How far did the lives of black americans change 1930-2000?

The lives of black Americans changed to a great extent in the period mentioned. In the eyes of the law, their lives saw many positive changes. At the beginning of the period, the laws known as 'Jim Crow' were still negatively impacting many black peoples lives, leading to forced use of separate public facilities, including schools. Job prospects were also severely limited, difficulty in achieving the vote and rates of education meant that black people were second class citizens in many states. by the end of the specified period, black people had full rights to vote (although still voted in fewer numbers) and legislation such as the two civil rights acts and landmark legal decisions such as the Little Rock nine meant that black Americans lives were impacted less negatively by their nations laws. Therefore, legally speaking it could be said that black Americans lives improved greatly. Societies views and engagement with the black community also improved significantly in this period. At the beginning of the period, black culture was not mixed with white culture, which was seen as superior. Black music was not consumed by white people, and a common depiction in mainstream media was in racially fuelled minstrel shows. From the 70s onwards black people became much more assimilated into mainstream culture, leading the way in many areas. Musically, soul, funk and hip hop had produced worldwide stars such as James Brown and Run DMC, whos worldwide reach must demonstrate the distance black people had come in terms of recognition. This shows that society started to recognise black american culture much more than earlier in the period; although life was still not equal when compared to many white Americans, their lives have improved both legally and socially.