Why did many black citizens of the USA still face poverty and discrimination in 1968?

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Why did many black citizens of the USA still face poverty and discrimination in 1968?

Many black citizens still faced poverty and discrimination in America for several reasons. Although several important legislations had been passed in the 1960s it did not end the discrimination that black people still faced. Most blacks continued to live in poor housing and suffered above average unemployment. There are several reasons why progress was hindered.

Firstly many blacks were dissatisfied with the progress of the civil rights movement. As a result from 1964 to 1968 riots began in many major cities. These riots demonstrated some black people’s desire for more and faster progress. After World War II, more than half of the country’s black population lived in northern and western cities rather than the southern rural areas. Black people came to these areas for better job opportunities and a lack of legal segregation, blacks often did not receive the lifestyle they had come for. Many black people lived in ghettos that were rampant with unemployment and crime. The first major riot was in New York City in the black neighbourhood or Harlem in the summer of 1964. The neighbourhood was tired of the inequalities in place, and as a result looted and burned anything that was not black owned in the area. Many white peoples property got damaged and so no longer wanted to help black people when they started riots after major legislations had been brought in to help them. White people did not want black people living in the same area as them because they did not want riots in their area. This made it hard to integrate black people into the same housing areas as white people.

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Secondly the 1960s saw a rise in black extremists. This was because black residents were growing tired of police brutality and so began to join groups such as the Black Panthers solely to rid their neighbourhoods of oppressive white police officers. Stokeley Carmichael of the SNCC made violent comments such as “We’re going to tear this country up.” These violent messages made the riots even worse. When the Black Panthers talked of carrying weapons for self -defence, they frightened and alienated whites. The increase in black extremists made it hard for the government to help black people any more ...

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