Civil Rights Era

Chapter 21

Segregation

• Plessy v. Ferguson

– “separate but equal” law did not violate the 14th Amendment

• Jim Crow laws

– Aimed at separating the races

– Separate schools, streetcars, elevators, witness stands, restrooms, etc.

• Racial prejudice and segregation in the north too

Effect of WWII

• New job opportunities opened up as white males went to war

• 1 million African-American men serve in armed forces– Determined to fight for their own freedom

now that they helped defeat fascist regimes overseas

• During the war, civil rights organizations challenged Jim Crow laws

Challenging Segregation- Eight Year Old Linda Brown had to

walk 21 blocks to the nearest “black” school and past the “white” school just four blocks away

• On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court struck down segregation in schooling as unconstitutional

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

• Chief Justice Earl Warren said “the doctrine of separate but equal has no place”

Reaction to Brown Decision

• In some areas, whites resisted desegregation

• Gov. Faubus of Arkansas ordered the National Guard to turn away the “Little Rock Nine”

• A federal judge ordered Faubus to let the students into the school

• Pres. Eisenhower sent troops to protect the African-American students outside the school

• 9 students were regularly harassed by other students

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Rosa Parks took a seat in the front row of the “colored” section of the bus. As the bus filled up, the driver ordered Parks and others to empty their row so a white man could sit

• Parks refused to move and was arrested

• The NAACP planned a bus boycott– Elected Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to lead the

group

• For 381 days, African-Americans in Montgomery refused to ride the buses

• 1956- the Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation

Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Proved the power of nonviolent resistance- the peaceful refusal to obey unjust laws– Based on the teachings of Gandhi

• Founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)– Staged protests and

demonstrations throughout the south

• The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)– Were more confrontational

• 1960- students staged a sit-in; protestors sat down at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until they were served– Television showed the events to the whole

country

Freedom Riders

• Civil Rights activists who rode buses through the South to challenge segregation

• Both buses met up with white mobs

• Attorney General Robert Kennedy convinced another group to proceed

• After more violence, Pres. Kennedy sent U.S. marshals to protect the riders

• Attorney general and ICC banned segregation in all travel facilities

Birmingham, Alabama

• City known for its strict enforcement of segregation

• Martin Luther King, Jr. asked by black community to desegregate the city

• After a march, King and other leaders were jailed

• “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

• Children Marches- thousands came face to face with high-pressure fire hoses, dogs, etc.

• All of the violence was captured on television

• America’s outcry finally convinced the citizens of Birmingham they had to de-segregate (not integrate)

• Pres. Kennedy orders Gov. George Wallace to desegregate the Univ. of Alabama

• Demands that Congress pass a new Civil Rights Bill

• Hours after Kennedy’s speech, Medgar Evers, NAACP field secretary and WWII veteran, is murdered– Byron de la Beckworth is released after two

trials resulting in hung juries

– African-Americans demand “Freedom Now!”

March on Washington

• Thousands march in Washington to the Lincoln Memorial

• Speakers demand the immediate passage of the civil rights bill

• MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech

• MLK speech

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:March_on_Washington_edit.jpg

• 4 Birmingham girls killed when a rider hurled a bomb through their church window

• Pres. Kennedy is killed and Pres. Johnson passes the Civil Rights Bill of 1964– Prohibited discrimination because of race,

religion, national origin, and gender

• Freedom Summer- college students, mostly white women, go to Mississippi to register black voters

– Three men were killed by Klansmen

• Selma campaign- march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama – Police used tear gas, clubs, and whips– Caught on TV

• 2nd march was under federal protection

• Voting Rights Act of 1965- eliminated literacy tests; could now enroll voters who had been denied suffrage by local officals

• Another issue was dealing with prejudice in the North

• De facto segregation- exists by practice and custom rather than by law (de jure)- is harder to fight– Dealing with changing people’s attitudes

• After WWII, African-Americans moved to northern cities– “white flight” to the suburbs– African-Americans lived in slums;

unemployment– riots

New Leaders• Malcolm X: influenced by teachings of the Nation

of Islam, or Black Muslims. – Called for armed self-defense

• Black Power: Stokely Carmichael, the leader of SNCC, calls for Black Power– Encourages black pride and social leadership– MLK believes this will lead to violence

• Black Panthers: militant political organization to fight police brutality and to provide services in the ghetto

Assassinations

• Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in 1968– Riots in over 100 cities followed

• Two months later, Robert Kennedy was killed while campaigning for president

Legacy

• Civil Rights Act of 1968

• Higher #s of students finishing high school and going to college better jobs

• African American pride

• Political gains