Wynisha Ogunleye

African- American History 320

Writing Assignment #3

04/13/2010

Chapter 21 Question 2: What key issues and events led the federal government to intervene in the civil rights movement? What were the major pieces of legislation enacted, and how did they dismantle legalized segregation?

“The Jim Crow regime was a major characteristic of American society in 1950s and had been so for over seven decades. Following slavery, it had become the new form of white domination, which insured that blacks would remain oppressed well into the twentieth century.” (Morris) Civil rights and segregation were the two main issues during the 1950’s and 1960’s. While the Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka,
Also there was an increase in African American political leaders, entertainers, correspondents, professional athletes, musicians, and dancers. Black Entertainment Television (BET), Robert Johnson, was the first African American man to own a professional basketball team; Barry Gordy led Motown Record to the road of success while Russell Simmons became a business icon. (Hine Et. Al, 2010:671) The list of African American leaders continues to grow day by day. Economically, job opportunities, and house hold gross increased dramatically for working African Americans. Affirmative action laws gave the African American race a chance to climb the success ladder instead of being stuck to the grown and oppressed by their Caucasian counter part. Also, African began opening their own businesses and acquiring assets. This dramatic increase was still nowhere near the wealth of the white. Knowing that this would give African American more courage to fight harder for what they deserved.
Although the African American race was thriving, there were still a small percentage of people lagging behind. Most African Americans were living in urban areas ere involved in gang violence; drug and alcohol related habits, drug distribution and unprotected sex. This was a major effect in the African American community because children were growing up in single parent homes, people were abandoning their