Early Civil Rights Organizations
LaToya Williams
Southern New Hampshire University
Professor Rebecca Fowler
HIS-319
11/13/2022
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Early Civil Rights Organizations
"How did the pursuit of civil rights change in the early 20th century?"
The conditions of African Americans gradually worsened after Reconstruction. From
1890 to 1920, the United States saw rapid growth and development, and this period is
sometimes referred to as the "Progressive Era," during which human rights activism
underwent considerable shifts. To ensure the safety of its citizens, many Americans realized
that the country needed to evolve. The Progressive Era was a time of great change in the
United States, spearheaded by social workers, journalists, educators, and politicians.
Some middle- and upper-class white Americans chose to overlook the systemic racism
that plagued the country against Black people. Some white progressives still held the view
that black people were inferior. Therefore, they were less worried about issues like lynching
and segregation and prioritized improvements like lower tariffs. Many African-Americans at
the time were either black immigrants from other nations or were born into slavery in the
South but later moved to the North and earned college degrees.
"The Plessy v. Ferguson" (1896) separate but equal judgment legalized the racial
segregation that persisted in the United States, both in the North and the South.2 African
Americans in the United States faced institutionalized racism from the government and were
barred from holding public office because of this segregation policy. The prevalence of
lynchings in the South may be directly attributed to the lack of resources available to the
region's black population, including proper education, acceptable housing, and adequate
medical treatment.
The African American Progressive sees that by pushing for and fighting for black civil
rights in the US, black people can make a difference without waiting for help from the
1 Jones, D., & Schmick, E. (2022). Reconstruction-Era Education and Long-Run Black-White Inequality. Available at SSRN 4165983 2 Green, H. (2018). Facing Freedom: An African American Community in Virginia from Reconstruction to Jim Crow. The Historian, 80(4), 818-820.
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government or some white reformists. The black reformists were fearless leaders willing to
put themselves and their families in harm's way to inspire others.
"Why were so many separate civil rights groups necessary to achieve what appears to
be a common goal?
Black leaders' differing views on economic inequality and civil rights persecution,
two of African Americans' top issues, helped fuel the growth of many civil rights groups
According to Washington's Atlanta Compromise Speech from 1895, blacks would support
white Americans' national political position if whites in the north and south worked to
improve blacks' access to elementary education, legal rights, and economic advancement.3
W.E.B. Du Bois initially supported Washington but shifted his position to advocate
for African Americans' rights to full civil liberties. In Du Bois's view, getting political and
social constitutional rights for African Americans was crucial to achieving financial
independence in the United States. Marcus Garvey said African-Americans should take pride
in their history and return to Africa since