Effects
They had a hard time getting jobs, housing, and a good education. Most activism for civil rights did not begin until after the World Wars so the African Americans were sort of stuck. Because some of the black men joined the army for World War II they gained great respect from many people, and when they returned home they wanted their civil rights to be respected also. An organization called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People started the road to civil equality and respect that the African Americans deserved.
The NAACP began helping by sending two lawyers to help fight the injustice of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education. Oliver Brown along with some other parents demanded that their schools be integrated and equally treated. Most schools during this time, in the 1950s, were completely segregated with the all white schools getting more funds and better education. In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that this was indeed an injustice and the following year children of all races were to be accepted in any public school classroom
Many were not treated with equality and respect for many years to come especially in the South. Blacks were made to sit in the back of buses, made to use separate bathrooms, drinking fountains, and store entrances. The 1960s was a big time in the civil rights movement, from Martin Luther King Jr. and Bayard Rustin to Malcolm X and the Black Panthers
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