Civil Rights

The Civil Rights MovementAmerica during the 1950s and 1960s

Pictures of W.E.B. DuBois, Malcolm X, MLK Jr. and Rosa Parks

1What rights are worth fighting for?A Background to the Civil Rights MovementCivil War Amendments13th Amendment: abolished slavery14th Amendment: granted citizenship to everyone born in the United States15th Amendment: granted the right to vote to all male citizens

Civil Rights Act (1875)outlawed segregation in public facilitiesdeclared unconstitutional in 1883

Because this act was declared unconstitutional, segregation was allowed to stand in places around the countryperhaps if it had not been overturned, this would not have been the case. 3Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)ruled that separate but equal does not violate the 14th amendment

led to Jim Crow laws, mainly in the South

1890-Louisiana; law requiring RR to provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races

Homer Plessy was of mixed ancestry and could pass as white; his disobedience of the law was a planned test of the statute to bring the law before the courts

Jim Crow laws: forbade marriage between blacks and whites; established social and religious contact restrictions; separate schools, streetcars, waiting rooms, railroad coaches, elevators, witness stands, public restrooms-facilities provided for blacks were always inferior4

Other MilestonesThe Great Migration

World War IIincreased demand for workers led to more jobs for African-Americans, Latinos and women

nearly 1 million African-Americans served in the armed forcesThe Great Migration-After the Civil War, many African-Americans moved north. This greatly increased during WWI when jobs were more available. But, racism and prejudice were still found in the north.

When Afr-Amer fought in the war, many returned home ready to take on racism at home after fighting for freedom abroad.

Additionally, during the war, civil rights organizations actively campaigned for voting rights and challenged Jim Crow laws. Because of protests, FDR issued an order prohibiting racial discrimination in federal agencies and companies engaged in war work6NAACP(National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)created in 1909

legal strategy focused on the inequality between separate schools

Thurgood Marshalllawyer who began to argue casesfor the NAACP

First half of the 1900s, America spent ten times as much to educate a white child as it did to educate a black child.

1938-Thurgood Marshall begins to argue cases on behalf of the NAACP; between 1938 and 1961, they won 29/32 cases argued before the Supreme Court7Significant Events of the MovementBrown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)Supreme Court ruled unanimously that school segregation was unconstitutional

In the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place.~Chief Justice Earl Warren

Brown v. Board:Father of 8-year old Linda Brown (Reverend Oliver Brown) said the Board of Education of Topeka had violated her rights by denying her admission to an all-white elementary school 4 blocks from her home; the nearest all-black elementary was 21 blocks away

Brown v. Board was actually a collection of casesa class action suit, with Brown listed as the firstincluded Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, Washington D.C.

Chief Justice Earl Warren felt a unanimous decision was needed to enforce this decision

The belief behind the ruling was that separate facilities would be inherently unequal and separation causes one race to feel inferior9Reaction to the decisionreaction was mixed and particularly negative in the South

within a year, more than 500 districts had desegregated

Brown II (1955) ordered desegregation with all deliberate speedHave students, in groups, work through the school desegregation simulationchoosing which students they would select to integrate the local high schoolWho Should the Community Choose?10Crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas

The Little Rock Nine11Crisis in Little Rock, ArkansasGovernor Orval Faubus orders the National Guard to turn away the 9 African-American students who will integrate Little Rock Central H.S. (1957)

a federal judge ordered Faubus to let the students enter

they faced discrimination/abuse when they tried to desegregateThe Little Rock Nine12Crisis in Little Rock, ArkansasPresident Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and ordered paratroopers into Little Rock

Faubus shut down Central H.S. the next year, rather than continue integration

The Little Rock Nine13Civil Rights Act of 1957first civil rights law since Reconstruction

gave the attorney general greater power over school desegregation and gave the federal government jurisdiction over violations of African-American voting rightsMontgomery Bus BoycottDecember 1, 1955- Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat

after her arrest, leaders of the African-American community formed the Montgomery Improvement Association and organized a boycott of the busesDr. Martin Luther King Jr. is elected to lead the groupRosa Parks-secretary of the local NAACP and actively opposed to segregation15Montgomery Bus BoycottAfrican-Americans refused to ride the buses for 381 days

they remained non-violent

late 1956, the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation

Why did this approach work?The bus boycott worked because it was an economic approach. Montgomery commerce was hurting, so they ultimately had no choice but to give in16Martin Luther King Jr.became a leader of the movement

used nonviolent techniquesex: civil disobedience-refusal to obey an unjust law

Southern Christian Leadership Conference1957with other ministers and civil rights leaders founded the SCLC

purpose: to carry on nonviolent crusades against the evils of second-class citizenship

hoped to gain the support of ordinary African Americans

Lunch Counter Sit-Ins1960students at Shaw University (N.C.) organized SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee)

February 1960-students staged a sit-in at a whites-only lunch counter at Woolworths

The movement spread and by late 1960, students had desegregated lunch counters in 48 cities

Lunch Counter Sit-Ins

Civil Rights in the Northde facto segregation-segregation that exists by practice and custom

de jure segregation-segregation by lawde facto often is harder to fight because it requires changing peoples minds, rather than just changing laws

It grew in intensity during and after WWII when many African-Americans migrated to the north; as a result, many whites fled to the suburbs

In the north, many African-Americans lived in decaying neighborhoods with schools that were falling apart. Additionally, the unemployment rate among African-Americans was more than twice as high21Resulting ViolenceThroughout the 1960s, race riots spread through the north.

July 1964: HarlemAugust 1965: Watts1967: 100+ cities

These riots showed that African-Americans wanted and needed economic equality.Harlem: New York Cityencounter between white police and black teenagers ended with the death of a 15-year old studentled to the Harlem riot

Watts: in Los Angeles; one of the worst race riots in the nations history; 34 killed; hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property damage

Economic equality: in jobs, housing, educationto break the cycle of poverty, etc. 221964: Harlem

1965: Watts

Malcolm X

After he was released from prison, he preached that whites were the cause of blacks problems and separation was the answer.

He also preached self-defense.

After his pilgrimage to Mecca, his attitude changed dramatically.

February 21, 1965giving a speech in Harlem, Malcolm X was assassinated.25Stokely Carmichael & Black PowerCarmichael was the leader of SNCC.With Black Power he advocated his organization stop recruiting whites and focus on African-American pride and their own goals..

Black PanthersOakland, California (October 1966)Huey Newton and Bobby Sealepreached self-defense

Advocated self-sufficiency for African-American communities, full employment, decent housing

Also helped set up daycare centers, breakfast programs, medical centers, help for the homeless, etc.

Also sold copies of Mao Zedongs writings271968assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

led to the worst urban rioting in U.S. history

Legacy of the MovementKerner Commission-said the main cause of urban violence was white racism

Civil Rights Act of 1968-ended discrimination in housing

affirmative action- programs that make special effort to hire or enroll groups that have suffered discriminationThe Johnson Administration ignored many of the recommendations of the Kerner Commission.

There is still much work to be done concerning Civil Rights. In the 1960s, the government promoted affirmative action in colleges and many companies doing business with the federal government. In the 1970s, many criticized this as reverse discrimination. In the 1980s, Republicans eased these requirements.

29Modern Civil Rights IssueJena Louisianahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SrIEM8X0qA&playnext_from=TL&videos=c0KiY-XOVQshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SrIEM8X0qA&playnext_from=TL&videos=c0KiY-XOVQs30