Civil Rights From 1954 - 1968Essential Questions:

Analyze the actions that lead to social inequalities in America in

the post-World War II era.What were some attempts at

remedying this inequality?What was the public reaction to

these attempts at achieving equality?

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Racial Segregation in the 50s

• 1950s African Americans dealt with discrimination in the workplace, around their homes, and in every aspect of their daily lives.

• Let’s look back at some events that lead to the new wave of civil rights in the 50s and 60s

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• “Jim Crow” Laws- unofficial restraints that white Americans placed on African Americans (1st laws enacted in 1876) –Forced to sit in the back of buses–Sep. lunch counters–Sep. bathrooms–Sep. water fountains–Labeled “Colored”

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Supreme Court Decisions on Civil Rights

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Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)• Separation of all the races does

not place a badge of inferiority upon one group over another, thus it is not a violation of the 14th Amendment.

• Upheld a Louisiana law (1890) that required blacks and whites to have “separate but equal” facilities. – Included railroads

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Impact of Plessy

• “Separate But Equal” was legal• Legitimized ongoing segregation in the

South• They claimed it was to protect the

different races from harming one another, and that it did not mean to make blacks inferior – after seeing the photos, do you agree? Were they equal?

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Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

• Linda Brown - 8 yrs. old• She wanted to attend an all

white school she passed on the way to her bus stop.

• Her school (for African Americans) was a greater distance away

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• Oliver Brown (Linda’s dad) filed suit against the School Board for not allowing Linda to attend the nearby school–14th amendment rights

• Appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court

• Lawyer- Thurgood Marshall from the NAACP

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Outcome of Brown v BOE• To separate children in grade school and high school

from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status. . .that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone

• On May 17, 1954 the Court ruled that “separate facilities are inherently unequal” in public education

• Overturned the Plessy decision • Linda Brown won her case!!

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Comparison of Two Cases• Plessy - Separation of all the races does not place a

badge of inferiority upon one group over another, thus it is not a violation of the 14th Amendment.

• Brown - To separate children in grade school and high school from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status. . .that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone

• What is the major change?– The Supreme Courts opinions regarding equal rights for all

citizens

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Desegregation in Schools

• Within a year of the ruling, more than 500 school districts had desegregated their classrooms– The first were Washington D.C., Baltimore, and St.

Louis

• However, and especially in the south, there formed quite a resistance to the changes– The Ku Klux Klan help to support the resistance in

some areas

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Brown II

• To speed things up, the Supreme Court provided another ruling in 1955 known as Brown II, that ordered desegregation implemented “with all deliberate speed”

• Initially, President Eisenhower refuse to enforce this ruling saying “The fellow who tries to tell me that you can do these things by force is just plain nuts”

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Integrated Prom Article

• Read through the facts of one high schools attempt at having an integrated prom.

• What surprises you about these facts?

• Surprise!!!– This happened in April 29, 2013! – In Wilcox County Georgia

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Crisis in Little Rock• In 1948, Arkansas had become the 1st Southern

State to admit African Americans to state universities without being required by court order

• However, one Governor in Little Rock wanted nothing to do with integration– In Sept. 1957 Gov. Faubus sent National Guard

Troops to guard against integration into Central High School• Stop any African American from entering white

schools– Turned away 9 Black students which tried to enter

the school, called the Little Rock Nine

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The Little Rock Nine

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• Elizabeth Eckford faces abusive crowd

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• Pres. Eisenhower sent Federal Troops to ensure black students be allowed to integrate the schools

• Slow process of integration began

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Clinton High School, TN

• Monday, August 26, 1956, Clinton H.S. made history by becoming the first public high school in the South to integrate.

• 12 Black students enrolled• Town protests- mostly from outsiders• Troops called in to defuse situation

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The Clinton 12

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Response to Integration in Little Rock

• 1958 – Someone bombed the school- destroying the school.

• Fed. Investigation- unsolved case

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Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955

•Rosa Parks refused to sit in back of the bus

•Results in a win for the African American community

Montgomery Bus Boycott Cont’d

• Lasted for 382 days• Took private taxis, carpools, walked,

bicycled, etc. instead of taking bus• Bus lines lost lots of $$$$$• Bus seats were integrated• Organized by MLK, Jr.

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Greensboro Sit-ins• February 1, 1960

• 4 African American college students sat at an all white counter in Greensboro, NC

• Sit-ins would be organized by Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee (SNCC)

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Nashville Lunch Counters 1960

• Led by Rev. James Lawson

• Sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters in Nashville

• Result: Mayor orders the desegregation of lunch counters

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Nashville, as a result became the first major city in the south to begin integration of public facilities

Part 2: The Triumphs of a Crusade

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Organizations – know these!• NAACP – National Assoc. for the

Advancement of Colored People• CORE – Congress of Racial Equality

(freedom rides)• SNCC – Student Nonviolent

Coordinating Committee (sit-ins)• SCLC – Southern Christian Leadership

Conference (MLK, Jr.)

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Freedom Riders 1961

• An interracial group, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), organized “freedom rides” on interstate buses traveling from Washington D.C. to New Orleans.

• Write down your answer to the following question:

• Who were the freedom riders?

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Significance of the Freedom Riders

• Challenged the segregation of buses, rest rooms and restaurants and violence often erupted.

• Showed that blacks were not the only people who wanted change

• Result: The Interstate Commerce Commission ordered all interstate vehicles and terminals to be desegregated

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Integrating Ole Miss• September 1962, Air Force

veteran James Meredith won a federal court case that allowed him to enroll in the all white university Ole Miss.

• Gov. Barnett refused to let him register for classes

• Kennedy sent in Federal Troops

• Rioting (2 died, 200 arrests, 15 hours and thousands of soldiers to end rioting

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Bull Connor• Eugene “Bull” Connor, was a white supremacist

police chief in Birmingham, AL• 1963- used attack dogs and water hoses on

African American demonstrators• Most of it was caught on video and televised.

– Viewers were shocked at what they saw and heard (children crying)

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The Fight in Birmingham

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George Wallace• 4-time Gov. of Alabama• Resisted Federal laws for

integration in the 1960s• “Segregation now,

segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

• Blocked Univ. of AL.

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JFK vs George Wallace

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.• Pastor from Birmingham, AL• Leader of the Southern Christian Leadership

Conference• Leader of nonviolent demonstrations and protest that

led to the end of segregation and the Jim Crow Laws • “I have a dream” – March on Wash DC

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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

March on Washington• August 1963• Over half a million

blacks and whites• Marched to Lincoln

Memorial• “I Have a Dream”

speech– He expressed his

want of an integrated society

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Civil Acts Rights (1964)

• Pres. Lyndon B Johnson (JFK dead)• Segregation in all public facilities

became illegal • Equal Opportunity Commission was

created to ensure the end of discrimination in the workplace

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Birmingham Bombings

• 13 days after the March on Washington• Birmingham was the scene of a dozen

bombings during the Civil Rights Movement• 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed on

September 15, 1963• Was a meeting place for the CORE and SCLC• The bombing killed four young girls, 3

fourteen year olds and one 11 year old

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“Bombingham”

• The four young girls become martyrs for the Civil Rights cause

• America was outraged

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KKK Claims Responsibility

• KKK took responsibility for bombing• Robert Chambliss- charged w/murder

and possession of dynamite• Found not guilty of murder- served 6

months for pos. of dynamite & $100 fine

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Freedom Summer- 1964

• CORE & SNCC project to register blacks to vote in Mississippi

• Volunteers beaten & killed • Businesses, homes, & churches

burned• Mississippi Freedom Democratic

Party formed– Had 2 delegates at the National

Convention in 1964

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24th Amendment• 1964-Abolished the poll tax (which had been used

to keep African Americans from voting)

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Selma Campaign• 1965

– Voting rights demonstrators killed in Selma, Al– MLK leads 600 protest marchers from Selma to

Montgomery, AL– 1st march interrupted– 2nd March began with 3,000 – number grew to 25,000.-

completed (middle pic is video)

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Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Passed August 1965– Stops literacy tests– Allows federal officials to enroll voters– Increased black voter enrollment

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TN Influence - Diane Nash• Nonviolent activist• Sit-ins (Nashville) and freedom rides for Civil

Rights• Co-founder of SNCC• Fisk Univ. in Nashville

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TN Senators InfluenceAl Gore Sr. and Estes Kefauver

• Supporter of Civil Rights and racial justice

• Sen. from TN• Al Gore Sr. and Estes

Kefauver refused to sign the Southern Manifesto

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Challenges & Changes in North

• Northern Segregation– De facto – exists by practice, custom – North– De jure – required by law –South (Jim Crow)– 1960s most blacks live in slums; landlords ignore

ordinances– Black unemployment twice as high as white– Many blacks angry at treatment by white police– Seek greater equality

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Effects• Urban violence increases in the Mid-1960s

– Many riots– Many whites do not understand black rage– Blacks want & need equal opportunity in jobs,

housing and education

• Change in LBJ– Redirects money from war on poverty to fight war

in Vietnam

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New Leaders Voice Discontent

• Nation of Islam, Black Muslims– Advocate blacks separate from whites

• Believe whites are the source of blacks’ problems

• Malcolm X- controversial leader, speaker– Frightens whites & moderate blacks– Taught blacks to fight for a site of their own, separate from

one inhabited by white people- self-determination– Pilgrimage to Mecca changes attitude toward whites– Splits with black Muslims- killed while giving speech in

1965

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Malcolm X

Black Power• CORE, SNCC become more

militant• SCLC pursues traditional tactics-

nonviolent• Stokely Carmichael calls for Black

Power– Blacks to control own lives,

communities without whites– Use of armed resistance in response

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Black Panthers• Fight police brutality• Want black self-sufficiency• Preach ideas of Mao Zedong• Provide social services in ghettos• Win popular support among blacks

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Turning Point• King objects to Black Power Movement• Is shot in Memphis, TN April 3, 1968• Death leads to worst rioting in U.S. history

– Over 100 cities affected– James Earl Ray - arrested and confesses

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Civil Rights Legacy

• Gains– Civil Rights Act of 1968 Prohibits discrimination in

housing– More blacks finish High School, college, get better

jobs.– Black studies programs developed– More blacks in movies, and TV– Voting Rights Act of 1965 increased voter

registration & more black elected officials

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Civil Rights Review

1. What is segregation?2. How did the Supreme Court case Plessy v.

Ferguson impact Southern society?3. What Supreme Court case changed Southern

society greatly in 1954?4. What was the first school to be integrated in the

South?5. African American students were blocked with

armed troops from entering which high school?

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Civil Rights From 1954 - 1968Answer the Essential Questions:Analyze the actions that lead to social inequalities in America in

the post-World War II era.What were some attempts at

remedying this inequality?What was the public reaction to

these attempts at achieving equality?

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