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Civil Rights Movement
14th Amendment (1868) Reaffirmed state and federal citizenship for persons born or naturalized in the U.S Forbade any state from depriving a person of life, liberty, or prosperity or to deny any person the
equal protection of the laws.15th Amendment (1870)
Grants African American men the right to vote States still used discriminatory practices to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to
vote – especially in the SouthPlessy v. Ferguson (1896)
US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state segregation law “Separate-but-equal” standard was constitutional States provide segregated facilities for different races – so long as they were equal in quality Facilities such as schools suppose to be equal – in reality most schools in South were inferior to
white onesNational Association for Advancement of Colored People, NAACP (1909)
Civil rights organization in the US Focused on legal strategies to confront civil rights issue in early years 1930s NAACP lawyers began challenging “separate-but-equal” doctrine Sweatt v. Painter (1950) – NAACP wins case involving African American attending Law School at the
University of Texas at Austin
President Truman & Civil Rights
Truman Supports Civil Rights 1946 created the President’s
Commission on Civil Rights Asked Congress for a federal
anti-lynching law, ban on poll tax as a voting requirement, and a permanent civil rights commission
African Americans, especially veterans, demand rights as citizens
Congress rejects civil rights laws; Truman issues executive orders: Desegregation of armed forces ends discrimination in
government hiring
Hector C. Garcia The Longoria Incident
Funeral home undertaker refuses funeral services to Felix Longoria, WWII veteran killed in the Philippines
Outraged Mexican Americans motivated them to organize efforts to end discrimination
Hector Garcia convinced Texas Senator Lyndon B. Johnson to allow Longoria to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery
1946, García opened a medical practice in Corpus Christi, where he witnessed the struggles of veterans and migrant workers offered low- and no-cost treatment to impoverished patients Outraged Mexican-American veterans formed the American G.I.
Forum Fought for improve conditions for Mexican American World War II
veterans better medical benefits Years later they fought again poll taxes and school segregation
Thurgood Marshall NAACP’s chief legal council was Charles Hamilton
Houston, who was a law professor at Howard University and a mentor to Marshall Houston taught him to defeat racial discrimination through
the use of existing laws. Focused on most glaring inequalities of segregated public
education Houston put a team of law students placed under
direction of Thurgood Marshall Marshall was denied admission to the University of Maryland
Law School because of his race win 29 out of 32 cases argued before Supreme Court
spanning over 23 years Milestone cases such as:
1946 Morgan v. Virginia: declared state laws mandating segregated seating on interstate busses unconstitutional
1950 Sweatt v. Painter: state law schools must admit black applicants, even if separate black schools exist
1954 Brown v. Board of Education: declared school segregation unconstitutional
Marshall’s greatest victory is Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
In 1967 he became the first African-American supreme court justice
Sweatt v. Painter 1950 In 1946, Heman Marion Sweatt, a black man, applied for
admission to the University of Texas Law School. State law restricted access to the university to whites, and Sweatt's
application was automatically rejected because of his race. When Sweatt asked the state courts to order his admission, the
university attempted to provide separate but equal facilities for black law students.
In a unanimous decision, the Court held that the Equal Protection Clause required that Sweatt be admitted to the university. The Court found that the "law school for Negroes," which was to have
opened in 1947, would have been grossly unequal to the University of Texas Law School.
The Court argued that the separate school would be inferior in a number of areas, including faculty, course variety, library facilities, legal writing opportunities, and overall prestige.
The Court also found that the mere separation from the majority of law students harmed students' abilities to compete in the legal arena.
Brown v. Board of Education 1954
Background African American students denied admission to
an all-white public school near homes Thurgood Marshall – NAACP lawyer argued the
case Decision
NAACP lawyers argued that education received by African American students was inherently (by its very nature) inferior
Sent African American children message they were not good enough to be educated with others
Chief Justice Earl Warren said “in the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place.”
Courts agreed Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson
Marked end of legal segregation in public schools Key turning point in Civil Rights Movement
Earl Warren 1953 President Eisenhower
appointed Earl Warren the fourteenth Chief Justice of the United States
Warren Court's most important decisions was the ruling that made racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Another was the "one-man one-vote" ruling that caused a major shift in legislative power from rural areas to cities.
Warren viewed crime as mutually exclusive to poverty, education, social conditions, degradation, and standards of law enforcement. He believed crime could be ridden by improving the condition of cities and thus took into account the influential conditions violators lived within.
After the reaction to Brown v. Board of Education, Warren thought of the Court as a protector of the public, the means to restore ethics and mind the conducts of legislators.
Reaction to Brown v. Board
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
Little Rock NineBackground
September 1957 Little Rock, Arkansas School board won a federal court order to admit nine African American students to Central
High School School with 2,000 white students; African Americans volunteered to integrate the school in support
of the school board Orval Faubus – Governor of Arkansas
Believed to be moderate on racial issues – unlike many Southern politicians Determined to win re-election began to campaign as a defender of white supremacy Ordered AK National Guard to prevent 9 African American students from entering school
Elizabeth Eckford faces abusive crowd when she tries to enter school White mob joined troops Event was televised
Used armed state forces to oppose authority of federal governmentEisenhower
Had conference with Faubus did nothing, Faubus refused to provide protection Eisenhower ordered federal troops to Little Rock to ensure that nine African American
students could attend school Law was upheld troops stayed rest of school year
Harassment continued throughout the school year within the halls of the school; Faubus closed Central High School at end of year rather than let integration continue
Emmett TillBackground
14-year-old African American From Chicago Visiting family in Money, Mississippi
August 24, 1955 Bragged to his cousins and friends outside country
store that his girlfriend back home was white Cousins and friends did not believe him dared Till
to ask out white woman sitting behind counter He went in bought some candy and flirted with her
some
August 28, 1955 Women’s husband returned from business trip and
found out how Till spoke to his wife Husband (Mose Wright) and brother-in-law (J.W.
Milam) beat Till to death Body was so disfigured could only identify by
initialed ring Murder of Till shocked people and caused many
African Americans to join the NCAAP
Civil Rights Act 19571. Civil Rights Act of 1957
Eisenhower believed firmly in right to vote wanted to protect voting rights
Civil Rights Act of 1957 intended to protect the right of African Americans to vote Gave federal government
jurisdiction over violations of African American voting rights
2. Strom Thurmond US Senator from South Carolina Opposed the Civil Rights Act of
1957 Conducted longest filibuster by a
lone senator 24 hours and 18 minutes long
Rosa Parks African American
seamstress and local NAACP member
Refused to surrender her bus seat to white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama
Her arrest led to local African American leaders start boycotting city’s public buses
Martin Luther King, Jr. Pastor in Montgomery Leader of Montgomery Bus Boycott
– led boycott for 13 months Rallied boycotters at meetings in his
church Boycotted case to federal court
courts ruled that segregation on buses operated by city violated “equal protection” clause of the 14th Amendment
King calls his brand of nonviolent resistance “soul force” civil disobedience, massive
demonstrations King remains nonviolent in face of
violence after Brown decision
Montgomery Bus Boycott
1955 NAACP officer Rosa Parks arrested for not giving up seat on bus
Montgomery Improvement Association formed, organizes bus boycott; boycotting
segregation on public transportation
African Americans file lawsuit, boycott buses use carpools, walk “Walking for Justice”
Elect 26-year-old Baptist pastor Martin Luther King, Jr. leader
Get support from black community, outside groups, sympathetic whites
Boycott showed that nonviolent demonstration could be successful
1956 Supreme Court outlaws bus segregation
SCLC Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC) Founded by MLK and other African
American ministers in 1957 Purpose
Eliminate segregation from American society
Encourage African Americans to register to vote
Challenged segregation at: Public transportation Voting booths Housing Public accommodations
By 1960, African-American students think pace of change too slow