The Civil Rights MovementFrom Jim Crow to Black Power

Emergence of the Civil Rights Movement

• Despite rights created by the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, discrimination and segregation continued in the United States.

• Jim Crow laws were created to separate blacks and whites socially, economically and politically.

• In 1896, Plessy v. Ferguson created “separate but equal” which allowed for the legal separation despite not being equal.

School Desegregation• 1952, the NAACP, led by Thurgood Marshall brought

Brown v Board of Education to the Supreme Court. It was argued that segregation was bad for BOTH blacks and whites.

• 1954, segregation in public school is ruled unconstitutional• Southern whites oppose integration and claim it as the

mogrelization of the races and that the NAACP was part of a communist plot.

• The Southern Manifesto was created by congressional representatives and supported by White Citizen Councils to close schools and delay segregation as long as possible.

The Little Rock 9• Governor Orval Fabus led a resistance of 9 black students

who sought to enroll in Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.

• Facing protests, threats and racial slurs the 9 went began school.

• President Eisenhower was forced to call in 10,000 national Guardsmen and 1,000 paratroopers to calm the city.

• The students continued to attend and Earnest Green was the first black student to graduate from Central High School in 1958.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in the middle of the bus to a white man. She was arrested and bailed out of jail.

• Organizers of the boycott believe the bus company would change its policies since 75% of its passengers were black.

• At the end of a year long boycott, the Supreme Court ordered the end of bus segregation.

Sit-In Movement

• Began at an all white lunch counter in Greensboro, NC in 1960.

• The SNCC (snick) Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee was created with the motto of “justice permeated by love”.

• Students were trained to resist reacting to harassment and violence.

• Eventually, businesses sought changes in segregations policies to end the protests.

Freedom Rides

• Despite the desegregation of interstate busses in 1947, it was still a common practice.

• James Farmer sent CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) volunteers to ride the busses from Washington D.C. to New Orleans.

• Black and white riders were beaten, arrested, fire bombed, and a few were even murdered.

• The Federal government finally stepped into protect the riders as they traveled through Mississippi.

Birmingham in 1963• Targeted because of the oppressive police commissioner Bull

Conner. By gaining national attention and federal support leaders sought to legitimize their movement.

• Hundreds of protestors were jailed including MLK Jr.• In May, children began to march. Conner ordered the fire

department to hose down the protestors and let police dog attack protestors and bystanders.

• The televised events forced Kennedy to respond to this “moral evil”.

• Despite some improvements in desegregation, violence and retaliation against blacks continued for some time.

Selma March

• The March was promoted to draw attention to voting rights in Alabama.

• As protestors crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, they were attack by state police.

• The brutality of the attacks were broadcast on national TV.

• President Johnson addressed the nation and pushed through the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

March on Washington

• Organizers wanted to continue the pressure on the government.

• Over 250,000 marchers showed up.• MLK Jr. gave his infamous “I have a dream” speech.• Eventually, the Civil Rights Act on 1964 was passed.– Allowed government to enforce school desegregation– Ended segregation in all public facilities– Created the Fair Employment Opportunities Commission.

Freedom Summer of 1964

• 1000’s of volunteers descended on Mississippi to register black voters.

• Many were run off, beaten, jailed and a couple were murdered for their efforts.

• Fannie Lou Hammer created the Mississippi Freedom Democratic party to provide blacks a more effective political voice.

Race Riots

• Frustrated by a lack of progress and rising tensions, violence erupted in several urban cities from Los Angeles (Watts), to Detroit to Harlem.

• The Kerner Comission reported that much of the blame needed was from white racism, particularly from local police.

• The report however, did not offer many solutions except for the need to improve urban areas for African Americans.

Shift to Radicalism

• Frustrated by the lack of progress, many blacks white participation in the movement was ineffective.

• In 1966, Stokely Carmichael used the term Black Power to instill pride and a more positive image for blacks.

• Huey Newton and Bobby Seal created the Black Panther Party.– Used to promote Black Power– Militant views of separatism– Acted as watch dog group– Promoted better education opportunities