Section 1 Battling Segregation Section 2 The Civil Rights Movement Takes Shape

2. Section 1Battling Segregation Section 2The Civil Rights Movement Takes Shape Section 3The Movement Grows First Steps Toward Equality

3. Section 1: Battling Segregation Main Idea In the late 1940s and early 1950s African Americans successfully broke down “separate but equal” barriers in education and professional baseball. • Reading Focus • What civil rights progress was made during the postwar period? • What methods did civil rights activists use to desegregate public schools? • What other events during this period led civil rights activists to call for change?

4. Building Background After World War II, black soldiers who had risked their lives to serve their country came home to face racial discrimination. Such treatment angered many black veterans. “I paid my dues over there,” said James Hicks, “and I’m not going to take this anymore over here.”  Many black veterans joined with other African Americans to push harder for equality. Their efforts helped launch a civil rights movement that soon swept the nation.

5. Many returning black veterans no longer willing to put up with discrimination; began to call for an end to racial inequality African Americans saw a number of key gains Truman banned discrimination in the hiring of federal employees in 1948 President Eisenhower, elected in 1952, took further steps to reduce racial discrimination in hiring practices At the state level, several northern and western states passed laws banning racial discrimination in public housing Despite gains, many opportunities remained closed to African Americans in the 1950s Civil Rights in the Postwar Period

6. White Resistance • Time of economic prosperity for many white Americans; few black Americans shared new wealth • Strong white resistance to black equality remained; particularly evident in the South • White citizens used unfair laws, fear, and violence to try to keep black citizens from voting or from standing up for their rights • Segregation major barrier to equality for blacks • Custom and laws separated black and white Americans in schools, housing, and jobs • Continued Segregation • Segregation most rigid in the South • Jim Crow laws forced blacks to use “colored only” facilities • 1896 Supreme Court casePlessy v. Ferguson established the “separate but equal” doctrine legalizing segregation • Separate facilities rarely equal • One glaring example of inequality—the nation’s black schools • New generation of black leaders began to fight segregation in education

7. Reading Check Summarize What gains did African Americans make in the late 1940s ? Answer(s): National laws and some state laws integrated the armed forces and reduced discrimination in hiring practices and public housing.

8. Fighting Segregation Starting back in the 1840s Robert Morris and Charles Sumner sued the city of Boston; claimed Boston’s segregated schools violated the state constitution Case was lost, but it established an important principle—that segregated schools are inherently unequal In the 1930s Charles Hamilton Houston, head of the NAACP, launched a campaign against segregation Developed a strategy to chip away at the “separate but equal” doctrine Hired Thurgood Marshall as the NAACP’s chief legal counsel School Desegregation In most cases, schools for blacks were far inferior to the schools for white students. Black schools often had out-of-date textbooks, old and inadequate buildings, and fewer extracurricular programs. Such inequalities had far-reaching effects on black children’s later opportunities and success in life.

10. Challenging “Separate but Equal” • NAACP lawyers won a series of court cases • One victory was against the University of Missouri • Lloyd Gaines refused admittance to law school because of his race; instead the university offered to help pay for Gaines to go to an out-of-state law school • 1938 Gaines v. Canada; states had to provide equal educational facilities within their borders • Each state had to provide separate black schools—including law schools—or admit black students to its white schools • Victory a major step toward ending segregation in higher education; but the University of Missouri created a black law school in St. Louis • Gaines never attended; after disappearing in Chicago he was presumed murdered • Gaines’s disappearance is an unsolved case

11. Heman Sweatt • 1946 another black student denied access to a law school • Lower court ruled state of Texas to either establish a “separate but equal” law school or the University of Texas to admit Sweatt • A makeshift law school was created, but did not even come close to being equal to the university’s prestigious all-white law school • Sweatt v. Painter • NAACP appealed; in 1950 Marshall argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court • In Sweatt v. PaintertheSupreme Court ruled University of Texas black law school was inferior to its white law school; Court ruled that separate law schools hurt the education of black law students • Victory forced nation’s graduate and professional schools to integrate

12. School Segregation Cases • The NAACP took on another school segregation case in 1950 • George McLaurin, a black student, admitted to the University of Oklahoma graduate program • The university forced McLaurin to sit apart from white students in classrooms, the library, and the cafeteria • The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents these restrictions were unconstitutional • Each of these legal victories helped break down segregation in higher education • Public elementary and secondary schools remained segregated—and very unequal across the nation • The NAACP decided to push for the integration of all public schools

13. Brown v. Board of Education • Key Court Cases • 1954 Thurgood Marshall went before the U.S. Supreme Court with a case that forever changed education in the United States • Combination of court cases challenging the constitutionality of segregated public schools • Neighborhood Schools • Went by name of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas • NAACP members tried to enroll children in white neighborhood schools; schools refused to admit the black students, who had to attend black schools farther away • Arguments • Heard over two-year period • Thurgood Marshall provided research suggesting segregation harmful to students’ self-image • His research helped influence the Court’s final decision • Unanimous Ruling in 1954 • Brown v. Board of Education, the Court ruled the “separate but equal” doctrine in the nation’s public schools unconstitutional and therefore racial segregation in public schools was illegal

15. Crisis in Little Rock • School Integration Begins • 21 states had laws segregating public schools; mixed reaction to the Brown decision in these states • A few white leaders agreed to start integrating public schools; other white leaders strongly opposed school integration • In Virginia several white officials pledged to join forces to block school integration at all levels • The Virginia legislature passed laws forcing the closure of any school that integrated • Helped white students attend all-white private schools • “All Deliberate Speed” • By the end of 1954 only three southern school districts had desegregated • In 1955 the U.S. Supreme Court ordered public schools to desegregate “with all deliberate speed” • Demonstrations against integration took place in many parts of the South • In the end, President Eisenhower and the federal government took action after a crisis in Little Rock, Arkansas

16. Little Rock Nine • Little Rock planned to desegregate its public schools one at a time • Fall 1957 the board allowed nine black students to attend the city’s white Central High School; students became known as the Little Rock Nine • The governor called out the Arkansas National Guard to keep the nine students from entering the white high school, claiming the action was necessary to protect the school from white extremists who had threatened violence • On September 4, 1957, the first day of school, some local ministers brought eight of the nine black students to Central High School • While an angry white crowd confronted the students, the National Guard barred the way and refused to let the students enter • The ninth black student, 15-year-old Elizabeth Eckford arrived at the school alone and was surrounded by a hostile white crowd • When the National Guard turned her away from the school, someone in the crowd began yelling, “Lynch her! Lynch her!”

17. Standoff • For nearly three weeks, members of the Arkansas National Guard prevented the Little Rock Nine from entering Central High School • Tense situation continued • Federal Troops • President Eisenhower sent more than a thousand federal troops in to end the standoff • On September 25, 1957, U.S. soldiers with fixed bayonets escorted the nine black students into Central High School • Students Abused • Once in school, the black students endured frequent abuse • White students called them names and kicked and shoved them • The students received death threats; had to be assigned guards for protection • Perseverance • Eight of the nine students remained at Central High; May 1958 Ernest Green school’s first black graduate • The Little Rock crisis showed how strong racism was in some areas • School desegregation continued for decades

18. Reading Check Find the Main Ideas What was the significance of the case Brown v. Board of Education? Answer(s): The case struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine in public schools, which made segregation in the nation’s public schools illegal.

19. Breaking the Color Barrier in Professional Baseball Branch Rickey, owner of Brooklyn Dodgers, agreed to sign Jackie Robinson, a gifted four-sport athlete On April 15, 1947 Robinson broke the color line in professional baseball Robinson a phenomenal success for the Dodgers; in his first year, Robinson won the National League’s “Rookie of the Year” award and became National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1949 Robinson’s dignity and immense talent earned him the admiration of millions of fans Retiring in 1956, in 1962 he became the first African American named to the Baseball Hall of Fame Other Calls for Change African Americans battled segregation in other areas of society. One of these areas was Major League Baseball. In the late 1940s the NAACP took on this challenge with the help of a highly talented athlete.

21. Murder of Emmett Till • Blacks remained second-class citizens to many, particularly in the South • Nationwide attention focused with the 1955 murder of Emmett Till • Till, a 14-year-old boy from Chicago, had gone to Mississippi to visit his great uncle; not knowing the South’s strict racial etiquette • Soon after arriving in Mississippi, Till and other black teenagers went to a small grocery owned by a young couple, Roy and Carolyn Bryant • Till made a comment to Carolyn Bryant and she took offense • Historians do not know for certain what Till said but her husband found out about the incident • Four days later, Roy Bryant and his half brother kidnapped Till in the middle of the night and murdered him • Emmett Till’s mother insisted on an open casket so people could see what had been done to her son • Till’s senseless murder—and his killers’ acquittal by an all-white jury—awakened more Americans to the racism that southern blacks faced

23. Reading Check Analyze How did other events during this period affect the fight for civil rights? Answer(s): In 1947 Jackie Robinson broke the color line in professional baseball, and in 1955 Emmett Till’s murder helped spur the civil rights movement.

24. Section 2: The Civil Rights Movement Takes Shape Main Idea With the victory over segregation in schools, civil rights activists fought to end segregation in transportation and other areas of American society. • Reading Focus • In what ways did civil rights activists protest segregation in public transportation? • What was the significance of Martin Luther King Jr. in the civil rights movement? • How did the strategy of nonviolent protest help civil rights activists in their cause?

25. Building Background During the late 1940s and early 1950s, civil rights activists successfully ended segregation in the military, public schools, and some professional sports. These victories were just the beginning, however. As the drive for equality gained momentum, civil rights activists fought segregation in other areas of society, and a civil rights movement developed.

26. Baton Rouge Bus Boycott Early 1950s civil rights leaders decided to organize boycotts of city buses Bus system in Baton Rouge reserved the first 10 seats for white passengers and the rest of the seats for black passengers; black passengers had to stand even if a “white” seat was available If a white passenger could not find a seat, a black passenger had to stand to let the white passenger sit T. J. Jemison, a black minister, decided to oppose the bus system’s practice of reserved seating; speaking out against the practice Baton Rouge council offered compromise—black passengers could sit in any empty seat as long as no white passengers were standing Protesting Segregated Transportation The Supreme Court’s Brown decision striking down the “separate but equal” doctrine in public schools had a major impact on American society. However, segregation continued to be enforced in many other public places and facilities in the South. One major area that remained segregated was public transportation.

27. Boycott • Boycott participants organized carpools or walked, pooling their money to pay for gasoline • Boycott leaders reached a new compromise with city officials • The first two seats on city buses would be reserved for white passengers, and the back row would be reserved for black passengers • People of any race could sit in between • Most agreed to the compromise; the Baton Rouge bus boycott had succeeded after only five days • Drivers on Strike • Baton Rouge bus drivers refused to enforce the new law • Drivers went on strike when the bus company pressured them • Louisiana attorney general struck down the Baton Rouge law, stating that it violated state laws enforcing segregation • Bus drivers went back to work; blacks in Baton Rouge outraged • In protest, Jemison and Raymond Scott, a black tailor, organized boycott of the bus system • The next day, African Americans had stopped riding buses

28. Montgomery Bus Boycott • Similar Boycott • 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama • Montgomery bus system required black passengers to sit in a “colored section” in the back; not allowed to share rows with white passengers • Row of black passengers to stand so one white passenger could sit • NAACP Involved • Rosa Parks boarded a city bus and sat in the first row of the “colored section”; Parks refused give her seat to white passengers • She was arrested and taken to jail • The NAACP had found its test case • One-Day Boycott • NAACP called for a one-day Montgomery bus boycott; 90 percent of riders participated • Black leaders extended the boycott and formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) • King on Board • Martin Luther King Jr., a 26-year-old black Baptist minister was chosen to lead the MIA • An experienced activist, King had gained a reputation as a powerful speaker

30. The organizers hoped for a quick victory, but city officials refused to negotiate Boycott participants did not give up; boycott leaders organized a carpool system For more than a year, boycotters carpooled, took taxis, rode bicycles, or simply walked King later recalled, “We came to see that, in the long run, it is more honorable to walk in dignity than ride in humiliation.” Local police harassed and arrested carpool drivers, and local insurance agents canceled some boycotters’ auto insurance policies No Quick Victory

31. A few white opponents even resorted to violence King received hate mail and threatening phone calls; his house and the houses of others were bombed Such events helped the boycott gain national attention; other African Americans began staging similar boycotts Meanwhile, the NAACP filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging segregation on city buses The case eventually went before the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 1956 that segregation on city buses was unconstitutional The ruling overturned Montgomery’s bus segregation laws A month after the ruling, King and other boycott leaders rode Montgomery’s first integrated city bus National Attention

32. Reading Check Identify Who were two key African American activists in the Montgomery bus boycott? Answer(s): Rosa Parks, whose refusal to give up her bus seat was the catalyst for the boycott; Martin Luther King Jr., who led the MIA

33. Martin Luther King Jr. • The Road to Montgomery • Born into a middle-class family in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1929 • His father was a college-educated Baptist preacher, and young King received a solid education; went to Morehouse College, a historically black college in Atlanta • After graduating in 1948, King attended Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, earning a degree in theology in 1951 and then obtained a doctorate from Boston University in 1955 • While in Boston, King met a young woman named Coretta Scott • They married in 1953; had two sons and two daughters • In 1954 King became pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery • Joined the NAACP; became active in working for civil rights

35. Creation of the SCLC • Inspired by Montgomery bus boycott success; Civil rights leaders from MIA and other groups realized importance of working together • Met in Atlanta in 1957 and formed an organization called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference(SCLC) to coordinate civil rights campaigns; King elected as their first president • Strongly influenced by the Christian faith; members of many faiths and races • Churches Important • SCLC highlights the role that churches played in the civil rights movement • Black churches gave members leadership opportunities denied to African Americans elsewhere • Provide the support and self-respect activists needed to stand up to racial hatred and violence • Most of all, churches promoted faith in a better life, a vision that inspired countless African Americans and their allies in the struggle for equality

36. Reading Check Find the Main Ideas How did Martin Luther King Jr. contribute to the early civil rights movement? Answer(s): He led the MIA in the Montgomery bus boycott, helped form the SCLC, and became a prominent leader of the civil rights movement.

37. Nonviolent Protest • The Strategy of Nonviolence • Mohandas Gandhi helped lead India’s struggle for independence from Great Britain; model for nonviolent protest • Inspired by nonviolent Hindu traditions as well as by writer Henry David Thoreau; rejected all violence • Led protesters in peacefully disobeying the law; by exposing themselves to harm, the protesters hoped to expose injustice • Gandhi believed approach best way to achieve change in a society in which other people held most of the power • King and several other civil rights leaders agreed • “Violence ends by defeating itself”—Martin Luther King Jr., Strides toward Freedom, 1958

38. Implementation • Practitioners • James Lawson, a black minister, key civil rights leader • Lawson visited India to study Gandhi’s teachings; began conducting SCLC workshops on nonviolent protest methods • Held workshops in Nashville and on black colleges campuses across the South • Workshops trained activists how to protect themselves; remain peaceful in the face of violence • Activists trained included future leaders in the civil rights movement • The Sit-in Movement • One popular method of nonviolent protest was the sit-in, a demonstration in which protesters sit down in a location and refuse to leave • Since the 1940s civil rights activists used sit-ins to challenge segregation in both public places and private businesses • Like public facilities, many private businesses in the South were segregated • Some did not serve black customers at all

39. Greensboro, North Carolina • Four black college students challenged segregation at Woolworth lunch counters in 1960 • Woolworth let white customers sit down at one end of the lunch counter; required black customers to eat standing up at the other end. • Beginnings of Protest • On February 1, the students sat at the “whites only” section of the Woolworth lunch counter • Denied service, they remained sitting until the store closed • Next day the sit-in resumed with more students; third day even more • Strength in Numbers • The sit-in attracted hundreds of supporters— both black and white—and became national news • Students adopted the strategy of nonviolent protest; no matter how hostile white onlookers were, the sit-in participants did not respond • Strategy Wins Support • Daily sit-ins gained national exposure, movement spread • Activists staged similar protests in about 50 southern cities • Supporters of all races boycotted and picketed the targeted businesses

41. SNCC Formed • By April 1960, police had arrested sit-in protesters across the South • Despite arrests, several of the sit-ins successful; business owners to change their policies • In May, many businesses in Nashville desegregated their lunch counters; in July lunch counters in Greensboro did the same • By October, Woolworth and three other national chains had desegregated their lunch counters nationwide • The sit-ins marked a shift in the civil rights movement; showed the success youth could achieve in the fight for civil rights • To organize future nonviolent protests, sit-in leaders formed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) • The SNCC trained students in the strategy of nonviolence and organized civil rights demonstrations; efforts of these young activists soon helped take the civil rights movement on the road

43. Reading Check Recall What event launched the sit-in movement, and when and where did this event occur Answer(s): On February 1, 1960, four black male college students began a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.

44. Section 3: The Movement Grows Main Idea Through nonviolent protests and laws, civil rights activists made progress in the integration of interstate travel and higher education and in securing black voting rights. • Reading Focus • What further protests occurred to fight discrimination on the road? • What key events occurred in the early drive for voting rights? • In what ways did activists fight to integrate higher education? • What protests occurred in Albany, GA, Birmingham, AL, and Washington, D.C.?

45. Building Background Nonviolent boycotts and sit-ins gained the civil rights movement national attention. Although not all of the protests were successful, many Americans were impressed with the courage and dignity of the black and white activists who took part in them. As public support for the movement grew, civil rights activists turned to new challenges in the struggle to gain full equality for African Americans.

46. Riding for Freedom Segregation in interstate bus travel prohibited since 1946; unofficial segregation continued in the South Black passengers expected to sit in reserved areas and give up their seats; had to use separate facilities at interstate bus stations Civil rights activists from Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a northern group founded in 1942 by James Farmer and others, decided to protest In 1947 CORE sponsored the Journey of Reconciliation, a protest of black and white men who rode a bus through the Upper South The activists arrested and jailed several times; in North Carolina, black riders sentenced to 30 days on a chain gang; white riders, whom the judge said had “upset the customs of the South,” given harsher 90 day sentence Fighting Discrimination on the Road Among the many areas of society that remained segregated was interstate bus and train travel. Although they could ride buses and trains, blacks endured discrimination on cross-country journeys.

47. Integration of Bus Stations • 1960 U.S. Supreme Court ordered integration of interstate bus stations and facilities • Many white southerners refused to follow the order; CORE staged another protest to draw attention to situation • 1961 CORE sent a group on Freedom Rides—bus trips through the South during which black and white activists tried to use segregated facilities • On May 4, a group left D.C. on two buses bound for Louisiana • Violence met the Freedom Riders as soon as they entered Alabama • National Attention • White mob firebombed one of the buses and beat the riders • The incident on front pages of newspapers nationwide • Freedom Riders on the other bus in Birmingham attacked by group with bats and metal pipes • Severely injured one rider • CORE riders unable to continue, second group from SNCC completed the Freedom Rides • Knowing they risked death, some riders made out their wills or wrote farewell letters

49. President John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, concerned about America’s image abroad, asked the riders to stop SNCC leader Diane Nash refused to yield to violence Attorney General Robert Kennedy had Alabama governor John Patterson agree to provide protection Promised protection not available when angry mob attacked the Freedom Riders in Montgomery Furious at Patterson’s betrayal, Robert Kennedy sent federal marshals to protect the riders Freedom Rides ended in September 1961 when Interstate Commerce Commission issued tougher laws against segregation in interstate travel Federal Intervention

50. Reading Check Draw Conclusions Why were the Freedom Rides so successful? Answer(s): The violence that they provoked and the publicity they gained eventually pressured the ICC into toughening its laws to integrate interstate travel.