1. Voting Rights:
- The Voting Rights Act of 1920 was passed, which prohibited states from denying voting rights based on race.
- However, many southern states continued to disenfranchise African Americans through various restrictive measures such as poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and violence.
2. Anti-Lynching Laws:
- There was a growing demand for federal legislation to address the rampant lynching of African Americans.
- However, Congress failed to pass a federal anti-lynching law despite repeated attempts.
3. Segregation and Jim Crow Laws:
- Racial segregation was legal and enforced in many parts of the country.
- Jim Crow laws mandated the separation of black people and white people in public facilities and services, such as schools, transportation, restaurants, and restrooms.
4. Scottsboro Case (1931-1937):
- The Scottsboro Boys case involved nine African American men falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama.
- The Supreme Court overturned their convictions in 1932, but they faced repeated trials and imprisonment until exonerated in 1937.
5. The New Deal and Racial Equality:
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal introduced some policies that aimed to address economic disparities, but their impact on black communities was limited.
- African Americans faced discrimination in accessing various New Deal programs, and the Social Security Act excluded agricultural and domestic workers, occupations commonly held by black people.
6. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP):
- The NAACP continued its efforts to challenge discrimination and fight for civil rights.
- Through legal challenges and advocacy, the organization played a crucial role in advancing black people's rights and dismantling segregation.
7. African American Press and Literature:
- The 1930s saw a flourishing of African American literature and art.
- Writers like Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Claude McKay used their works to express black experiences and challenge racial stereotypes.
- Newspapers like the Pittsburgh Courier and the Chicago Defender provided important platforms for black voices.
8. Black Panther Party (Founded in 1935):
- The Black Panther Party, originally called the "African Blood Brotherhood," advocated for self-defense and black liberation.
- Although it gained prominence later in the 1960s, its roots were in the 1930s.
9. Harlem Renaissance:
- The Harlem Renaissance, which began in the 1920s and continued into the 1930s, celebrated black arts, culture, and literature.
- It provided a platform for African American artists and intellectuals to express themselves and challenge racial stereotypes.
10. Continued Segregation and Inequality:
- Despite these developments, racial segregation and inequality remained deeply ingrained in American society, leading to continued struggles and activism for civil rights in the years that followed.