Ghettos & Poverty

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Ghettos

Life in ghettos was very unpleasant.

Life in a ghetto

People who lived in ghettos experienced extreme poverty; housing was inadequate and there were few jobs.
- Only 32% of black people who lived in ghettos finished school and many people saw no way out of ghetto life.
- Ghettos had mass unemployment. Nationally, 46% of the unemployed were black although black people only accounted for only 10% of the total population.

Watts Ghetto

In 1965 riots broke out in the Watts ghetto in LA.
The rioters set fires to several stores which resulted in 34 dead, 1,000 injured and 3,500 rioters and looters being arrested.
- $40 million dollars of damage was caused by black mobs and the targets were mainly white businesses.
Martin Luther King became involved with the people in the ghetto after this.

Martin Luther King

Although he had successfully helped black people to gain the vote he now turned his attention to economic issues.
He stated that there should be a better distribution of wealth and that those who lived in ghettos should be helped.
- King believed that if he did not campaign for people living in ghettos they would be radicalised and turn to armed force, as Malcolm X advocated.

The Chicago Freedom Movement

In 1966 Martin Luther King turned his attention to the poverty faced by those who lived in Chicago's ghettos.

Chicago ghettos

700,000 black people who lived in Chicago suffered unemployment, poor housing and a lack of quality education.
- There were not enough schools for black children in Chicago so they had to attend school in shifts.
King campaigned to end the ghetto living in Chicago and stop the discrimination on the sale of houses to black people.
- King moved into the West Side ghetto and brought reporters in to see the horrific living situation that black people were forced to suffer.

The SCLC in Chicago

King brought members of the SCLC in to renovate a large slum building and invited the press to watch.
The campaign wasn’t a great success as even his own family found living in ghettos almost unbearable.
Black people protested in the streets over the living conditions in ghettos which in turn saw them arrested.
- All King could do was calm the protests and get protesters released from prison.
- King also managed to persuade the Mayor of Chicago to make fire hydrants and pools available.

The white residents of Chicago

The white residents of Chicago claimed that they feared the drop in their house prices if black people lived near them.
CORE tried to carry out peaceful marches in white neighbourhoods to expose the plight of black people.
- Marchers were met with abuse and crowds threw stones at them.
- King was hit by stones and the authorities labelled him as an agitator of violence.

Limited impact of Chicago campaigns

One of the reasons why campaigners achieved so little in Chicago was because many of the people who lived in ghettos were divided on the best course of action to advance their cause.
- Many had turned to more radical solutions but some disliked the idea of mass action as it was perceived to be ‘trouble-making’.
- The Government didn’t support the actions in Chicago either as much attention was being turned to Vietnam, a war which King criticised.

Operation Breadbasket

Jesse Jackson coordinated 'Operation Breadbasket' in Chicago.

Jesse Jackson

After autumn 1966, King left the Chicago movement under the control of Jesse Jackson under the name of ‘Operation Breadbasket’.
This saw successful boycotts which resulted in an increase in employment levels for black people.

'Selling out'

The SCLC also made a deal with the Mayor of Chicago to obtain $4 million to improve housing.
Yet, this move away from community action by the SCLC did cause some people to accuse the organisation of 'selling out'.

1‘Free at Last’ 1865-77

1.1The Thirteenth Amendment

1.1.1The Civil War & The Thirteenth Amendment

1.1.2The Impact of the Civil War

1.1.3Economic, Political & Social Position of Ex-Slaves

1.1.4Political Settlement & Andrew Johnson

1.2Radical Reconstruction, 1867-77

1.2.1The Fourteenth Amendment

1.2.2The Fifteenth Amendment & The Civil Rights Act

1.3The Backlash

1.3.1White Supremacy Groups

1.3.2The End of Reconstruction 1887

2The Triumph of ‘Jim Crow’ 1883-c1890

2.1Jim Crow Laws & Civil Rights Cases

2.1.1Jim Crow Laws

2.1.2Voting Rights

2.1.3Scientific Racism

2.1.4Civil Rights Cases

2.2Resistance and Migration

2.2.1The Northern States & Black Resistance

2.2.2Early Migration

2.2.3The Great Migration

2.2.4Race Riots

2.2.5Migration Case Study: Harlem

3The New Deal and Race Relations, 1933–41

3.1Failure to Address Black Grievances

3.1.1The Democrat Party & the Anti-Lynching Bill

3.2The New Deal

3.2.1The New Deal

3.2.2The Alphabet Agencies

3.2.3The PWA, WPA & the NYA

3.2.4Benefits

3.2.5Impact of the New Deal & Eleanor Roosevelt

3.2.6Gone With the Wind

3.3The Second World War

3.3.1The Experience of War

3.3.2The Home Front

3.3.3The White Flight

3.3.4Restrictive Covenants

4‘I have a dream’, 1954–68

4.1Civil Rights Activities, 1954–63

4.1.1The Desegregation of Schools

4.1.2The Montgomery Bus Boycott

4.1.3SCLC & Birmingham

4.1.4SNCC

4.1.5CORE

4.2Civil Rights 1964-68

4.2.1Civil Rights Act 1964 & Voting Act 1965

4.2.2Ghettos & Poverty

4.2.31966 - 1968

4.3Malcolm X & The Black Panthers

4.3.1The Nation of Islam & Malcolm X

4.3.2Divisions in the Civil Rights Movement

4.3.3The Black Panthers

4.4Literature, Film & Television

4.4.1Racial Attitudes in Literature from 1850-2009

4.4.2Racial Attitudes in Film from 1850-2009

4.4.3Racial Attitudes in Television from 1850-2009

5Obama's Campaign for the Presidency, 2004–09

5.1The Late 20th Century

5.1.1Migration Back to the South in the 20th Century

5.1.2The Status of Black People 1968-2009

5.2Barack Obama & his Political Career

5.2.1Barack Obama's Life

5.2.2Senator for Illinois

5.2.3Running as Presidential Candidate

5.3Reasons for Obama's Victory

5.3.1Reasons for Vicotry

5.3.2The Significance of Obama's Victory

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