Secondly equality had been achieved in transport by 1968 to a significant extent mainly in de jure segregation the NAACP’s case Morgan v. Virginia in 1946 successfully established segregation on interstate transportation was illegal. However the freedom riders of the CORE in 1961 were necessary for the government to actually enforce desegregation and by 1961 all signs enforcing segregation were removed from interstate buses and bus terminals. Defacto changes across the south were slow to follow. Once again, the civil rights act of 1964 was necessary to give federal government power to enforce desegregation of transport in the south.
Thirdly public places were very slow to desegregate for example the Woolworths shop in which blacks had to sit at the counter rather a table. This is not equal as clearly the better seats were the ones around tables instead of at the counters. The Greensboro sit-in challenged this type of inequality by then end of 1963 sit-ins had occurred in 200 cities as direct result 161 had desegregated but some places in the south were set on keeping segregation. Until the civil rights act of 1964 which forced a further 53 cities to desegregate consequently a total of 214 southern cities had desegregated by the end of 1965.They were to have the same rights to equal facilities that white Americans had although, the act did not solve all the problems. There was as expected a negative backlash from pro segregationist some shops/dinners in the south would rather close down than desegregate.
Another significant aspect of inequality that was challenged and made more equal by 1968 was voting rights in the start of the 1960’s under Eisenhower’s administration voting rights did not improve for black people to a great extent. Even after his civil rights acts of 1957 and 1960 that focused on stopping the disfranchising of black voters by the with the punishment of a $1000 fine of 6 months in jail they were largely ineffective, only 800,000 black were registered to vote in the south out of 20,000,000 black citizens. However, the voting rights act of 1965 was more effective in increasing voter registration. Between 1965 and 1966 a further 230,00 black people registered to vote across the South. Nonetheless by 1966, four of the southern states still had fewer than 50% of their black citizens registered to vote. The voting rights act of 1966 was far more effective in the North. In total the number of voters jumped from four million in 1960 to 6 million in 1965 indeed voter registration led to the increase of black people elected to governmental positions. Although voting registration was not equal to that of whites in America the gab had come closer together which suggest the equality was in voting registration was on an increasing trend.
Employment and income had a definite improvement in the 1960’s, which made it more equal to what white people were earning but they were not equal, popular pressure on state governments results in 25 out of 31 states with the highest proportion of black people introducing fair employment practices laws. Also the federal government under Kennedy attempted to ensure fair employment practices for government jobs and for jobs with companies with working for the government nonetheless during the 1950’s and early 1960’s black unemployment was approximately twice national average. The civil rights act of 1964 explicitly outlawed radical discrimination in the job market nonetheless the 1965 Moyinhan report highlighted the fact that black wages were only 53% of the national average income. Things had improved by 1968: although black unemployment was 7% and white unemployment was only 5% clearly the gab had closed. Lastly, while the average income of black workers had risen by 1968 it was still only 61% of the income of white workers.
Lastly the aspect that had the least equality in American was housing the American 1960 consensus of 1960 reported that 46 per cent of America’s black population were living in ‘unsound’ accommodation. The 1960 census also revealed that 73 percent of Americas black population lived in urban areas where housing stock was old and where the amount of suitable housing available was decreasing. Finally, the census showed that 25 per cent of Americas black population lived in inner city areas in the USA ten largest cities these people were living in almost exclusively black areas due to the phenomenon of ‘white flight’. Black campaigners put pressure on American politicians to try and solve these problems. By 1967 22 sates and eight cities had some form of fair housing laws. New York state and Massachusetts had comprehensive enforcement agencies dedicated to challenging discrimination in the housing market however the majority of these fair housing were largely symbolic. The 1968 fair housing act prohibited discrimination in 80 per cent of Americas housing market. However, congress had toned down the act and refused to set up an enforcement agency. Additionally, the maximum fine for racial discrimination in the housing market was a small sum of $1000. Consequently the act was ineffective deterrent to racism in the housing market. This was not equality in the housing market it did improve but not to an acceptable amount.
In conclusion the civil rights movement transformed America by 1968 there had been a legal revolution segregation where it still remained was no longer backed by the law the federal government also had new powers to challenge racial injustices. However de facto change was not so comprehensive. Undoubtedly, the USA was a fairer and more equal that it had ever been but there was still a long way to go before all Americans could be considered equal.
by
jesseowusu95 (student)
