Civil Rights in America

Roots of the Civil Rights Movement

WHAT• End of Reconstruction

– During post-Civil War Reconstruction, African Americans gained rights (like voting in the south)• When Reconstruction ended, many gains were reversed• Expansion of the KKK, Race Riots, Lynching

• Plessey v. Ferguson (1896)– Supreme Court decision that said segregation was legal

(“separate but equal” facilities are legal)– Led to more “Jim Crow” (racist) laws in the south

• World War II– Provided opportunities for African Americans in the war

effort– Americans fought for freedom abroad; how about at home?

Roots of the Civil Rights Movement

EFFECTS• These and other events set the stage for the

Civil Rights movement

Desegregation of the Armed Forces

WHAT• America had fought for freedom overseas

during World War II• After the war, American armed forces were

still segregated

Soldiers during World War II

Desegregation of the Armed Forces

EFFECTS• This was a slow process– It took until the Korean War for major progress

with desegregation• A combination of government and grassroots

efforts helped overcome resistance to integration

Jackie RobinsonWHAT• For years, Major League Baseball

refused to allow African Americans to play– African Americans played in the

Negro Leagues• Jackie Robinson broke the color

barrier with the Brooklyn DodgersEFFECTS• Robinson faced many threats• He inspired a lot of pride and

blazed a trail for other African-American athletes

Jackie Robinson Bio – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX3tv9uKj1I

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

WHAT• Supreme Court case that said

“separate facilities are inherently unequal” in public education

• Overturned Plessey v. Ferguson (“separate but equal”)

Famous Norman Rockwell image,Ruby Bridges being escorted to school

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

EFFECTS• Led to long, difficult process of

integrating public schools (Massive Resistance in South)

• Showed that Civil Rights victories could occur through the courts

• An example of the leadership role of the NAACP

The fire chief isPresident Eisenhower?

What is the author’s message of Eisenhower’s handling of the crisis?

Little Rock Nine

WHAT• Probably the most well-known

reaction to the Brown v. Board case

• Arkansas governor Orval Faubus ordered Arkansas National Guard troops to prevent the integration of Central High School in Little Rock

• President Eisenhower ordered Federal soldiers to escort the nine African-American students through the school

Little Rock Nine

EFFECTS• Showed the difficulties of

integration, even when the Federal government supports it– Federal law vs. “states rights”

• Forced President Eisenhower (who did not agree with the Court’s Brown decision) to actively support itThe Little Rock Nine reunion – https://vimeo.com/86054753

Integration of the University of Mississippi

WHAT• James Meredith wanted to

enroll at the all white University of Mississippi– The NAACP took his case to the

Supreme Court, which agreed with him

• Riots on campus as a result of integration killed two people and injured hundreds

• President Kennedy sent troops to restore order

Integration of the University of Mississippi

EFFECTS• An example of violent reactions to the Civil

Rights movement

Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott

WHAT• Rosa Parks (and others before

her) refused to move to the back of the bus

• As a result of Parks’ action, African Americans in Montgomery refused to use the bus system until it was integrated

• 13 month-mass protest• The Supreme Court eventually

ruled the bus segregation unconstitutional

50,000 African Americans didn’t ride public buses for a year

Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott

• EFFECTS– Introduction of Martin Luther King onto the

national stage– Helped gain attention for civil disobedience as a

way to combat segregation and court litigation

King was only 27 when he led the bus boycott

http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott/videos/montgomery-bus-boycott

Civil Rights GroupsWHAT• NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored

People)– Focused on legal equality for African Americans– Appealed mostly to middle and upper class African Americans

• SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)– Organized by Martin Luther King, Jr. and other African American clergy– Focused on nonviolent protest

• SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)– Focused on younger protestors, and more immediate (rather than

gradual) change– Became more radical as time went on

EFFECTS• Many different groups and people played a part in the struggle for

Civil Rights

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.WHO• A preacher who became a leader

of the Civil Rights movement– Not the only leader of the

movement, but a key figure• Often jailed, threatened with

death• Assassinated in 1968 at the age of

39EFFECTS• Helped lead the Civil Rights

movement to many victories• Became a worldwide symbol of

nonviolent protest

Non-Violent ProtestWHAT• A popular way to protest segregation• Examples include– Sit-Ins (entering segregated shops)– Freedom Rides (riding integrated buses through the

south)– Peaceful marches

In 1961, about 70,000 students participated in sit-ins, and about 3,600 went to jail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbbcjn4d1cE

Non-Violent ProtestEFFECTS• Nonviolent was often met with violence from white

southerners• Helped convince more people to support Civil Rights

Birmingham, Alabama

WHAT• Gov. George Wallace • Martin Luther King called Birmingham “the most segregated city

in the country”– African-Americans wanted to integrate the city

• Non-violent protests in the city included a children’s marchEFFECTS• Whites’ violent reactions to the Birmingham campaign horrified

the country– Police reaction to Children’s Crusade– Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church

• King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”• Birmingham was desegregated through nonviolent protest

Children’s Crusade, May 1963

Bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

WHAT• Organized by A. Phillip Randolph

(NAACP), MLK JR (SCLC), SNCC, CORE

• Over 250,000 attended• Purpose: (1)to raise awareness

for JFK’s proposed Civil Rights Act (which was being held up in Congress) (2)To protest for equal hiring, minimum wage, etc

EFFECTS• March was peaceful and orderly

(Kennedy and others worried it could be violent)

• Impact of “I Have a Dream Speech”

“I Have a Dream speech” –http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vDWWy4CMhE

Civil Rights ActWHAT• A major Civil Rights law• LBJ helped get this law passed

after Kennedy died• Limited discrimination in areas

like voting, schools, public businesses and jobs

EFFECTS• Has helped African Americans

and other groups (for example, women)

• Resisted by many people in the south

Nothing “could more eloquently honor President Kennedy’s memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill.”- LBJ

Voting Rights Act WHAT• Even after the Civil Rights Act, many African Americans

weren’t allowed to vote in the south; protests continued– Freedom Summer (1964)

• Black and white volunteers traveled to Mississippi to register black voters

• They faced mobs and violence; three volunteers were murdered

– Selma• A march for voting rights in Alabama led by John Lewis,

Martin Luther King, others• They also faced violence – “Bloody Sunday”

• Events like these helped influence the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Voting Rights

John Lewis at Selma Anniversary - http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/03/07/selma-50th-anniversary-bloody-sunday/24552475/

Voting Rights Act

EFFECTS• African Americans

could not be prevented from voting in the south

• More than 400,000 African Americans registered to vote in the south in the year after the law passed

Division in the Civil Rights Movement

WHAT• Even without legal segregation, there was still

significant racial inequality– For example, in many northern cities

EFFECTS• Some people – especially younger people –

became frustrated with the slow pace of change– They rejected nonviolence and integration in favor

of a more aggressive approach

Malcolm X

WHO• Born Malcolm Little, he originally believed in the

separation of black people and white people• Converted to the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims)• Changed his views, and became willing to work with

whites– Also left the Nation of Islam

• Assassinated by other members of the Nation of Islam who didn’t like his new perspective

Malcolm X

EFFECTS• Malcolm X’s life shows the complexity of

different viewpoints about the struggle for Black equality

• Influenced other believers in black nationalism

Black Power

WHAT• Followers of Malcolm X such as

Stokely Carmichael began to favor a more aggressive approach to Civil Rights

• “We Shall Overrun instead of “We Shall Overcome”

• Favored by SNCC,• The Black Panthers (formed by

Huey Newton/Bobby Seale)EFFECTS• Followers of Black Power wanted

African Americans to create their own community separate from white people

Riots

WHAT• Issues like poverty led to a lot of social

segregation, even when there wasn’t legal segregation– For example, many many northern and western cities

had mostly African-American areas with few resources– African-Americans in these areas also felt threatened

by police• A white police officer is “like an occupying soldier in a

bitterly hostile country” – author James Baldwin

Riots

EFFECTS• Riots occurred in places such

as Watts (a section of Los Angeles)– Watts had six days of riots

triggered by police violence; 34 people died and more than a thousand were injured

• A federal government report on the riots stated “our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white – separate and unequal”