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189619101929 1954 1957 1960's 1963 1964 1965 1967 1968

UniteGoing Into The Future

Chapter 36The Question Of Civil Rights ·

,. The question of whether all Americans enjoy equal civil rights and freedoms has come up again and again.2. There have been many times in our history when one group of people was treated less fairly than other groups. Those groups have included slaves in the south, Indians in the northwest and west, Japanese-Americans during World War II, and women.3. In many cases it took laws and tough action to get fair treatment for people. Some groups would argue that they do not yet have all their rights as American citizens.

.4 The blacks have been perhaps the most mistreated group in America. Brought to the United States as slaves, blacks have had a hard fight to get equality (the same rights andfreedom as other people).

Separate But Equal

1. In 1896 the Supreme,C ourt ruled on a case called Plessy against Ferguson. It was about a black man who was told that the only place on a train where he could ride was in a car for· blacks only. He refused to sit there.

a. In this case the court said that the Constitution gave only political rights, not social rights. In other words, black people had the right to vote, but not to sit with white people.9. The court said that it was all right to have separate railroad cars for blacks if those cars were as good as the cars for whites.

"If the white and negro races are to meetto. . II s equals, 1·t must come ab outsoc1a Y a" the Supreme C outr sa1'd . " L a ws

-5 Even the Supreme Court of the United States has not always favored '!?lack equality. 6· In 1857 the Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott Case that black slaves were Property, not citizens. Therefore, they couldnot sue for their freedom. (See Volume I, pg.

natura11Y, , . f l'cannot take away p p es rac1a ee mgs orh sical differences.

P Y . the early 1900's, many blacks11. Durmg h farms of the south to the citiesmoved from \: y were looking for jobs in theof the nro .th. ef Detroit, Chicago, New York

200). That case was one of the events which led to the Civil War.

largeaf Ctor1es 0and other eastern

cities.

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1 2 Brown against the Board of Education, the i

· Many of them had little education or training. They had a hard time getting jobs in the big cities. When they did get jobs, they were paid the lowest wages for the hardest work.

Supreme Court ruled that having separate schools for black children was against the Constitution. The Court meant that schools must accept children of all races and colors.

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In the south the blacks had to face Jim 2.0

Many schools obeyed the ruling, but many

Crow Laws. (See Volume I, pg. 246.) Those laws kept blacks from mixing with whites in stores, hotels, on public transportation, and in many other places.1 4, Blacks were treated as second-class citizens by many whites. They could not travel where they wished, eat where they wanted to eat, or live where they wished to live.

found ways to avoid integration. President Eisenhower did not push the schools to obey immediately.

Efforts Toward Equality

15. In 1910 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was

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formed. It was the first of many organizations trying to bring equality to blacks.16. Things improved for many black people

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after World War II. The number of blacks in white collar (office) and management jobs grew three times bigger. Black people were accepted in such careers as law and medicine.

Black students are forced to leave a sit-in by use of water hoses.

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11. Most black people in America, however, still lived in slums. They were the last to be hired for a job and the first to be fired if things got tough.1a. In the 1950's President Truman and President Eisenhower tried to change things. They ordered all public places to be integrated (allow black and white people to be together). Many people owning such places as swimming pools, hotels and restaurants obeyed. Many others did not.1 9 . In 1954 the Supreme Court heard anothercase related to black equality. In the case of ·

21. In 1957 the courts ordered the schools in Little Rock, Arkansas to integrate. Governor Faubus of Arkansas refused to obey the order.22. Nine young black students came to enroll at Little Rock High School. Mobs of white people threw rocks and yelled at the black students. They were forced to leave the school.23. President Eisenhower now had to act to enforce the laws. He sent soldiers to Little Rock to make sure that the students got into school. The soldiers got the students in, but at first the black students had a hard time.

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eThe white students who did not want

them e ; re were cruel to them. It was many months e before the black students were treated fairly s bY their classmates.

I The Montgomery Bus Boycottt

zs. One of the most important events in the civil rights fight was started by a black woman named Rosa Parks.

Martin Luther Kinrights for blade peo J °:1ght long and hard to get e

_16 Rosa Parks was a very hard-workingseamstress (woman who sews for a living) inMontgomery, Alabama.17. One day in 1955 she got on a bus to go

home from work. The bus driver told her that she would have to move to the rear of the bus. That was the "black section."2s. The back of the bus was crowded. There

were no seats in the "black section" of the bus. There were few white people on the bus, so there were lots of sea ts in the front.29. Rosa was tired. Her feet hurt. She sat down in one of the seats in the front. She would not move.

30. The bus driver called a policeman. RosaParks was arrested for disobeying a city law.

31. Many black people were angry about Rosa's arrest. They decided to boycott (not use) the buses until they could sit wherever they wanted.

32. A young black minister became the leader of the bus boycott. His name was Martin Luther King. (For more on King see theSpotlight on page 222.)

Sit-Ins, Freedom Rides and Marches

34_ In the 1960's black voices were raisedlouder than ever before.35. In the south the blacks held sit-ins. That is.

they would go to public places where they were not allowed, and stay. For example. forty or fifty blacks would go into a "white only" restaurant. They would sit down at all the empty tables and would not leave.

36. The restaurant could then serve no other people. The blacks would do that in the same restaurant day after day until the owners gave in and served black people.

33. The blacks refused to ride the buses in3.7

Sit-ins were followed by freedom rides.

Montgomery for a year. Finally, the bus company was almost broke because most of their riders had been blacks. The bus company gave in and allowed blacks to sit inany part of the buses.

Groups of people, both black and white. would leave the north and travel through the south by bus. They stopped along the way at bus stops and restaurants in small towns. They would demand service at the

restaurants.

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They would ma rch throu gh the towns,41. Pr es id ent John F. Kennedy fought against

hou tin and singing a bout equal rights for all.· Police in the cities and towns where they

w e nt did not like " foreigne rs" coming in ma king trouble. The protesters (people sp ea king out against something) were a r res ted. Some were beaten, chased by police dogs, or hit with water hoses.

laws i n s outhern states which kept black p e ople from voting. Tha nks to him, more black

people voted at tha t time than ever before. Kennedy also brought abou t integration on

railroads and buses that went from state tostate.

3 9. Three young white men on one of those _

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In August of 1963 more tha n 200,0Qo

freedom rides disappea red. Their bodies were later found by the FBI. The Ku Klux Klan was blamed for the murders.

4 0. Many other people, both white and black, were also killed for their beliefs. At one time,a black church was bombed and 7 young girls were killed.

people_ both black and white - took part in a peaceful march in Washington D.C. The march showed that many Ame ricans cared about the rights of black people. Martin Luther King spoke to the crowd , saying "l have a dream of fr eed om for all. "

President Johnson shakes hands with Ma rtin Luther King af ter signing the 1964 Civil Rights Bill.

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During the Watts riots many young blac men were arrested.

, 3. Jo 1964 Congress passed the Civil R" h. I IIA 1g ts 5 2

LBW• This aw gave a mericans equal rights. such things as education, employmenta

d use of public places. n

· In the sununblacks . er of 1967 there were .

m more than 50 . . riots by nation. Some cities around th. were even worse than e

"· p r . King and other leaders kept working to riot of two years before. the W a t ts53 Thet the right to vote for all blacks. In 1965 they

!i anned a march in Montgomery, Alabama. s o rne whites planned to harm the marchers.

· e last lar bl .April 5 1968 fgoell ck riots took place on ' , owmg th dMartin Luther King Th e mur r of Dr .cities. Washington.D Cere as looting in 125

45. President Johnson asked Congress for population was a t. d., with a large blackprotection for those people taking part in

them arch. He also asked Congress to pass the voting Rights Act, and Congress agreed.

th ' os estroyed. At one timere were 50 fires b . . e capital. urrungm the nation's

. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 did awayb54. During the 1970's' the bla ck movement46o

ecame peaceful, with the bl kwith many practices which had kept blacks

from voting. Voter tests and poll (voting) taxes were made illegal. Federal officials could register voters and make sure that all blacks were allowed to register.

BiacJcPower

47. Some blacks were not happy with the new laws. They thought the civil rights movement and nonviolent protests were too slow. They wanted "Black Power", not just civil rights.

48. In the 1960's, Black Power groups sprang up around the nation. These black people carried guns and said they would use violence if they did not get what they wanted quickly.49. Many of the black power leaders called

men like Martin Luther King "Toms" after "Uncle Tom" from the book Uncle Tom's Cabin . They said that any blacks who were not willing to fight for their rights were "Toms " .so. Violence did come. In the summer of 1965 alarge riot took place in a part of Los Angelescalled Watts.51. For four days, mobs of blacks burned and looted stores and homes. The Police could not

control the mobs . Nah.onaI Guard soldiers

had

to be called in to stop the rio.t

rgam.za t·10ns continuing to work quiet.ly ac

55 · There are now more black people in well paying jobs than ever before. More blacks are elected officials now than at any time sincethe time of Reconstruction after the Civil War.

6 After the boycott he formed the Southern C1.hristian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Dr.King and other members of SCLC broughtabout many other nonviolent protests.

56· Some of the gains black people have made6.2

He was arrested many times. When he and

are due to laws, but much of the gain has come from hard work. With more chances for education and jobs, blacks have pulled themselves out of the problems which began

his people marched in the south, people spat on them and cursed them. People threw stones at him , but his protests were successful in bringing about laws for equal rights.

for them more than 300 years ago.

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In 1964 he was awarded a Nobel Peace

Prize. The Nobel Prize is given by Sweden

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Spotlight on Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King was born in Atlanta,

each year to the person who has done the most for peace in the world that year.64. In 1968, the sanitation workers in

Georgia in 1929. His father was a minister (reli ous leader). King followed in his father's footsteps arid became a minister in 1947.

58. He felt deeply that the black people in

Memphis,' Tennessee were striking. Most of the workers were black. King went to see if he could help them in their fight for better working conditions.65. On April 4, 1968, King was standing on the

America were not getting a fair share of their balcony outside his hotel room in Memphis.rights.59. He believed just as strongly that people

Suddenly a shot rang out. King fell dead.oo. King's murder· touched off riots in

should not be violent while trying to get their hundreds of cities and towns across therights. He did not want anyone .t o be hurt. People listened to Dr. King. He soon became the voice of black people in America.

nation. His killer was later arrested and sent to prison for the murder.67. Martin Luther King truly helped free his

60. He helped to plan the nonviolent bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. That

people. The day before speech. In it he said:

he died he gave a

boycott brought him national publicity(becoming known by many peqple).

68. "Free at last, free at last. Thank Lord Almighty, we're free at last."

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Understanding What You Read

Match the law or Supremf:? Court decision in ColumnA .th h .1- wi w atitwasaboutinColumnB

Column A ColumnB .a. Dred Scott Case (6)

-- b. Plessy-Ferguson case (7)

c. Jim Crow Laws (13)

1. Separate schools were not Constitutionla.2. All Americans were given equal rights to

education, employment and use of public places.

3. Slaves were property, not citizens.

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d. Brown Case (19)

·e. Civil Rights Law (43)4. Separate but equal railroad cars were legal.

5. Equal right to vote was given to all . f. Voting Rights Act (46)

6. These were laws to keep blacks separate from whites.

2. Some of the groups that have been treated unfairly in American history are

and . (2)

3. The first black organization set up to_ h e lp bla ck-s ge t their rights was the

---------------.(15)

4. The Supreme Court ruled that having separate schools for children was against

the -'- inthce

ase of - - - - - - - - - - - - - - · (19)

5. President Eisenhower sent soldiers to help black children enroll in school at _

_ :: --.-------. (23)

pfor black protest was over bus seats in Montgomery, Alabama.·Jt all started when a

refused to _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

----------------.(26-28) The leader of that boycott was

:----------.(32)

7 · Some ways that blacks protested for their rights in the south were

and .(35,37)

8. Many blacks thought were too slow.( 4 7)

They wanted Black --------------------------.(47)

9. In the summer of 1965 there was a riot in • ( 50 )

10. Martin Luther King was killed in on

while he was helping . ( 64-65 )