Blacks, to the contrary, viewed these concessions as the tardy
surrender of rights which should have been theirs all along. Moreover,
the effects of the civil rights victories had been largely limited to
the Deep South and almost entirely to changes in legal status. The
day-to-day realities of education, housing, employment, and social
degradation had hardly been touched. Finally, life in an urban ghetto,
though lacking the humiliation of legal segregation, had brought
another harsh reality into Afro-American life. Survival for the
individual as well as for the family came under fresh stress in urban
slum situations. This had also been true for immigrant groups from
Europe. Urban slum conditions created tremendous economic, social, and
psychological strains. Ghetto life added a new dimension of social
disorganization to an already oppressed community. The anonymity of
life in large urban centers tended to remove many of the social
constraints to individual behavior. Crime and delinquency increased.
Actually, America had been deluded by the Civil Rights Movement into
thinking that genuine changes were taking place for most
Afro-Americans.
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