Was segregation an issue in the US after World War 2?

Answer 1

Yes, absolutely. Despite having fought for their country with great valor during World War II, black soldiers came home to find the same segregation and the same discrimination. For example, new and beautiful housing developments were being built, such as Levittown in New York, but black families were not allowed to buy a home there. Many universities, even up north, had quotas that kept the number of black students very small; in the south, there were even fewer options, as schools that were all-white wanted to stay that way. Black people in the south found that they were denied the right to vote, or forced to pay a poll tax.

Many occupations were still closed to even the most qualified black person; blacks were segregated into certain jobs, most of which were menial, unless they wanted to work only in the black community (black doctors were rarely hired by white hospitals). Black people taking the train still encountered signs that told them they could only use certain waiting rooms or drink from certain fountains or eat at certain restaurants. And even after the Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that segregation was illegal, it persisted throughout the south and led to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.