Black Civil Rights In The 1970s
During the 1965-1970 periods, the black citizens in USA were very displeased with their rights and environment; this made many new issues to emerge for the civil rights movement. Housing, low paid jobs and Negroes getting frustrated with the slow progresses of the movement were some of the major problems faced during this period. But as black people started to complain more and more about their lives, more talented black organizers who then became ‘black leaders’ came forward to represent and fight for their people. These black leaders include Malcolm X from the Black Muslims, national leader of the civil rights movement Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael of the SNCC and Huey Newton, the founder of the Black Panthers
Housing was a critical issue faced by the black people during 1965-1970. For many black American citizens in the North, it was extremely difficult for them to buy a proper house even with sufficient funds. In some areas, white estate agents and white residents worked together to prevent the sale of house to any black purchases. Although segregation was not enforced by law in the North, but black discrimination was clearly shown in the society. This gave black citizens no choice but to live in poorer areas of the city, such as Chicago, where blacks were made to live apart from whites and live in the poorer parts of cities called ghettos. These which whites called ‘slum areas’ had poor facilities and the living areas were in dreadful conditions. Soon, the patience of ghetto dwellers had gone out and the poor blacks bursted into fury, causing an explosion of violence and rioting throughout America between 1964 and 1968.In Watts alone, 34 people were killed and a private property damage of forty million dollars were caused by rebellion and riots of the negro residents. Because whites had better housing conditions than blacks, it made blacks felt mentally and materialistically inferior to whites and it was a major issue for the civil...
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