Civil Rights Era 1954-1975

A New Beginning

Brown V. Board of Education

Causes:• Many white schools

were closer to their students unlike black students

• Linda Brown had to go to a school that was one mile from her house when the closest school was a few blocks away

Brown V. Board of Education Cont’d

Parties Involved:• The Kansas School

Board (and others in the Supreme Court Case)

• 13 African Americans, including Oliver L. Brown, Darlene Brown, and Zelma Henderson

Brown V. Board of Education

Outcome:• Supreme Court ruled in

favour of the School Boards, believing that there was equality between segregated schools

• Some other states began to desegregate, but not completely or all at once

Southern Manifesto• Major changes occurred in the South

• Border states integrated white and blacks in school but South states remained segregated

• Congress make the Southern Manifesto: Stating that not integrating schools is an abuse of judicial power

• The only way to break barriers of segregation is to take one step at a time.

Rosa Parks

• Rosa Parks was an African American seamstress from Montgomery Alabama.

• In Dec. of 1955, she boarded a segregated bus. The African American section at the back was filled. She decided to sit at the front, which was reserved for the white riders.

• She was arrested when she refused to give up her seat.

Rosa Parks: The Trail• At a meeting at Dexter Avenue Baptist

Church, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, was asked to lead a boycott.

• On the day of the trial, nearly all the African American bus riders began their boycott. It was to last for nearly a year.

• The majority of bus users were African American, leading to bus companies losing a lot of their business.

• Rosa Parks was convicted and fined $10.

• Dr. Martin Luther King JR. was arrested for sponsoring an illegal boycott.

Rosa Parks: Effects• November 1956- the

Supreme Court ruled that in public transportation was illegal. This forced bus companies to change their segregation policy.

• The Montgomery bus boycott really began the civil rights movement.

• Martin Luther King became the leader for the civil rights movement.

King Preaches Nonviolence• Dr. Martin Luther King was a

Baptist minister who encouraged the use of “nonviolence resistance” or peaceful mean of change

• He told people to disobey unjust laws but to love their oppressors and not to fight them

• In 1957 King and other African American leaders founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference along with other groups organized to promote civil rights in the South

• In 1964 King received the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent resistant strategies and leadership

Crisis in Little Rock

Confrontation (September 1957)• A federal court ordered that 9 African American

students be admitted to an all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas

• Orval Faubus, governor of Arkansas, sent National Guard troops to the school, to prevent this from happening

• Troops were removed after Eisenhower persuaded Faubus to obey court order -> African Americans were threatened by angry mobs without them

Crisis in Little Rock Cont’d

• Eisenhower then sent 1000 paratroopers and 10,000 members of the Arkansas National Guard to surround the school, allowing the students to enter safely

• Troops remained in Little Rock for the rest of the year

• Central High School was closed for the 1958-1959 school year

Crisis Little Rock

Crisis in Little Rock Cont’d

As the Eisenhower administration came to an end…• Traditions and years of intimidation kept many

African American adults from voting- Only 25% of African American adults voted in the

South- Only 5% voted in Mississippi• The Civil Rights Movement was just the

beginning…

Crisis In Little Rock• Eisenhower’s government refused to pass civil

rights legislation (fear of creating controversy)• Civil Rights groups turned to Supreme Court for

justice• 1953 Earl Warren appointed Chief Justice of the

US Supreme Court- taking more of a liberal analysis of the constitution

NAACP brought many civil rights cases before the court

• Leading lawyer of NAACP wanted court to take away state laws that required racial segregation

Civil Rights Legislation• Needed support by the president- but he felt the

federal government should be neutral concerning controversial topics

• 1957 passed first civil rights law since restriction

created civil rights division within Departments of Justice

gave government power to seek court injunctions against those denied any citizen’s constitutional rights.