Civil Right Movement

• Early vs. Modern Civil Rights Movement

• Searching for an Identity and Leadership

• Leaders, Activities, and Organizations

Civil Right MovementSECTION 1:Taking on

SegregationI. The Segregation System A. Plessy v Ferguson

1. 18962. “14th amendment does not prevent

private organization from discriminating”3. Legalized Jim Crow Laws– Segregated accommodations were legal

provided they were equal4. “separate but equal”

Civil Right Movement

• Booker T. Washington1. Founder of

Tuskegee Institution in 1891

2. Focus – industrial education /learn a skill

3. Vocational jobs to improve economic situation

Civil Right Movement

• W.E.B. Du Bois1.Ph.D. from

Harvard2. Founder of the

NAACP in 19103. Use courts to fight

discrimination4. Rejected

Washington’s ideas

Civil Right Movement

• Marcus Garvey1. Black nationalist2. United Negro

Improvement Association in 1914

3. Stressed racial separation from white

4. Encouraged a return to Africa

Civil Right MovementSegregation Continues into the

20th CenturyB. After Civil War, African Americans

go north to escape racism1. North: housing in all-African

American areas, whites resent job competition

2. Northern segregation- de facto -by practice and custom

Civil Right Movement

In the 1950s C.15 million African

Americans living in the United States

D. South: Jim Crows laws ruled their lives- dejure-by law, 1. Legal segregation in

schools, parks, transportation, hospitals etc

Civil Right MovementE. Congress of Racial Equality

(CORE)1. Bring about change through

peaceful measures= sit ins2. Founded by James Farmers in 1942

James Farmer 1920-1999

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

• Staged “sit-ins” in public places that refused to serve African Americans.

II. Challenging Segregation in Court

A. The NAACP Legal Strategy

1. Charles Hamilton Houston leads NAACP legal campaign

2. Focuses on most glaring inequalities of segregated public education- SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL

3. Places team of law students under Thurgood Marshall

- win 29 out of 32 cases argued before Supreme Court

Charles Houston was one of the most important civil rights attorneys in American history. WWI VET

Civil Right MovementB. Brown v Board of Education

of Topeka, Kansas, May 17, 1954

1. Supreme Court unanimously decided segregation violates the 14th amendment, strikes down school segregation, unconstitutional

2. Thurgood Marshall argues the case; greatest victory

3. Many schools began integrating =500 in 1 year

Brown Family

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

(1954)

• Supreme Court case that ruled segregation in the schools was unconstitutional.

• Many schools began integrating

Civil Right Movement--Did all schools comply?C. Brown II, orders

desegregation at “all deliberate speed”

D. Chief Justice Earl Warren appointed to the Supreme Court1. Warren Court - Brown v.

Board of Education of Topeka, KS-1954 overturned Plessy v. FergusonPlessy v. Ferguson

• Thurgood Marshall first African American on Supreme Court

Thurgood Marshall

• NAACP chief lawyer who tried to end segregation in schools.

Civil Right MovementGovernor Earl Warren was

appointed to the Supreme CourtWarren Court – Civil Rights & Rights of the accusedWarren Commission-Investigated Kennedy’sassignation

Warren Court ReformsUnder Chief Justice Earl Warren,the Supreme Court issued a number of decisions that altered the votingsystem, expanded due process, and reinterpreted aspects of the FirstAmendment.

A sampling of major decisions of the Warren CourtCivil Rights•Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Declared segregation in public schools unconstitutionalDue Process•Mapp v. Ohio (1961) Ruled that unlawfully seized evidence cannot be used in a trial•Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) Established suspect’s right to court-appointed attorney if suspects were unable to afford one•Escobedo v. Illinois (1964) Affirmed right of the accused to an attorney during police

questioning•Miranda v. Arizona (1966) Required police to inform suspects of their rights during the

arrest processFreedom of Speech and Religion•Engel v. Vitale (1962) Banned state-mandated prayer in public schools•Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) Banned state-mandated Bible reading in public schools

III. Integration at Little Rock 1957

A. Little Rock, Arkanas-1957-school board voted to admit 9 African Americans (Little Rock 9)

B. Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus called National Guard to prevent them from entering Central High=9/4/57

C. Eisenhower sent in Army to restore order and protect the “Little Rock 9”

D. 1957 Civil Rights Act —federal government power over schools, voting-9/9/57Elizabeth Eckford faces abusive crowd when she tries to enter school

U.S. Army protects the 9 students

IV. Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-1956

A. Rosa Parks “mother of civil rights movement”

B. Arrested not giving up seat in white section

C. Montgomery ImprovementAssociation formed, organizes bus Boycott1. Elect 26-year-old Baptist pastor Martin

Luther King, Jr. leader D. African Americans go on strike againstbus- Montgomery Bus Boycott - 1955-1956E. 1956, Supreme Court outlaws bus

SegregationF. Event produced a leader, an organization,

technique1. Martin Luther King Jr.2.SCLC= Southern Christian Leadership

Conference 3. Non-violent civil disobedience

Rosa Parks

• Woman who challenged the separate-but-equal law by sitting in the white section of a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

V. Martin Luther King and the SCLC

A. Martin Luther King, JR. used nonviolent resistance “soul force”

1. sit-ins and marches2. founded Southern

Christian Leadership Conference -staged protests

3. vote and challenged segregation everywhere

B. JFK elected in 1960 supports Martin Luther King

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

(SLCC)

• Civil Rights group that tried to register African Americans to vote and challenged segregation everywhere.

• King was the first president.

VI. The Movement SpreadsA. Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee

(SNCC) non violence but calls for more confrontational strategy1. students2. Leader Robert Moses3. was organized to advance the "sit-in" Movement4.refuse to leave segregated lunch counter until servedB. Influenced by Congress of Racial Equality

(CORE) to use sit-ins.

Civil Right MovementDemonstrating for FreedomC. Woolworth lunch counter

in Greensboro, NC, February 1, 19601.Greensboro four- SIT IN2. Not served, segregated 3. first sit in shown

nationwide TVD. July, 1960=

desegregated lunch counters

• Over 70,000 people participated in sit-in through out the South

Civil Right MovementSECTION 2: The Triumphs of

a CrusadeI. CORE’s Freedom Rides

A. Spring of 1961 (Boynton v. Virginia, 1960, which declared segregation in interstate bus and rail stations unconstitutional)

B. SNCC, members joined CORE, encourage the Freedom Rides

C. Placed white and black students on interstate busses to test new court decision to desegregate

D. In deep South response was violent, many beaten

E. Attorney General Robert Kennedy assigned federal marshals to protect riders, Interstate Commerce Commission act: ban segregation in all interstate travel facilities

Civil Right Movement

II. Standing FirmA. Integration of “Ole Miss”

1. 29 yr old veteran James Meredith, enroll in all-white University of Mississippi.1962

2. Arrival touched off riots3. Gov Ross Barnett refused to allow to

register– Announced state laws were superior to

federal laws4. Kennedy ordered Federal troops5. Riots broke out-2 deaths

Governor Ross Barnett

James Meredith being escorted by federal marshals at Ole Miss

Meredith attempts to register for school

Mobs gather to protest Meredith’s enrollment

U.S. Army enters Oxford

Army uses tear gas to quiet the mob

Meredith graduates from Ole Miss

Civil Right MovementB. Birmingham, Alabama

1. Martin Luther King, Jr. asked to come to the city; April 3, 1963

2. Most segregated big city in America

3. King arrested, writes “Letter from Birmingham” – to white religious leaders4. It was a planned non-

violent campaign5. Police used fire hoses,

police dogs and clubs6. TV carried scene to the

nation

Civil Right Movement

C. June 1963, JFK sends troops to force Gov. Wallace to desegregate U of AL

D. NAACP’s Medger Evers assassinated in Jackson, MS- by Byron De La Beckwith in 1963; hung juries lead to killer’s release was

George Wallace

• Governor of Alabama who refused to allow Alabama schools to integrate.

• Kennedy announced a Civil Rights bill the same day.

Wallace stands in front of the school door

Civil Right MovementII. March on

Washington (Aug 1963)A. to persuade

Congress to pass bill-civil rights bill

B. 250,000 marched at Washington

C. ‘I have a Dream' speech was made

D. JFK was killed in Nov. 22,1963

I have a Dream

Civil Right MovementE. Civil Rights Act

1. Civil Rights Act of 1957 =Protected African Americans’ right to vote.2. September, 4, 63- Birmingham 4 girls killed when bomb thrown into church3. Two months later Kennedy assassinated–Bill wasn’t close to passing

• Southern Congressmen had a filibuster going–Johnson addressed Congress

• “…couldn’t more eloquently honor Pres. Kennedy’s memory”

4. Civil Rights Act of 1964 passed in June 1964 LBJ signs Civil Rights Act of 1964 - prohibits discrimination because of race, religion, gender; libraries, parks, washrooms, restaurants, theaters, other public places

The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama was bombed on

Sunday, September 15, 1963

Civil Right Movement• Civil Rights Act of 1964

– Elections:• Prohibited election officials from applying different

standards to blacks and whites voting– Public Accommodations:

• Forbade discrimination in public places• Forbade discrimination in government owned or

operated facilities– Federally Assisted Programs

• Allowed the government to withhold aid from states involving discrimination

– Employment• Prohibited discriminatory practices by employers,

agencies, and labor union• No discriminatory hiring on basis of race, sex ,

religion or nationality

Civil Right Movement

F. 24th Amendment1. Passed in 19642. Prohibited the use of poll taxes as a requirement for voting in a federal election2. To prevent disenfranchisement- keeping a certain group from voting

Poll Tax and Literacy Test

• Methods used in the south to keep African Americans from voting. Disentrancement

Civil Right MovementIII. Fighting for Voting RightsA. Freedom Summer 1964—CORE, SNCC

project to register African Americans to vote in MS

1.Volunteers beaten, killed; businesses, homes, churches burned

New Political PartyB. Mississippi Freedom Democratic

Party formed to get seat in MS party1. Fannie Lou Hamer —voice of MFDP at National Convention—wins support2. LBJ fears losing Southern white vote,

pressures leaders to compromise3. MFDP and SNCC supporters feel

betrayed

Neshoba County Killings

• Three SNCC workers were killed in Philadelphia, MS while registering voters

Fannie Lou Hamer

• Fannie Lou Hamer• SNCC leader who was abused

in Mississippi. • Later she organized political

parties in Mississippi.

Civil Right MovementC. Voting Act of 1965

1. A result of Selma, Alabama incident

2. Selma, AL-1/2 of population was African American and only 3% were registered voters

3. King leads 600 protest marchers; TV shows police violently stop them

4. State troops assaulted demonstrators as they marched to the state capital

5. Voting Rights Act of 1965-eliminated literacy test

Civil Right MovementSECTION 3:Challenges and Changes in

the Movement

I. African Americans Seek Greater EqualityA. Northern segregation

1. de facto -by practice and custom, problem in the North 2. de jure -by law, Southern segregation 3. north was worse after the war-white flight

B. Urban violence1. 1964- whites police and African Americans fought in NY-resulting in riots in Harlem2. after Voting Rights Act was passed- riots broke out in LA 3. Watts Riot -while police were arresting a young man they started arguing with the accuser's mother

Civil Right MovementII. African-American SolidarityA. Malcolm X1. Nation of Islam- Black

Muslims2. Preached black superiority

and separation from whites and armed self defense

3. "Ballots or Bullets‘4. Pilgrimage to Mecca

changes Malcolm X’s attitude toward whites

5. Splits with Black Muslims; is assassinated in 1965 while giving speech

Malcolm X

Civil Right MovementB. CORE, SNCC become more militant; SCLC pursues traditional tactics1. Stokely Carmichael, head of SNCC, calls for Black Power: African Americans control own lives, communities, without whitesC. Black Power- Black Panthers1. political party2. fight police brutality3. Blacks should take control of community and employment; self-sufficient4. Exemption from military service5. Grassroots activities

Civil Right Movement

IV. Dr. King’s DeathA. April 4, 1968-MLK was assassinated

in MemphisB. James Earl RayC. King’s death leads to worst urban

rioting in U.S. history- over 100 cities affected

D. Robert Kennedy was campaigning for presidential nomination

E. RFK was shot June 5, 1968 (died June 6, 1968)- assassinated

James Earl Ray

• King’s assassin

• Was captured in Europe

• Died in prison

Civil Right MovementV. Legacy of Civil Rights Movement

A. de jure segregation endedB. Civil Rights Act of 1968 was passed;

prohibits discrimination in housingC. More African Americans went to collegeD. 2/3 were votersE. held public officeF. affirmative action -make special efforts

to hire groups that have suffered from discrimination

1. 1960s, colleges, companies doing government business adopt policy

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. The chain reaction of evil………must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."

» Martin Luther King Jr.

What laws enforced segregation in the south?

Jim Crow Laws

What was significant about the Brown v. Board of Education

case?Ended segregation in schools and

overturned Plessy v. Ferguson

Who was the first African American admitted into Ole Miss?

James Meredith

What two methods were used to keep African Americans from

voting?Poll tax and literacy test

What was the militant African American group that believed a

revolution was necessary for blacks to gain true power?

Black Panthers