FILL IN THE BLANK. African Americans faced DISCRIMINATION in the NORTH as well as in the SOUTH. Landlords often refused to RENT HOMES in white areas to African Americans. Across the nation, they were restricted to the worst HOUSING and the POOREST jobs.
African Americans Confront Racism
Booker T. Washington, Founder of Tuskegee
Tuskegee Institute in AlabamaIndustrial and Agricultural Training
Washington was born as a slave in Virginia, and was denied a formal education as a youth. He worked in coal mines as a child, and went to school whenever he could.
He was lucky enough to learn how to read and showed so much potential that he was offered the opportunity to attend school at Hampton Institute – right across the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel - a school which was reserved for African-American and Native American students.
Washington believed that vocational education was essential if African-Americans hoped to gain economic and social equality with whites. He counseled African-Americans to remain patient, but also criticized whites whose racism undermine black progress. He stated: “One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.”
Booker T. Washington was the author of Up from Slavery, an autobiographical commentary on African-Americans experiences. He claimed, “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.”
Booker T. Washington
W.E.B. DuBoisDubois was the first African-
American to be awarded a doctorate from Harvard University.
He was the founder of the magazine Crisis, which chronicled the plight of African-Americans in the United States.
He wrote the novel The Souls of Black Folk, and was the founder of the Niagara Movement – a business coalition which demanded immediate economic and social equality for blacks.
The NAACP was
founded in 1909 in
order to confront
the problems of
racism,
segregation,
discrimination,
and lynching in
American society.
The Springfield, IL
Riot of 1908,
pictured left,
demanded a
response.
The NAACP was founded in 1909
A Duluth, MN Lynch Mob Murdered
Three
Over 1000 African Americans were the victims of lynching during the 1890sLige Daniels of
Center, TX, Murdered by a Mob
Ida B. Wells-Barnett Ida B. Wells was the author of A
Red Record, a book which described the history of lynching across the South during the 19th Century and early 20th Century. She attempted to identify the murderers and publicly humiliate mob members, even if the court systems would not persecute them.
Wells was also the editor of her own magazine, Free Speech, which attempted to expose murderers and organize boycotts in the towns where mob violence had resulted in the lynching of African Americans.
Woodrow WilsonWilson, who was
considered a
Progressive
President for his
efforts at
financial reform
and the
expansion of the
vote to women
during his
Presidency, was
openly racist and
segregated all
federal buildings
in Washington
during his time in
office.
George Washington Carver
George Washington
Carver is most
famous for his
work as a botanist
and scientist . His
primary mission
was to find
alternative crops to
the Southern staple
crop, cotton. He
studied the peanut,
soybean, and
sweet potatoes in
order to maximize
the value of each
crop.
Revolution tormented Mexico throughout
the early 1900s, as a series of dictators
and strongmen vied for power in the
nation – Porfirio Diaz was overthrown by
Francisco Madero; Madero was
overthrown in a military coup by
Victoriano Huerta; Huerta, in turn was
overthrown by Venustiano Carranza.
Meanwhile, Emiliano Zapata, illustrated
to the left, led revolutionaries in the
South and Pancho Villa led resistance in
the North. The result was constant
warfare, instability, economic depression,
and famine across the nation. Thousands
fled to the United States, finding low
paying jobs north of the border. Most
chose to remain in the Southwest,
territory which had once belonged to
Mexico.
Revolution and Famine in Mexico Led to Migration
Segregated Public Schools in San FranciscoIn the Deep South,
American had created a
system of segregation,
enforced it using “Jim
Crow” laws, and created
a racist and divided
society. African-
Americans there were
treated a second class
citizens. In the West,
Native Americans,
Mexican-Americans, and
Asian immigrants were
treated in much the
same fashion. In San
Francisco, Chinese,
Japanese, and Filipino
students attended
segregated schools.
Throughout the West,
segregation and
discriminatory laws
victimized non-whites.
The Gentlemen’s Agreement
The Empire of Japan was offended that Americans treated their
people in such a racist manner. Theodore Roosevelt offended
the Japanese further by insisting upon the “Gentlemen’s
Agreement” which asked the Japanese to restrict immigration
to the United States voluntarily. In return, TR pledged to allow
the wives of current immigrants to join them in the United
States and to end the segregated schools in California.
Roosevelt never delivered on this promise, and the Japanese
resented Americans for this ever after. Immigration to Angel
Island, left, was restricted dramatically.
The storefront signs stating
“NO IRISH NEED APPLY”
were common during the
1800s – mostly motivated by
anti-Catholic feelings. Many
Catholics encountered
teachers ranting against
“Papists,” fearful that the
Pope’s influence would
undermine American political
freedoms and American
democracy. As a result,
Catholic communities founded
and attended parochial
schools. Nativist groups like
the Know Nothing Party, the
American Protective
Association, and the KKK
targeted Catholics with
threats and intimidation.
Anti-Catholic Sentiments in 19th Century
Members of the
Ku Klux Klan were
feared that the
“Roman Catholic
Church is now,
and has been,
insidiously
working (in
various ways, and
especially through
our Public
Schools) to make
America Catholic.”
Anti-Catholicism in the KKK
The hatred of and
prejudice towards
members of the
Jewish faith.
Anti-Semitism in
the United States
was a
longstanding
problem, and
Nativist groups
like the KKK
aggressively
threatened Jewish
people across the
United States.
Anti-Semitism
Leo Frank, a Jewish
factory owner from
Marietta, GA, was
accused, tried, and
convicted of
strangling a teenage
girl who worked for
him. He was
sentenced to death.
But the presiding
judge, unconvinced by
the conflicting
evidence presented at
the trial, reduced his
sentence. The people
of Marietta, unwilling
to accept the
commuted sentence,
broke into the jail,
abducted Frank, and
then lynched him.
The Lynching of Leo Frank