African-Americans in Social Welfare

In addressing social welfare for African Americans in a sense of philosophical influences of the development of legislation and policy, one must first look historically at the foundation of establishing their human and civil rights (3). This foundation took a huge leap during the 1950 's in a town called Little Rock. The Little Rock High School incident of 1957 in Arkansas brought international attention to the civil rights cause. Here in Little Rock, there was a state fighting against federal authority, National Guard troopers facing professional paratroopers and a governor against a president, as President Eisenhower enforced desegregating a school. As part of a media circus, it proved compulsive viewing—but what happened was shown throughout the western world and brought the civil rights issue into the living rooms of many people who may have been unaware of what was going on in the South. Eisenhower had shown that he had little faith in measures to support the African American community in the South simply because he believed that a change of heart was required and that enforcement would prove worthless; if anything, enforcement would have made matters worse. In 1957 a civil rights bill was being pushed through Congress and Eisenhower made it clear that it did not have his support. This bill was very mild but the leader of the Senate majority, Lyndon Johnson, diluted it so that Southern senators would not ruin what was on paper. The bill was passed into law in 1957 with a 72 to14 vote. It barely changed anything but it was a strong symbol of hope that the law could be used to change Southern society. It was, in fact, the first civil rights act to pass Congress since the Civil War (5). Subsequently, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was born in the presidency of John F Kennedy who was elected president in 1960. Kennedy 's support of civil rights issues had in previous years been inconsistent; in addition, he had opposed Eisenhower 's Civil

References: 1. Birnbaum, Jonathan, Taylor, Clarence. (2000). Civil Rights since 1787: A Reader on the Black Struggle. New York: New York University Press. p. 363-367, 394, 490-517. 2. Barnet, S., Bedau, H. (2002). "I Have a Dream." Current Issues and Enduring Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking and Argument, with Readings. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins. 6th ed. p. 775. 3. Dolgoff, R., Feldstein, D. (2002). Understanding Social Welfare. New York: Pearsons Education. 6th ed. 4. Franklin, John Hope, Moss, Alfred A. (2000). From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans. New York: McGraw Hill. 8th ed. Vol. 2. p. 506-569. 5. Sugrue, Thomas J. (1996). The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Post War Detroit. New Jersey: Princeton University Press. p. 20-90.