the civil rights movement introduction challenge to segregation –laws –customs debates vary on...

The Civil Rights Movement

Introduction Challenge to segregation Laws Customs Debates vary on the time period 1955-1965 (Montgomery Bus Boycott to the Voting Rights Act) Begin? Has it ended? Other names Black Freedom Movement The Negro Revolution The Second Reconstruction

Segregation Attempt by southern whites to separate the races in every aspect of life. Jim Crow Laws were created to insure this. (named after a minstrel show character who embodied multiple negative stereotypes) During Reconstruction, Blacks had made advancements and were represented in government. As soon as Reconstruction ended, S. Whites moved to regain control, and end any positive steps made.

Between 1890-1910, Southern States passed laws making it harder for African Americans to participate in government. Literacy tests Property ownership Poll taxes Primaries only open to white voters

Jim Crow laws established separate facilities for whites and colored citizens. Schools, transportation, restaurants, parks, etc. Many facilities were inferior For 75 years--new laws were added, separating the races, and pounding in the message that whites believed the African Americans to be inferior.

Jim Crow: a name taken from an 1830s minstrel show, depicting negative stereotypes of American slaves

Early resistance to segregation Frequent protests were made about segregation 1896, Supreme Court ruled that Separate but Equal was legal in Plessy v. Ferguson in a case over rail car travel. Case would provide constitutional protection for segregation laws for 50 years.

Many organizations began to form 1890: National Afro-American League 1905: Niagara Movement 1909: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) 1910: Urban League WEB Dubois, was the leader of the NAACP, which became the leader in fighting against segregation. Challenged laws through legal action 1935, Charles H. Houston won the first Supreme Court battle for the NAACP, giving it strength and momentum. 1939, Houstons chief aide, Thurgood Marshall became the head of NAACP Legal Defense Fund

W.E.B. Debois Charles H. Houston Early leaders of the NAACP

WWI Many African Americans joined to fight for the countrybut were segregated, and could not become officers Many others migrated to the north, temporarily taking vacated jobs, and forming African American communities in northern cities. Political pressure was placed on northern politicians

1930s The depression was particularly hard on African Americans White business owners often didnt employ them in large African American communities. 1 st Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt was big influence on FDR, and in 1937, he appointed Hugo Black to the S.C. (big supporter of equal rights). 1938, courts demand Missouri provide first public law school for blacks. Hugo Black

WWII 1939-40, editors demand better treatment than WWI offered. 1941, A. Philip Randolph organized a march on D.C. To stop the march, FDR passed legislation to help African Americans Fair Employment Practices Committee Did little, but effect of protest was big. A. Phillip Randolph: Head of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

Segregation in the armed forces continued Some advancements were made at home. Pay for jobs improved White primaries were outlawed. The experience of fighting racism in Europe would form a lasting impression on many when they returned home.

Last segregated troops

School Desegregation Following WWII, Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP legal defense fund, tried and won many cases against segregation, but their focus was on schools. 1950: Sweat v. Painter declared that the University of Texas had to integrate its Law School. 1954: Issued the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, that stated that segregated education was unconstitutional

Thurgood Marshall: NAACP Defense Fund lawyer in Brown v. Board of Education The Warren Court: Led by Justice Warren, they voted unanimously to end segregated schools

Reaction to Brown v. Board of Education South reacts negatively to the Supreme Court decision Public Schools were closed African American employees that favored integration were fired from their jobs All white private schools were formed Virtually no schools were desegregated in the first years, and one dist. In VA close completely.

Central High School: Little Rock, Arkansas 1957, Governor Orval Faubus defied a Federal Court Order to allow nine African American Students. President Eisenhower sent the National Guard to insure that they were allowed to go to school. Covered by National media, which showed many Americans how dramatic the situation was in many places.

National Guard assists students into Central High School

Thurgood Marshall on the steps of Central High School with seven of the Central Nine.

KKK has a rise in membership in south killing of young Emmett Till for flirting w/ a white woman, and the subsequent acquittal of those involved, highlighted the racism in the south to the rest of the nation

Montgomery Bus Boycott December 1, 1955, NAACP member Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, AL bus. Almost overnight, a boycott of Montgomery buses was organized, and for a year, African Americans refused to ride the bus. Nov. 1956, a federal court ordered Montgomery buses to be desegregated.

Martin Luther King Jr. Speaking on the virtues of non-violent protest

MLK Jr. was the president of the organization that organized the boycott, making him a national figure 1957, he becomes the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Wanted to complement the NAACP, through the use of non-violent, direct protest to segregation Used demonstrations, marches, and boycotts. White reaction to these protests led to federal attention of segregation laws

Sit-ins Feb. 1, 1960, 4 N.C A&T Univ. students sat at a white only lunch counter in a local restaurant. Within weeks, the sit-ins were spread throughout the south Displayed the dedication of young African Americans to all of America

Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), was supported by MLK Jr., but its real leader was Ella Baker Baker favored focusing more on individual communities, and less on national change. This caused occasional tensions between the groups SNCC President: Ella Baker

Freedom Riders In 1961, SNCC members decided to test Supreme Ct. decision that forbid segregation on interstate bus transportation. The rides began in WA. D.C., and went South. Once the buses reached Alabama, riders were beaten, and buses were burned. Violence brought sharp criticism to the South and its refusal to protect the riders

Freedom rides helped to desegregate some bus stations, but was most successful in bringing the issue to the front of peoples thoughts in the United States. Also shows the struggles that the young African Americans are willing to go through to get their point across.

SCLC Campaigns Early 1960s they plan a series of protests Plan to utterly disrupt life Force an end to segregation laws Required 1000s of protesters, willing to go to jail if necessary. 1961, protests in Albany, GA failed to make changes 1963, Birmingham, Mississippi proved to be a different story.

Birmingham protests There was a belief that the Birmingham police commissioner, Eugene, Bull Connor would meet protests with force SCLC invited teenagers and school children to join the protests to up the ante Connor responded to protests with police dogs and fire hoses to scatter the protesters. Scenes were shown throughout the country.

In Birmingham, white politicians agreed to end some segregation Employers agreed to hire more African Americans to jobs and to desegregate some public accommodations. Most importantly, national legislation against segregation was begun.

Desegregating Universities 1962, James Meredith applied to University of Mississippi. UM attempted to block his admission After legal battle, he was admitted, but Gov. Ross Barnett, refused to obey the court order. JFK sent Federal Marshals to see that he was allowed to attend Riots broke out on his first night as marshals were attacked2 people were killed, several 100 were wounded.

Gov. George Wallace of Alabama attempted to do the same. JFK sent full force of US Army to force the issue, and prevent violence. Pushed JFK to initiate a commitment to end segregation with legislation. 1963, Kennedy initiated Civil Rights legislation in Congress. Notorious governor of Alabama: George Wallace

March on Washington In August of 1963, a march was planned to keep the pressure on the Kennedy administration. Purposefully, it kept in mind the plan of A. Philip Randolph, who was in attendance along with members of all the major groups. In front of an audience of 200,000 and the Lincoln statue, MLK Jr. delivered his famous, I have a dream speech.

After the assassination of Kennedy in 1963, new president, Lyndon B. Johnson pushed the legislation through as a tribute to JFK. Civil Rights act passed in 1964, despite fierce opposition by southern states. It provided the following : Desegregation of all public accommodations An end to discrimination in education and employment And granted the executive branch of the govt. permission to enforce these laws.

Voter Registration Also in the early 60s, groups like the SNCC worked to get African Americans registered to vote. Met high resistance from white supremacist groups. Medgar Evers, a leader in the NAACP group in Mississippi was shot in front of his home. Medgar Evers: NAACP field secretary in Mississippi.

1965, a march on Montgomery, AL from Selma, Alabama was organized and led by MLK Jr. As they left Selma, mounted police tear gassed and beat marchers. This caused such commotion to lead LBJ into further legislation, ending all voter registration rules requiring literacy and other voter qualification tests. 3 years after the Voting Rights Act of 1965, over a million new African Americans had become registered voters.

Tougher Tactics After 1965, MLK began to change his tactics, looking to improve the economic status of impoverished African Americans, nation-wide. He planned another march on D.C. to tackle this issue, but was assassinated in 1968. The march took place, but failed to secure any more attention from Congress.

MLKs tactics began to be questioned by many that felt that civil disobedience would no longer advance their cause. Main opponent was the SNCC, led by Stokely Carmichael who popularized the term Black Power. Black Power advocates were influenced by Malcolm X. Stokely Carmichael

Malcolm X was a Nation of Islam minister who was assassinated in 1965. His teachings emphasized self- sufficiency and black separatism. Emphasized black pride and self-assertion. These ideas were condemned by many whites as racist and by Civil Rights leaders as undermining to a process that had made so much progress. Malcolm X

Carmichael and his successor in the SNCC, H. Rap Brand became symbols of the new radicalism Opposition grew to their views when the Black Panther party gained popularity. Advocated violence to further their cause Battled police in Chicago and Oakland. Several leaders were killed or imprisoned for battling policemen.

Black Power images.

Bobby Seale, Newtons co- leader of the Black Panther party.

United States Olympic athletes use Black Power salute instead of putting hands over their hearts during the playing of the National Anthem during the award ceremony.

End of the Civil Rights Movement Varying opinions End of the march on Montgomery Assassination of MLK Jr. Not over yet Continuing issues from the 70s School bussing Affirmative Action Charter Schools (my own personal belief )

the civil rights movement introduction challenge to segregation –laws –customs debates vary on...

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