The Civil Rights era

Jackie Robinson• Integrated baseball

in 1947

• Played for Brooklyn

(later LA) Dodgers

• Became one of best players ever

Integration of Armed Forces

• 1948 – Truman integrated military

• Korean War 1st US war fought with desegregated units

Brown v. BOE• 1954 – Topeka, Kansas• SC case outlawed segregated schools

• Violated Equal Protection Clause–Portion of 14th amendment–Citizens must be treated equally

After Brown (1954)• Southern states vowed policy of

Massive Resistance–Whites would refuse to allow decision

to be enforced• Many places in south didn’t

integrate until 1970s

Rosa Parks• 1955 – Montgomery AL• Arrested for refusing to give up

seat on bus to white passenger

• Resulted in Montgomery Bus Boycott–Leader was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Rosa Parks: 1913-2005

School integration• 1957 – Central HS, Little Rock, AR

• 9 Black students tried to integrate school

• Gov ordered Natl Guard to stop them

• Eisenhower called in the US Army to allow them to enter school

Lunch Counter Sit-ins• 1960 – Greensboro, NC

• Young Black men sat at segregated lunch counter in Woolworth’s store–Started a wave of sit-ins around south

SCLC• After Montgomery Bus Boycott:

–Martin Luther King, Jr. (and others) moved on to other civil rights issues

• Formed Southern Christian Leadership Conference

SCLC & SNCC• Focused on nonviolent protest

–Allowed members of all races & religions

• Student members (many were involved in sit ins) formed SNCC–Student Nonviolent Coordinating Comm

Freedom Rides• 1961 – throughout south

–Organized by CORE & SNCC• Group of whites & blacks rode

buses through south–Stood up to segregation laws for buses–Got attacked in AL & MS

Attack on bus in Anniston, AL

Ole Miss• 1962 – James Meredith 1st Black

man admitted to U of Mississippi

• Was ushered in by US Marshals

Ole Miss

Letter from Birmingham Jail

• 1963 – MLK held in jail for protests• Replied to local African American

ministers calling for “patience”–Must fight segregation &

discrimination now–“Justice delayed is justice denied”

Letter from Birmingham Jail

• 1963 – MLK held in jail for protests• Replied to local whites calling for

“unity” (asking for protests to stop)– It’s OK to peacefully resist unjust laws–“Injustice anywhere is a threat to

justice everywhere”

March on Washington• 1963 – Washington DC

• Over 200,000 protesters– MLK gave speech at

Lincoln Memorial

“I have a dream”

Civil Rights Act (1964)• Outlawed discrimination in places

of “public accommodation”–Restaurants, hotels, stores, etc.–Feds can force states to follow law

Voting Rights Act (1965)• Banned discriminations that kept

Blacks from voting

–Grandfather clause, literacy test, etc.