Unit 11: The Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights

• The rights that belong to “all persons” in the Constitution and Bill of Rights– Freedoms of speech, press, assembly, petition,

and religion– Due Process Rights– Fair Trial* VOTING Rights are for citizens only!

Civil War and Reconstruction

• At the end of the Civil War, the US moved towards equality by:– 13 Amendment: Ending Slavery– 14th Amendment: defining citizenship– 15th Amendment: outlawing racial discrimination

in voting

Civil War & Reconstruction

• The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were made ineffective by Supreme Court Decisions and Jim Crow Laws

• Discrimination by race was rampant and legal based on State laws (Jim Crow Laws)

Truman Years 1945-1953

• 1947: Jackie Robinson become first African-American baseball player to “cross the color line” and play in the major leagues

• 1947: To Secure These Rights was published by Truman’s Administration; called for civil rights legislation to be passed by Congress

• 1948: Truman had 1st integrated Inauguration• 1948: desegregated Armed Services• 1949: ended discriminatory hiring in the Federal

government

Election of 1948

• 3 way race– Truman : Democrat– Dewey: Republican– Thurman: Dixiecrat• Most people thought Dewey would win • Issue of race/segregation split the Democratic

Party

Jackie Robinson

Civil Rights and Litigation

• Litigation: to resolve a dispute in a court of law

Civil Rights and Litigation

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)• Case involved the Separate Car Act in New Orleans railroads• Homer Plessy, a prominent Creole businessman, took a seat

in a white only railcar• Plessy argued the separate rail cars for blacks and whites

was a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause

• Decision was 7-1 in favor of Separate Car Act• Separate But Equal became the standard for public facilities

in the US• Segregation by race/color was constitutional

NAACP

• National Organization for the Advancement of Colored People

• Decided to fight separate but equal in court starting in the 1930’s

• Challenged the EQUAL facilities

Sweatt v. Painter, 1950

• NAACP challenged University of Texas over its refusal to admit Herman Sweatt into their Law School due to his race

• UT argued that its constitution prohibited integrated education

• Texas created a separate law school for blacks in order to keep Sweatt out of UT

• US Supreme Court ruled that the separate school failed to meet the “equal” standard

• UT was required to admit all qualified students to its law school without consideration of race or ethnicity

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1953)

• NAACP lawyers challenged Kansas public school segregation law

• Linda Brown and other African-American students were denied entry into an all-white public school near their homes

• Could only attend an inferior “colored” school further from their homes

• NAACP claims this violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment

Brown v. Board of Education

• NAACP argues that separate educational facilities offered to African Americans were inherently inferior

• Sent the message that these students were inferior

• Key turning point in the Civil Rights Movement

Thurgood Marshall

• NAACP attorney that argues the case in front of the Supreme Court

• Will later become the first African-American Justice on the Supreme Court (LBJ appoints)

Chief Justice Earl Warren and School Segregation

• Chief Justice Warren writes in the Courts opinion that ALL public schools must be desegregated “with all deliberate speed”.

• Enforcement was left to lower federal courts• The vague language of the decision allowed

some States to delay implementation

“Jim Crow Laws”

• State laws that prevented African-Americans from sharing public facilities with Whites

• Examples of Segregated Areas:– Beaches– Theaters– Restaurants– Water Fountains– Restrooms– Waiting Rooms at Bus and Train Stations– Seating on Buses– Etc…

The Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-56

• December 1955: Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white man in Montgomery, AL

• She was arrested & prosecuted • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. lead a boycott of the city

buses• Boycott lasts 13 months• King organized car pools and private taxi services• King was arrested and his home was bombed

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Case went to federal court• Court ruled segregation on the buses violated

the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment

• Buses were desegregated • Proved that litigation and boycotts could

overturn Jim Crow Laws

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

• 1929-1965• Baptist preacher• Urged African-Americans to protest unfair

treatment and laws• Lead training for non-violent protest• Followed Gandhi’s practice of non-violent

marches, sit-ins, and boycotts• Became the voice/face of the Civil Rights

Movement

The Civil Rights Act of 1957

• Signed by IKE• Create the Civil Right commission• Gave federal courts power to register African-

Americans to vote• Procedures turned out to be too complicated• Few people were registered• Helped start the process of getting voting

rights for minorities

Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957

• Arkansas delayed desegregating schools• Gov. Orval Faubus publically proclaimed he

would continue with segregation as long as possible

• Ordered the Arkansas National guard to prevent 9 African-American students from entering Little Rock High School

• He refused to protect the students from an angry mob

Little Rock Nine

• Nine African-American students who tried to desegregate Little Rock High School

Eisenhower’s Response

• Ike orders federal troops to guard Little Rock 9 and desegregate the school by force if needed

• Gov. Faubus tried to close the school to delay• Supreme Court ordered the school

desegregate immediately• 82nd Airborne Rangers stationed at the school

for a year

Monument to the Little Rock 9

Status Quo

• Several Southern Governors complained that the National gov’t was interfering w/ a State matter

• They preferred the Status Quo: to continue with the existing system of segregation

Lester Maddox

• Atlanta restaurant owner who refused to serve African-Americans

• When the law forced him to do so, he sold his business and went into politics

• He gained national attention when he won election as Governor of Georgia in a landslide

• His platform was a promise of continued support for segregation

George Wallace

• Governor of Alabama• Gained national attention when he stood in

the doorway to prevent 2 African-American students from attending the University of Alabama

• His defiance lasted only 2 hours• Federal troops were sent in

Congressional Southern Democrats

• Voted as a block from 1950’s thru 1960’s• Prevented civil rights legislation from coming

to the floor for a vote • Several were prominent committee chairs

Southern Sit-ins

• 1960: African-American students held a sit-in at “whites only” lunch counters in North Carolina

• Students were arrested; cases appealed to Court

• Any business that was involved in interstate commerce could be regulated by the Federal Gov’t

John Lewis

• Student organizer of sit ins, Freedom Rides, marches, etc…

Freedom Rides

• 1961: attempt to focus attention on segregated bus in interstate travel

• Students boarded buses in NY and Chicago and rode through the South

• Arrested, threatened, beaten, killed• Result: buses desegregated

MLK’s Arrest and “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

• Promoted non-violent civil disobedience• Became the image of the Civil Rights

Movement• Lead a march in Birmingham and was arrested• Television showed the brutal tactics the police

used to break up the peaceful protest

“Letter From a Birmingham Jail”

• MLK wrote to explain why he could no longer wait patiently for the constitutional rights

• Critics thought he should use the courts, not protest in the streets

• He argued that civil disobedience was justified • “Everyone has a moral responsibility to

disobey unjust laws.”

March on Washington, 1963

• MLK and others organized a march on Washington to pressure Congress to pass Civil Rights bill

• 250,000+ attended the march• Largest civil rights demonstration in US

“I Have a Dream” Speech

• MLK delivered the speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

• One of the most memorable and effective speeches of the movement

March on Washington

• Culmination of the march was a meeting between MLK and JFK @ White House

JFK and Civil Rights

• Wanted MLK and others to move more slowly• Worried about violence• Supported the movement publically• Assassinated before Civil Rights Act came up

for vote

LBJ and Civil Rights

• LBJ was a Senator from TX & Majority Leader of Democratic Party

• Pushed Civil Rights Act of 1957 thru Senate• Becomes Pres when JFK killed• Pushes for new legislation• Uses death of JFK to spur action in Congress

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• LBJ pushes• Southern Senators try to filibuster bill (talk it

to death)• Senate passes; bill becomes law

Civil Rights Act 1964

• Prohibits discrimination by race, color, religion or ethnic origin in:– Hotels– Restaurants– Stores– Etc…

• Anyone involved in interstate commerce subject to law

Civil Rights Act 1964

• Cut off federal aid to any school district/State with segregated schools

• Gave Federal gov’t power to register people to vote

• Established EEOC: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

• EEOC is given power to enforce the Act• Any business involved in interstate commerce

was subject to the law!

Selma, Alabama Marches

• 1965 MLK organized march demanding voting rights

• Demonstrators attacked by police• Called “Bloody Sunday”• LBJ introduces Voting Rights Act as a result

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Ended poll taxes • Suspended literacy tests when used to prevent

African-Americans from registering to vote• Lead to substantial increase in # of African-

Americans registered to vote

24th Amendment

• 1964• Eliminated Poll Taxes in federal elections

Affirmative Action and Minorities

• 1965, LBJ signs Executive Order• Requires employers with federal contracts to

take positive steps to increase # of minority employees & women

• Goes beyond preventing discrimination in hiring

• Required companies to actively recruit minorities

Assassination of MLK

• April 4, 1968 shot to death in Memphis, TN• James Earl Ray was arrested in London• He plead guilty to avoid the death penalty• Sentenced to 99 years• King family believes Ray was part of a

conspiracy • No other people have ever been charged

Reaction to MLK’s Death

• Riots broke out in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, etc… when people heard the news

• Thousands of businesses were looted and burned

• King family urged calm

Black Panthers

• Begun in 1966 • Promoted African-American self defense

against police brutality and neglect• Armed members patrolled the streets• Became a political party advocating socialist

policies and against the draft (VietNam)• Eldridge Cleaver was leader

Black Panthers

• Programs they started include:– Free breakfasts for poor children– Legal defense fund – After school programs– Job training– “Black Pride” Movement– Black is Beautiful Campaign– Medical insurance – Collective Grocery Stores– Etc…

Affirmative Action Programs

• Lead to increases in minority hiring• Increase minority enrollment in colleges and

universities• Some schools enacted quotas for minorities

Affirmative Action

• Unintended consequence was reverse discrimination

• Some qualified whites were denied admission to college, law school, etc… due to quotas

• California v.. Bakke: Supreme Court uphold affirmative action, but not racial quotas

Rev. Billy Graham and Civil Rights

• White, Southern, Christian preacher and spiritual advisor to several Presidents

• WWII Vet and preacher rose to fame as an anti-communist

• Became outspoken critic of segregation• Bailed MLK out of jail in Birmingham• Held public revival w. MLK• Asked Ike to send troops to help Little Rock 9