Civil rights

• What was the general attitude of many Southern white people towards black people?

  Many Southern white people saw black people as racially inferior and unintelligent.
• What types of jobs did most black people in the South hold?

  Most black people worked on farms or as tenants.
• How did white people refer to black people in Southern towns?

  White people often called black people by their first names, or referred to them as 'boy' or 'jest.'
• Why were white Southerners unlikely to shake hands with black people?

  Shaking hands was seen as a sign of equality.
• What term was used for white Southerners who objected to discrimination?

  They were called 'white riggers.'
• What violence did 'white riggers' face?

  'White riggers' faced the same violence that black Americans faced.
• How did the Second World War affect black Americans' employment?


  Many black Americans found work in factories, especially in wartime industries.
• How did the Cold War impact perceptions of racial inequality in the USA?

  Opponents of the USA used the example of black Americans to show that the country did not provide freedom to its own citizens.
• What was the role of racist white officials in the Southern police and law courts?

  Racist white officials did not support complaints made by black people.
• What organization were many policemen and judges in the Deep South members of?

  Many were members of the Ku Klux Klan.
• What happened to black people who were accused of crimes in the South?

  They were often beaten to confess to crimes they did not commit.
• How were black people represented in court?

  They were often represented by white lawyers who made no effort to defend them.
• What was the situation regarding black jurors in the South?

  Black people could not sit on juries.
• How were crimes involving black victims treated in the South?

  If a black person murdered another black person, it was often dismissed as a 'Negro crime' and not investigated.
• What was one of the fears for black people regarding law enforcement?

  They feared that the officials meant to protect them might belong to racist white groups.
• What is the Cold War?


  • A term referring to political tension and military rivalry
  • Developed at the end of the Second World War
  • Involves the USA and its allies vs. the USSR and its allies
  • Characterized by political propaganda and no full-scale war
• What social change could help change white attitudes towards black people in the South?

  • Discuss white attitudes to black people
  • Identify how segregation reinforced these attitudes
  • Propose a social change
  • Create a campaign slogan for this change