Civil Rights OverviewUnderstandings and questions

Essential Questions/Understandings

• What were the long term causes of the Civil Rights Movement?

• How did the greater global context influence the movement?

• How can the movement be said to be strikingly different from 1945-65 and 1965-1989?

• Ministers and Militants: How do Martin Luther King and Malcolm X represent the “two trains” of the civil rights movement?

• How do Malcolm and King represent the complexity of approaches and understandings of civil rights in the United States?

• Was the civil rights movement inspired, led and pushed forward by great men or by grassroots?

• Historiography: How have perspectives on the Civil Rights Movements changed over time from the 1960s to the 1990s?

Martin Luther King, Jr., waving to the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington, D.C. (1963).

Civil Rights—basic overview

Activism, new legislation, and the Supreme Court advance equal rights for African Americans. (1945-65) But disagreements among civil rights groups lead to a violent period for the civil rights movement. (1965-89)

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Pre-Civil Rights MovementLong Term Causes and Influences I

Dallas Bus Station

Texas sign

Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow Laws

The Two Trains? W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington

http://www.cgtextures.com/texview.php?id=4203&PHPSESSID=4017fa23c92586adc9381d4cd7ec6d29

Two African Americans, Two Diverse Backgrounds

Booker T. Washington W.E.B. DuBois

Born a slave in southwestern Virginia, 1858

Believed in vocational education for blacks

Founded Tuskegee Institute in Alabama

Believed in gradual equality

Accused of being an “Uncle Tom”

Received much white support

Wrote Up From Slavery (1901)

Booker T. Washington

I think I have learned that the best way to lift one's self up is to help someone else.

Booker T. Washingto

n• Outlined his views on race relations in a speech at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta – “Atlanta Compromise”

• Felt that black people should work to gain economic security before equal rights

• Believed black people will “earn” equality

Booker T. Washington

• Developed programs for job training and vocational skills at Tuskegee Institute

• Asked whites to give job opportunities to black people

• Was popular with white leaders in the North and South

 

Booker T. Washington

• Was unpopular with many black leaders

 

• Associated with leaders of the Urban League which emphasized jobs and training for blacks

 

My experience is that people who call themselves "The Intellectuals" understand theories, but they do not understand things. I have long been convinced that, if these men could have gone into the South and taken up and become interested in some practical work which would have brought them in touch with people and things, the whole world would have looked very different to them. Bad as conditions might have seemed at first, when they saw that actual progress was being made, they would have taken a more hopeful view of the situation.

Well educated-First African American to receive Ph.D. from Harvard

Born in 1868 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts

Wanted immediate equality between blacks and whites

Wanted classical higher education for blacks

Wrote The Souls of Black Folk (1903)

The Niagara Movement – led to NAACP

W.E.B. DuBoisThe problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.

W.E.B. DuBois

• Views given in The Souls of Black Folks and The Crisis

• Strongly opposed Booker T. Washington’s tolerance of segregation

• Demanded immediate equality for blacks

W.E.B. DuBois

• Felt talented black students should get a classical education

• Felt it was wrong to expect citizens to “earn their rights”

• Founded the NAACP along with other black and white leaders

After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, — a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness, — an American, a Negro; two warring souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife, — this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self.

The ideological divide between Washington and Dubois is often seen as

foreshadowing for..

Washington v. DuBois

• In your own words, summarize the strategies employed by Washington and DuBois.

• Specifically list the Pros and Cons of both strategies.

• Who would you support? Who represents your style of reform/resistance? Should African Americans, or other disenfranchised groups agitate for equality?

Pre-Civil Rights MovementLong Term Causes and Influences II

Context

19th Century Abolitionists• Frederick Douglas was the editor of an

abolitionist newspaper.

Harriet Tubman • Helped slaves escape via the Underground

Railroad.

John Brown• He and his sons

killed 5 slave masters in Kansas. (1858)

• Tried to incite a slave revolt

• Date is key: just before the…

Two Centuries of Struggle

• Conceptions of Equality– Equal opportunity: same chances– Equal results: same rewards

• Early American Views of Equality

• The Constitution and Inequality– Equality is not in the original Constitution.– First mention of equality in the 14th

Amendment: “…equal protection of the laws”

Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy

• The Era of Slavery– Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

• Slaves had no rights.• Invalidated Missouri Compromise

– The Civil War– The Thirteenth Amendment

• Ratified after Union won the Civil War• Outlawed slavery

KEY AMENDMENTS

• 13th Amendment: • Abolished Slavery (1865)

• 14th Amendment: • Civil Rights Amendment, citizenship,

and equal protection under the law (1868)

• 15thAmendment:• African-American men given the right

to vote (1870).

BLACK CODES

* Originated in 1865 in Mississippi and South Carolina.

* City ordinances prohibiting blacks from being equal. Not allowed to…* Carry weapons, testify against

whites, marry whites, serve on juries, start businesses, travel w/out permits, rent or lease farmland.

VOTING RESTRICTIONS

• 1) Literacy Test: Reading and writing test.

• 2) Poll Tax: Pay $ to vote.

• 3) Grandfather Clause: You could vote IF your Father or Grandfather had been eligible to vote before Jan.1, 1867• What was the goal of these

restrictions?

Would you have been able to vote?

The Alabama Literacy Test• Which body of Congress can try impeachments of the

President? • At what time of day on January 20th does the term of the

President end? • If the president does not sign a bill, how many days is he

allowed in which to return it to Congress for reconsideration?

• If a bill is passed by Congress and the President refuses to sign it and does not send it back to Congress in session within the specified period of time, is the bill defeated or does it become law?

• If the United States wishes to purchase land for an arsenal and have exclusive legislative authority over it, consent is required from whom?

• Which officer of the United States government is designated as President of the Senate?

• When is the president not allowed to exercise his power to pardon?

• Why is the power to grant patents given to Congress? • What is a tribunal? • If a person charged with treason denies his guilt, how many

people must testify against him before he can be convicted?

Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy

• The Era of Reconstruction and Resegregation– Jim Crow or segregational laws

• Relegated African Americans to separate facilities

– Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)• Upheld the constitutionality of “equal

but separate accommodations”

Jim Crow

• Jim Crow was NOT the name of an actual person.

• In 1832 Jim Crow became the stage name of a performance making fun of the stereotypical black person.

Context

Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy

• The Era of Civil Rights– Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

• Overturned Plessy• School segregation inherently

unconstitutional• Integrate schools “with all deliberate

speed”– Busing of students solution for two kinds

of segregation:• de jure, “by law”• de facto, “in reality”

Thurgood Marshall

NAACP fought in the courts

• Thurgood Marshall was hired by the NAACP to argue in the Supreme Court against school segregation. He won.

• He was later the 1st Black Supreme Court Justice.

Context

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Civil Rights

SECTION 1

SECTION 2

SECTION 3

Taking on Segregation

The Triumphs of a Crusade

Challenges and Changes in the Movement

Section 1

Taking on SegregationActivism and a series of Supreme Court decisions advance equal rights for African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s.

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The Segregation System

Plessy v. Ferguson• Civil Rights Act of 1875 act outlawed segregation• In 1883, all-white Supreme Court declares Act

unconstitutional• 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson ruling: separate but equal

constitutional• Many states pass Jim Crow laws separating the races• Facilities for blacks always inferior to those for whites

Taking on Segregation1SECTION

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Continued . . .

Segregation Continues into the 20th Century• After Civil War, African Americans go north to

escape racism• North: housing in all-black areas, whites resent

job competition

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continued The Segregation System

A Developing Civil Rights Movement• WW II creates job opportunities for African

Americans• Need for fighting men makes armed forces end

discriminatory policies• FDR ends government, war industries discrimination• Returning black veterans fight for civil rights at home

Challenging Segregation in Court

The NAACP Legal Strategy• Professor Charles Hamilton Houston leads NAACP

legal campaign• Focuses on most glaring inequalities of segregated

public education• Places team of law students under Thurgood Marshall

- win 29 out of 32 cases argued before Supreme Court

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Brown v. Board of Education• Marshall’s greatest victory is Brown v. Board of

Education of Topeka• In 1954 case, Court unanimously strikes down

school segregation

Reaction to the Brown Decision

Resistance to School Desegregation• Within 1 year, over 500 school districts

desegregate• Some districts, state officials, pro-white groups

actively resist• Court hands Brown II, orders desegregation at “all

deliberate speed”• Eisenhower refuses to enforce compliance;

considers it impossible

1SECTION

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Continued . . .

continued Reaction to the Brown Decision

Crisis in Little Rock• Since 1948, Arkansas integrating state university,

private groups--resisting• Gov. Orval Faubus has National Guard turn away

black students• Elizabeth Eckford faces abusive crowd when she

tries to enter school• Eisenhower has 101st Airborne Division supervise

school attendance• African-American students harassed by whites at

school all year• 1957 Civil Rights Act—federal government power

over schools, voting

1SECTION

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The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Boycotting Segregation• 1955 NAACP officer Rosa Parks arrested for not

giving up seat on bus• Montgomery Improvement Association formed,

organizes bus boycott• Elect 26-year-old Baptist pastor Martin Luther

King, Jr. leader

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Walking for Justice• African Americans file lawsuit, boycott buses,

use carpools, walk• Get support from black community, outside groups,

sympathetic whites• 1956, Supreme Court outlaws bus segregation

Martin Luther King and the SCLC

Changing the World with Soul Force• King calls his brand of nonviolent resistance

“soul force”- civil disobedience, massive demonstrations

• King remains nonviolent in face of violence after Brown decision

1SECTION

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From the Grassroots Up• King, others found Southern Christian

Leadership Conference (SCLC)• By 1960, African-American students think pace

of change too slow• Join Student Nonviolent Coordinating

Committee (SNCC)

The Movement Spreads

Demonstrating for Freedom• SNCC adopts nonviolence, but calls for more

confrontational strategy• Influenced by Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

to use sit-ins:- refuse to leave segregated lunch counter until served

• First sit-in at Greensboro, NC Woolworth’s shown nationwide on TV

• In spite of abuse, arrests, movement grows, spreads to North

• Late 1960, lunch counters desegregated in 48 cities in 11 states

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Image

Sit ins

This was in Greensboro, North Carolina

Support of MLK and leaders, but organized by college students…

Sit-in Tactics• Dress in you Sunday best.

• Be respectful to employees and police.

• Do not resist arrest.

• Do not fight back.

• Remember, journalists are everywhere!

• All clearly inspired by…

Students were ready to take your place if you had

a class to attend.

Not only were there sit-ins. .

• Swim ins (beaches, pools)

• Kneel ins (churches)

• Drive ins (at motels)

• Study-ins (universities)

Section 2

The Triumphs of a CrusadeCivil rights activists break through racial barriers. Their activism prompts landmark legislation.

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Riding for Freedom

CORE’s Freedom Rides• 1961, CORE tests Court decision banning

interstate bus segregation • Freedom riders—blacks, whites sit, use station

facilities together• Riders brutally beaten by Alabama mobs; one bus

firebombed

The Triumphs of a Crusade2SECTION

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Continued . . .

New Volunteers• Bus companies refuse to continue carrying

CORE freedom riders• SNCC volunteers replace CORE riders; are

violently stopped• Robert Kennedy pressures bus company to

continue transporting riders

continued Riding for Freedom

Arrival of Federal Marshals• Alabama officials don’t give promised protection;

mob attacks riders• Newspapers throughout nation denounce beatings• JFK sends 400 U.S. marshals to protect riders • Attorney general, Interstate Commerce

Commission act:- ban segregation in all interstate travel facilities

2SECTION

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Standing Firm

Integrating Ole Miss• 1962, federal court rules James Meredith may

enroll at U of MS• Governor Ross Barnett refuses to let Meredith

register• JFK orders federal marshals to escort Meredith

to registrar’s office• Barnett makes radio appeal; thousands of white

demonstrators riot• Federal officials accompany Meredith to

classes, protect his parents

2SECTION

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Continued . . .

continued Standing Firm

Heading into Birmingham• April 1963, SCLC demonstrate to desegregate

Birmingham• King arrested, writes “Letter from Birmingham Jail”• TV news show police attacking child marchers—

fire hoses, dogs, clubs• Continued protests, economic boycott, bad press

end segregation

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Kennedy Takes a Stand• June, JFK sends troops to force Gov. Wallace to

desegregate U of AL

Image

Marching to Washington

The Dream of Equality• August 1963, over 250,000 people converge

on Washington• Speakers demand immediate passage of civil

rights bill• King gives “I Have a Dream” speech

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More Violence• September, 4 Birmingham girls killed when

bomb thrown into church• LBJ signs Civil Rights Act of 1964

- prohibits discrimination because of race, religion, gender

Fighting for Voting Rights

Freedom Summer• Freedom Summer—CORE, SNCC project to

register blacks to vote in MS• Volunteers beaten, killed; businesses, homes,

churches burned

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A New Political Party• Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party formed to

get seat in MS party• Fannie Lou Hamer—voice of MFDP at National

Convention—wins support• LBJ fears losing Southern white vote, pressures

leaders to compromise• MFDP and SNCC supporters feel betrayed

Continued . . .

continued Fighting for Voting Rights

The Selma Campaign• 1965, voting rights demonstrator killed in Selma, AL• King leads 600 protest marchers; TV shows police

violently stop them• Second march, with federal protection, swells to

25,000 people

2SECTION

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Voting Rights Act of 1965• Congress finally passes Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Stops literacy tests, allows federal officials to enroll

voters• Increases black voter enrollment

Chart

Action and civil courage, 1963-65

Voter Registration

• CORE volunteers came to Mississippi to register Blacks to vote.

These volunteers risked arrest, violence and death every day.

The Fight• This man spent

5 days in jail for “carrying a placard.”

• Sign says “Voter registration worker”

"Your work is just beginning. If you go back home and sit down and take what these white men in Mississippi are doing to us. ...if you take it and don't do something about it. ...then *%# damn your souls."

Voter Registration• If Blacks

registered to vote, the local banks could call the loan on their farm.

Thousands marched to the Courthouse in Montgomery to protest rough treatment given voting rights demonstrators. The Alabama Capitol is in the background. March 18,1965

High Schoolers jailed for marching

Bloody Sunday• In Selma,

pro-vote marchers face Alabama cops.

Selma to Montgomery,

Alabama

Tending the wounded

Marchers cross bridge

Many were arrested.

Police set up a rope barricade.

Marchers stayed there for days.

We're gonna stand here 'till it falls,‘Till it falls,‘Till it falls,We're gonna stand here 'till it fallsIn Selma, Alabama.

The Supreme Court ruled that protesters had 1st Amendment

right to march.

Sacrifice for Suffrage

Crime Scene

• This woman was killed by the KKK while on her way to join voter activists in Mississippi

Selma to Montgomery Part 2

Part 2

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Section 3

Challenges and Changes in the MovementDisagreements among civil rights groups and the rise of black nationalism create a violent period in the fight for civil rights.

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African Americans Seek Greater Equality

Northern Segregation• De facto segregation exists by practice, custom;

problem in North• De jure segregation is segregation required by law• WW II black migration to Northern cities results in

“white flight”• 1960s, most urban blacks live in slums; landlords

ignore ordinances• Black unemployment twice as high as white• Many blacks angry at treatment received from white

police officers

Challenges and Changes in the Movement

3SECTION

Continued . . .

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continued African Americans Seek Greater Equality

Urban Violence Erupts• Mid-1960s, numerous clashes between white

authority, black civilians- many result in riots

• Many whites baffled by African-American rage• Blacks want, need equal opportunity in jobs,

housing, education• Money for War on Poverty, Great Society

redirected to Vietnam War

3SECTION

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3SECTION

African-American Solidarity• Nation of Islam, Black Muslims, advocate

blacks separate from whites- believe whites source of black problems

• Malcolm X—controversial Muslim leader, speaker; gets much publicity

• Frightens whites, moderate blacks; resented by other Black Muslims

New Leaders Voice Discontent

Continued . . .

Ballots or Bullets?• Pilgrimage to Mecca changes Malcolm X’s

attitude toward whites • Splits with Black Muslims; is killed in 1965 while

giving speech

Image

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continued New Leaders Voice Discontent

Black Power• CORE, SNCC become more militant; SCLC

pursues traditional tactics• Stokely Carmichael, head of SNCC, calls for

Black Power: - African Americans control own lives, communities, without whites

3SECTION

Black Panthers• Black Panthers fight police brutality, want black

self-sufficiency• Preach ideas of Mao Zedong; have violent

confrontations with police• Provide social services in ghettos, win popular

support

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1968—A Turning Point in Civil Rights

King’s Death• King objects to Black Power movement,

preaching of violence• Seems to sense own death in Memphis speech

to striking workers• Is shot, dies the following day, April 4, 1968

3SECTION

Reactions to King’s Death• King’s death leads to worst urban rioting in U.S.

history- over 100 cities affected

• Robert Kennedy assassinated two months later

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Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement

Causes of Violence• Kerner Commission names racism as main

cause of urban violence

3SECTION

Civil Rights Gains• Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination

in housing• More black students finish high school, college;

get better jobs• Greater pride in racial identity leads to Black

Studies programs• More African-American participation in movies,

television• Increased voter registration results in more black

elected officialsContinued . . .

Chart

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continued Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement

Unfinished Work• Forced busing, higher taxes, militancy, riots

reduce white support• White flight reverses much progress toward

school integration• Unemployment, poverty higher than for whites• Affirmative action—extra effort to hire, enroll

discriminated groups• 1960s, colleges, companies doing government

business adopt policy• Late 1970s, some criticize policy as reverse

discrimination

3SECTION