Discrimination had been a problem since the African American
slaves were freed at the end of the civil war. The South was still far from
being a safe place with members of the Ku Klux Klan riding about. The idea of
Racial Segregation, or Separate but equal, was brought forth after the Plessy
vs. Ferguson case. As this did
not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, the Supreme Court was able to use this to
allow city governments to build different and inferior facilities for African
Americans. This include separate schools, playgrounds, restrooms and even
drinking fountains. Issues kept arising all over the country but especially in
southern states like Georgia
The racial equality movement became much more influential during the mid
20th century as African Americans began to
rally behind civil rights leaders such as Rosa Parks and Rev. Martin Luther King
Jr.. Their nonviolent movement in the 50s and 60s was the loudest for gaining
unity between the two races changing America forever. See key terms for the
African American Rights Movement below…
Booker T. Washington – (April 5, 1856 - November 14, 1915)
- Born in Hales Ford, VA
- African-American educator, author, orator, and
advisor to Presidents of the United States
- Born in Great Barrington, MA
- African-American socialist, historian, civil
rights activist, author, and editor
- Graduated from Harvard
- Died in Africa at age of 95
- Born in Holly Springs, Mississippi
- African-American journalist, newspaper editor,
suffragist, sociologist, and an early leader in the civil rights movement
- Active in women's rights and the women's
suffrage movement, establishing several notable women's organizations
- Since her death, interest in her life and legacy
has only grown
- Had her own postage stamp produced in 1990
- Black civil rights organization founded in 1905
by a group led by W. E. B. Du Bois and William Monroe Trotter
- Call for opposition to racial segregation and
disenfranchisement, and it was opposed to policies of accommodation and
conciliation promoted by African American leaders such as Booker T. Washington
- First meeting took place in July 1905
- Did not appear to be very popular with the
majority of the African-American population, especially in the South
- African-American civil rights organization in
the United States, formed in 1909.[3] Its mission is "to ensure the
political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons
and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination"
- Bestows the annual Image Awards for achievement
in the arts and entertainment, and the annual Spingarn Medals for outstanding
positive achievement of any kind, on deserving black Americans
- It has its headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, with
additional regional offices in California, New York, Michigan, Colorado,
Georgia, Texas and Maryland
- As of 2007, the NAACP had approximately 425,000
paying and non-paying members
- Formerly known as the National League on Urban
Conditions Among Negroes
- Nonpartisan civil rights organization that
advocates on behalf of African Americans and against racial discrimination in
the United States
- Based out of New York City
- It is the oldest and largest community-based
organization of its kind in the nation
- Its current President is Marc Morial
- The Committee on Urban Conditions Among Negroes
was founded in New York City on September 29, 1910 by Ruth Standish Baldwin and
Dr. George Edmund Haynes, among others