Final answer:
The Red Scare contributed to a climate of fear and paranoia in the U.S., which impacted the treatment of African Americans by heightening racial tensions and extending discrimination against all forms of dissent perceived as radical, including the civil rights struggle.
Step-by-step explanation:
Yes, there is a connection between the Red Scare and the treatment of African Americans. During the Red Scare, fear of communism led to widespread paranoia, and this sense of threat bled into other areas of social and political life, including race relations. As African Americans moved North seeking better opportunities after World War I, tensions erupted into violence during the Red Summer of 1919. This period witnessed numerous racial conflicts, suggesting that American attitudes regarding race were fraught with suspicion and hostility. The fear of communism was often indiscriminately applied to various forms of radical dissent, such as socialism and anarchism, further fueling discrimination against minorities, including African Americans.
The Palmer Raids and mail bombings heightened fear of an anarchist or communist revolution and exacerbated nativist sentiments, combining racism with anti-communism. Groups advocating for social change, particularly those with immigrant ties like socialist and anarchist organizations, faced severe crackdowns. African Americans, being part of the social fabric of America during a time of great fear and suspicion, often found their own struggles for civil rights and equality suppressed due to the perception that such movements were linked to radical ideologies. The anxiety associated with the Red Scare period, including the treatment of Sacco and Vanzetti, was a reflection of a deeply engrained fear of the other, which negatively impacted the civil liberties of numerous groups, including African Americans.