Existing comment:
1924: Virginia's Racial Integrity Act:
This law prohibits marriage between whites and nonwhites. It will stand until 1967, when the US Supreme Court overturns it. The law is part of a growing eugenics movement, which stresses the improvement of humanity through controlled reproduction.
"For the purpose of this act, the term 'white person' shall apply only to the person who has no trace whatsoever of any blood other than Caucasian; but persons who have one-sixteenth or less of the blood of the American Indian and have no other non-Caucasian blood shall be deemed to be white persons."
-- Racial Integrity Act of 1924
I, Too, Sing America:
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes.
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow I'll sit at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,"
Then.
-- Langston Hughes, 1924
1930s: Products to look more "white":
"Whiteness" defines the standard of beauty. African Americans use Lucky Brown, and other products like it, to aid in straightening their hair with a hot comb. 1948: Armed Forces integrated: President Harry Truman signs executive order integrating the US Armed Forces. "There shall be equality in treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services," the order states, "without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." |