There were still problems with black Americans. The average income for a black family was half the amount of a white family’s. This was because blacks couldn’t get very good jobs e.g. fruit picking and car washing. Third of the black Americans were living below the poverty line. Black Americans still had unemployment, poor housing and poor schools.
In 1963, Martin Luther King organised a campaign of marches and demonstrations that would ensure maximum media coverage. These demonstrations were broadcast across the USA and the world and many Americans were horrified at the brutality. During the campaign Martin Luther King was jailed, but the most important thing was that television viewers were able to see the outrageous treatment meted out to young demonstrations. Martin Luther King had a dream speech.
For many blacks Americans the new laws were not being introduced fast enough. All the blacks wanted are to take what they thought was theirs by right and by force if worst comes to worst. Strangely the blacks didn’t want integration of white and blacks, they wanted to be separate because they thought they were better then the whites.
The view of black separatism was prompted by Black Muslims, one of whom was Malcolm X. He advocated the use of weapons because he thought that non-violence encouraged white racism. Malcolm X made an impression on young militant blacks. One of the most militant black-power groups was the black Panthers that were founded in 1966. The Panthers urged blacks to arm themselves and confront white society in order to force whites to grant the equal rights.
Blacks started to riot in many US cities to get separatism. The riots in Los Angeles in August 1965 were very serious. During six days of rioting, 34 people died, 1,072 were injured and 4,000 were arrested and the property loss totalled nearly US$40 million. There were riots across the USA throughout the summers of 1965, 1966 and 1967.During the first 9 months nine months of 1967, more then 150 US cities reported incidents of racial disorders.
The Vietnam War was very unpopular with black Americans because many of the casualties were black. Both races thought America was hypocritical in fighting abroad when America had problems at home.
The Kerner Report Recommended the elimination of all racial barriers in jobs, education, housing, greater public reponse to problems of racial minorities and increased communication across racial lines. The report didn’t resolve the ways that black people were treated. What it did do was to make all Americans aware of black unrest.
In 1964 there was a lot of tension because Kennedy had been assassinated, this was a big disappointment for the black Americans because Kennedy tried to help black Americans to be accepted. Also there was a lack of money because there had been a lot of money spent on War.
By 1970 the situation had clearly improved because there was a fall in unemployment, which increased the average wage for black Americans. The black Americans took prominent positions by fighting for what they believed was theirs. Now things had improved, America could concentrate on the Vietnam War.