Describe the disadvantages that black Americans’ faced in the early 1950s?
Black Americans faced many disadvantages in the early 1950s. Discrimination was a major problem. The black Americans were discriminated Socially, Economically and Politically. The system of segregation also prevented them from getting equal rights and opportunities. They were treated like second class citizens as they were forbidden to mix with the whites.
Black Americans were segregated from every aspect of society, this affected them socially as they were not allowed to mix with the whites. This caused many problems in the way in which the blacks lived. This idea of separating Blacks from Whites was all down to the Jim Crow Laws. Examples of segregation involved was that blacks were forbidden to eat in the same restaurant as the whites, they were also not allowed to be treated in the same hospitals as the whites, this also meant that the whites had better medical care compared to the blacks. The black Americans were also treated difftently on buses. If a white person was standing they would have to give up their seat for a white person. Also a black Americans would have to seat at the rear view of the bus. A main issue in the 1950`s was The Montgomery Bus Boycott, this was when a black American, Rosa Parks sat at the front of the bus and refused to give up her seat in Alabama. She was sent to jail and fined $10. This was a lot at that time as they didn’t earn a lot. 70% of black people used the buses so the national association for the advancement of coloured people (NAACP) took the situation to court and made it illegal to segregate on buses. As individuals the blacks were described as ‘the lowest of the low’ which made them feel less important and of lower quality compared to the whites as they had more priority over the blacks.
