Friday, March 17, 2017

San Francisco During the Civil Rights Movement

In San Francisco, many African-Americans, led by the the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NCAAP), went on strike to challenge the issue of discrimination in the workplace and unequal opportunities. After a majority of war industries shut down and left many African-American workers unemployed, black Americans living in San Francisco were forced to moved to East Palo Alto or Oakland in search of more job opportunities. But those who stayed in the city, inspired by the events of the South, participated in protests and sit-ins against racial discrimination clearly evident in the workplace. These demonstrations were especially notable during March and April of 1964.

One of the biggest protests led by the NCAAP took place at a Cadillac dealership of Van Ness Avenue’s Auto Row. African-Americans that could afford cars chose Cadillacs over other car brands, but although one of the biggest consumers, experienced discrimination when it came to hiring. There were no black car salesmen, as African-Americans were only hired as janitors or for other less important positions.
During the protest, thousands of demonstrators flooded the street carrying signs saying “We protest documentary hiring practices” and “It is un-american to deprive one of an opportunity to work on the basis of race.” Along with picket lines, protesters sat in the show rooms and sang civil rights songs. Although the intentions were to protest peacefully, more than 200 of the Auto Row demonstrators were arrested.

However, the Auto Row demonstration proved to be successful in many ways. Not only did it result in the hiring of an African-American and end racial discrimination when it came to hiring, the demonstration itself symbolized the unity that was clearly present in the community. The participants were not only black Americans. Along with the members of the NCAAP, there were  protesters from all races and students from local schools such as U.C. Berkeley and San Francisco State College.

at

3 comments:

  1. Eric WarmothMarch 17, 2017 at 1:08 PM

    I enjoyed your blog because in class we focused more on the Black Panthers and the Freedom of Speech movement of Berkeley, but San Francisco was certainly an important city and still is today in terms of protests. Another movement in San Francisco was the "Human-Be-In" in 1967. Part of the "Summer of Love," the hippies in San Francisco adopted new clothes, used drugs a lot, and listened to new types of music. This aspect of counterculture spread all over as people left San Francisco and formed communities elsewhere. More information about the Summer of Love can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/15/haight-ashbury-in-the-1960s_n_1967664.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 17, 2017 at 6:02 PM

    I think this post is cool because it is interesting to read about our own local history and how we contributed to the civil rights movement. I like how you pointed out the NAACP 's involvement in these protests, and I would also like to point out that CORE was also involved with organizing picket lines against job and housing discrimination.

    For more information on the Civil Rights Movement in SF:
    http://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Segregation_and_the_Civil_Rights_Movement_in_San_Francisco

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 18, 2017 at 1:10 PM

    This was a good post on the civil rights movement near us. It's always interesting to read about movements and protests that happened near us. I especially enjoyed reading about other movements and unions besides the Berkeley protests and Black Panthers. They give us more examples of the civil rights movement that are not very popular.

    ReplyDelete