of this we, the duly elected representatives of the Negro peoples of the world, invoking the aid of the just and Almighty God, do declare all men, women and children of our blood throughout the world free denizens, and do claim them as free citizens of Africa." Eventually, Garvey was jailed for mail fraud, and his movement lost power. However, he had helped create a new vision of black pride.

James Weldon Johnson

One of the most successful leaders of the NAACP was James Weldon Johnson, who was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He made anti-lynching laws a priority. The NAACP report, Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States, 1889-1919, created momentum for congressional action. In 1919, three anti-lynching bills were introduced into Congress. Southern Democrats staunchly opposed them. Johnson believed that African Americans could prove their equality by producing great works of art and literature. James Weldon Johnson believed African American culture was a central part of all American culture. His poem set to music, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," is known as the "African American National Anthem." Click here to listen to this song sung by Acappella. Johnson also penned many influential books. They included God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse and The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man.

The Ku Klux Klan rose quickly in the 1920s, However, it fell just as rapidly as it rose at the end of the 1920s. What factors led to its rapid rise and decline?

Rise of the Ku Klux Klan During the 1920s: -Racism toward African Americans increases in the South. -The Red Scare increases tensions and suspicions of radical groups and foreigners. -Hostility toward African Americans, Catholics, immigrants, Jews, and suspected radicals increases in the North. Fall of the Ku Klux Klan During the 1920s: -The Klan's terrorist actions increase, and journalists work to publicize these actions. -Red Scare tensions decrease considerably. -Corruption among the Klan's leaders and local groups reach the national stage.

W.E.B. DuBois

W.E.B. DuBois disagreed with Washington's gradual approach to equality. He thought Washington's approach was too slow and accommodating to be effective. W.E.B. DuBois insisted that intellectual training of the most "Talented Tenth" of the African American population would provide the leadership for African American advancement. In 1909, DuBois was one of the founders of the NAACP. The main strategy of NAACP was to challenge discrimination in the courts and to obtain voting rights for all people. The NAACP also used its magazine, The Crisis, to fight discrimination. In its first issue DuBois wrote, "Agitation is a necessary evil to tell of the ills of the Suffering. Without it many a nation has been lulled to false security and preened itself with virtues it did not possess."

Why Did the Ku Klux Klan Rise Again?

World War I and its aftermath made many Americans weary—and wary. The post-war recession, battle over the Treaty of Versailles, and upheavals of the Progressive Era made Americans fearful of the future. A wave of isolationism and nativism swept the land. The desire to "Keep America for Americans" became prevalent. The rise in nativism brought groups such as the Ku Klux Klan to the forefront of public attention. The Ku Klux Klan, which first emerged to restrict African American rights in the South after the Civil War, had dissolved during Reconstruction. In 1915, the group reemerged as Colonel William J. Simmons, a southern preacher, reorganized the group. Sadly, some members of the KKK identified themselves as Christians, but showed by their actions that either they were not truly followers of Christ or they clearly lacked an understanding of biblical love. The rise of the Red Scare and the efforts of two Atlanta publicists, Edward Clarke and Bessie Tyler, caused membership to soar. Clarke and Tyler formed the Southern Publicity Association after World War I to help the Klan recruit members. Klan membership reached 4.5 million in 1924. The group was strongest in the Deep South, Indiana, and Oklahoma. The Klan saw no need to be secretive about its activities. Its members were a diverse cross-section of native-born Protestants, including many from urban areas. They marched in parades and patronized each other's businesses. During the early 1920s, they even helped elect several U.S. Senators and Congressmen to office. While the goal of the original Klan was to focus on oppressing African Americans, the new Klan extended its reach to other groups. The objectives of the Klan were centered on "100 percent Americanism." This meant opposing progress and equality for African Americans, labor unions, Catholics, Jews, foreign-born residents, and suspected radicals. They also directed their efforts against those who bootlegged alcohol during Prohibition and even divorcees. The Klan's tactics included fear, intimidation, and lynchings. The Klan lost influence by the mid-1920s when the Grand Dragon, the leader of the Indiana Klan, was charged with several violent crimes. The public image of the Klan quickly decayed. In addition, certain minority groups began to fight back against their exclusion from "100 percent Americanism." The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)sought equality for African Americans. In 1929, a Latino group, the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) was founded in Texas. This group fought for basic civil rights in segregated areas of the Southwest. That same year, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) was founded in California to fight for civil rights for Japanese Americans.

100 percent Americanism:

a movement after World War I that celebrated everything American while attacking people and ideas considered foreign

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP):

civil rights group founded in 1909 by W.E.B. DuBois to promote equal rights for blacks and reduce prejudice and discrimination

Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA):

humanitarian group founded by Marcus Garvey to promote the interests of the African American community

nativism:

opposition to people and ideas that are different from the dominant culture

Rosewood Incident:

racially motivated massacre of several African Americans in a Florida town that ignited as a result of a rumor that a black man had assaulted a white woman