Essay On The Progressive Movement

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The progressive era involved a great deal of change focused on improving the personal lives of the citizens of the United States; however, although the mainstream movement was focused on improving the lives of US citizens, it failed at improving the lives of the Black population, and at the end of this period their situation may even have worsened relative to the rest. When in 1890 the supreme court ruled blacks as having a “separate but equal” status, segregation was effectively legalized. Nevertheless, facilities for blacks were never truly equal to facilities for other races. Some of the segregated facilities included education, churches, parks, and even public transportation; the black facilities almost always being behind on maintenance or undersupplied. The southern states passed “Jim Crow” laws in order to enforce segregation, but even in the northern states society enforced it. Segregation compounded the social problems blacks already faced in society. Inferior education and transportation systems severely handicapped their ability to compete with other races, which in turn reinforced the opinion that as a race they were inferior. Being excluded from the facilities used by other people drove …show more content…

Black churches and other points of gathering were cornerstones of black movements such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), however their results were not seen until much later. The lack of progress was due to many factors, but mainly the lack of unity within the movement and lack of support for the rest of the population. As activist Booker T. Washington's message of self-help proved fruitless, new activists proposed more immediate solutions. Social Leaders such as Ida Wells-Barnett and W. E. B. Du Bois lead campaigns for racial equality and resistance to racism, but without social or political sympathy were unable to meet any of their

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