Obtaining Civil Rights, Not Human RIghts

Summary

The video script discusses the NAACP's shift from viewing the struggle for black equality as a human rights issue to a civil rights one during the 1940s. It highlights the organization's efforts to address systemic issues like education, healthcare, and housing for African-Americans, which were exacerbated by policies like the Social Security Act. The script also covers the NAACP's attempt to bring these issues to the UN, which was met with resistance during the Cold War, leading to accusations of communism and a refocus on civil rights instead of human rights.

Takeaways

• 📚 The NAACP in the 1940s saw the struggle of black people in America as a human rights issue, not just civil rights.
• 🏦 The Social Security Act of the 1930s excluded major occupations of African-Americans, leading to 70% being excluded from its benefits.
• 🏫 Prior to the Brown decision in 1954, the NAACP was fighting for better education for African-Americans, many of whom had less than five years of formal education.
• 🏥 The healthcare system was severely biased against African-Americans, with a drastically lower doctor-to-patient ratio compared to the rest of the population.
• 🌍 The NAACP turned to the United Nations to appeal for human rights after facing inaction from the U.S. government on domestic issues.
• 📜 The petition to the UN, led by WEB Du Bois, was a detailed documentation of human rights violations against African-Americans.
• 🥊 The Cold War and the beginning of the second Red Scare led to accusations of communism against the NAACP for their human rights advocacy.
• 🔍 The U.S. State Department, with Eleanor Roosevelt's help, tried to suppress the NAACP's petition to avoid international embarrassment.
• 🚫 The Bricker Amendment aimed to limit U.S. treaty obligations, particularly concerning human rights, and was seen as a threat to civil rights progress.
• 🗳️ The defeat of the Bricker Amendment was influenced by President Eisenhower's opposition and a dramatic, possibly intoxicated, Senate vote.
• 📉 The NAACP's focus shifted from human rights to civil rights due to the Red Scare and the perception that human rights advocacy was communistic.

Q & A

What was the NAACP's initial conceptualization of the issues facing black people in America?

The NAACP initially conceptualized the issues facing black people in America as human rights issues, focusing on rights to education, healthcare, housing, and employment, rather than civil rights such as the right to vote or a fair trial.

What was the driving force behind the NAACP's shift in perspective during the 1940s?

The driving force was the condition of Black America in the 1940s, characterized by massive discrimination and public policies that systematically excluded African-Americans from the benefits of American society.

How did the Social Security Act of the 1930s exclude a significant portion of African-Americans?

The Social Security Act excluded two major occupations held by African-Americans: domestic workers and agricultural workers, effectively excluding about 70% of African-Americans from its benefits for decades.

What was the state of education for African-Americans in the South prior to the Civil Rights Movement?

Over 50% of adult African-Americans over the age of 25 had less than five years of formal education, reflecting the horrific quality of education they received.

How did the healthcare system in the United States fail African-Americans during the Jim Crow era?

The American Medical Association recommended one doctor for every 1,500 people, but the average for African-Americans was one for every 3,337. In Mississippi, it was one for every 18,512, highlighting severe healthcare disparities.

Why did the NAACP decide to appeal to the United Nations?

The NAACP appealed to the UN after facing unaddressed violence against African-Americans, particularly black veterans, and realizing that domestic channels were ineffective in addressing systematic human rights violations.

What was the reaction of the US government to the NAACP's petition to the UN?

The US government, particularly the State Department, was concerned that the well-documented petition would be used by the Soviet Union to criticize the US during the Cold War, and they tried to suppress it within the UN.

How did the Cold War influence the NAACP's approach to fighting for black equality?

The Cold War led to accusations of communism against the NAACP for their human rights stance, causing them to pull back from framing the struggle for black equality as a human rights issue to avoid being labeled as communist.

What was the Bricker Amendment, and why was it significant in the context of human rights?

The Bricker Amendment was a proposed constitutional amendment aiming to change how treaties were ratified in the US, particularly targeting UN human rights treaties. Its defeat highlighted the perception of human rights as communistic and foreign to American values.

How did the defeat of the Bricker Amendment impact the Civil Rights Movement?

The defeat of the Bricker Amendment reinforced the narrow framing of the Civil Rights Movement around civil rights rather than human rights, as the themes of the amendment's debate continued to stigmatize human rights as communistic.