Chapter 20

The Search for Equal Rights

The Civil Rights Movement

Sit-Ins

• A demonstration in which protesters sit down in a location and refuse to leave

• Nonviolent resistance – peaceful protest that rejects the use of violence, even for self-defense

• Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

Freedom Rides• Bus stations in the south still required travelers

to use segregated facilities– Supreme Court ruled this illegal but it continued

• Congress of Racial Equality organized freedom rides to protest segregation– Blacks and whites rode throughout the South using

“opposite” facilities

• As a result, Interstate Commerce Commission banned segregated facilities

March on Washington and the Civil Rights Act

• Kennedy announced his support for a new civil rights bill

• African American leaders held a March on Washington in August of 1963– Culminated with Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”

speech at the Washington monument

• In the wake of Kennedy’s assassination, LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964– Banned segregation in public places

– Prohibited employers, unions, etc from discriminating based on race, gender, color, or religion

Freedom Summer• Campaign in Miss. to register blacks to vote

• 6/21/64 - 2 white activists from the North and a black activist from Miss. were killed

• Violence that ensued from protests led LBJ to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965– Gave gov’t power to inspect voter reg. and protect all

citizens’ right to vote

Malcolm X• Leader in the Nation of Islam until 1964

– Encouraged blacks to form their own separate communities

• African Americans have the right to protect themselves from violence with violence

• During a trip to Mecca, began to reconsider his anti-white views but still believed blacks should rely on themselves

Black Power

• Movement by the SNCC that wanted African Americans to have more poli and econ power

• 1966 – Black Panther Party formed– Reduce harassment, provided community services– Willing to use violence to achieve goals– By 1969, party was diminishing

April 4, 1968• Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated in

Memphis, TN by James Earl Ray

• Soon after, riots erupted in more than 100 US cities

Affirmative Action• Practice of giving special consideration to

nonwhites and women to make up for past discrimination– Deemed unfair by some

• Regents of the Univ. of CA vs. Bakke (1978)– a white applicant, Alan Bakke, had been denied

admission to medical school despite having top scores and recommendations

– The university had set quotas for African Americans– US Supreme Court ruled Bakke had been unfairly

denied

The Equal Rights Movement

Rights for Hispanics• United Farm Workers

– Founded by Cesar Chavez

– Fought for workers rights, better wages, etc

– Used hunger strikes to achieve goals

• Agricultural Labor Relations Act– Gave migrant workers the right to strike and bargain

collectively

• Voting Rights Act of 1975– Required areas with large immigrant populations to

provide ballots in the voters’ preferred language

Women’s Rights Movement• Commission on the Status of Women - 1961

– Study workplace equality

• Equal Pay Act – required employers to pay men and women the same wages for the same job

• Betty Friedan – The Feminine Mystique– Explored the myth that women need only a husband

and a family to be happy

• Feminism – women are entitled to economic, political, and social equality with men

Women’s Rights Movement• National Organization for Women – Oct 1966

– Founded by Betty Friedan

– Lobbied for political issues that affected women

– Attacked gender discrimination

• Equal Rights Amendment – equality of rights under the law shall not be denied….on the account of sex– Anti-ERA groups lobbied that it would hurt the family and

cause women to be drafted

• 1972 – Title IX– Prohibited any college or university that received fed aid

from discriminating against women

The Warren Court• Led by Chief Justice Earl Warren• Cases affected equal rights• Brown vs. The Board of Education (1954) – states

cannot segregate public schooling• Reynolds vs. Sims (1964) - states must create districts

of near equal populations• Gideon vs. Wainwright (1963) – people accused of a

crime have a constitutional right to free legal counsel– State has to provide for people who can’t afford

• Escobedo vs. Illinois (1964) – suspects have a right to have an attorney present during questioning

• Miranda vs. Arizona (1966) – ordered police to notify suspects of their rights prior to questioning

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can

and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the

right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.”

Other Warren Court cases

• Abington School District vs. Schempp (1963) – declared school sponsored Bible reading in public schools in the United States to be unconstitutional.

• Engel vs. Vitale (1962) - unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and require its recitation in public schools