Civil Rights Movement

1. Civil Rights Movement U.S. History 11

2. Origins: 15th Amendment • Prohibited state governments from denying someone the right to vote based on race, skin color, or previous condition of servitude • Why was this ineffective? • Enacted the poll tax, literacy tests, and the grandfather clause

3. Origins: Jim Crow Laws • 1880’s Jim Crow Laws became prominent throughout the south • Local governments passed laws separating white and black people in public and private facilities • By the 20th century, “segregation” was the commonly used term to describe this

4. Origins: Plessy v Ferguson • 1896- Supreme court ruling that upheld Jim Crow Laws • State that they were “separate, but equal” • African Americans suffered in the North, as well • Even though there were no explicit laws

5. Early African American Rights Leaders • Booker T. Washington • Born a slave • Philosophy: Accommodate to segregation, not focus on equality immediately; but focus on building themselves up economically, socially, politically • “The wisest among my race understand that the agitation of questions of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all the privileges that will come to us must be the result of sever and constant struggle rather than artificial forcing… It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercises of these privileges”

6. Early African American Rights Leaders • W.E.B. Du Bois • Earned a Ph.d from Harvard • Criticized B.T. Washington • Philosophy: argued that blacks demand full and immediate equality , the right to vote was not something they needed to ‘earn’, and the burden of achieving equality should not rest on the African American community alone The power of the ballot we need in sheer defense, else what shall save us from a second slavery? The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.

7. Early African American Rights Leaders • Ida B. Wells • Born a slave • Was raised by her father to fight for the rights of African Americans • Known for her crusades against lynching and worked tirelessly for the women’s suffrage movement , blocked the establishment of segregated schools in Chicago, one of the first black women to run for public office in 1930

8. The Movement Begins • NAACP founded in 1909 • 1941- Roosevelt bans discrimination in defense industries • 1940’s- James Farmer founded CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) • 1947- Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to play MLB • 1954- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas • Overturns Plessy v Ferguson • “separate, but not equal”

10. Why did it take so long for change to occur?

11. 1955 • The Case of Emmet Till • Brutally murdered by white men in the south • Men found not guilty of murder • NAACP member Rosa Parks arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus • Started the Montgomery Bus Boycotts • Lasted for nearly a year

12. 1957 • Martin Luther King Jr., Charles K. Steele, and Fred Shuttlesworth establish the Southern Christian Leadership Conference • Central High School- Little Rock, Arkansas • Plan to gradually desegregate schools • First school subject to integration laws • “Little Rock 9” • Had to be escorted by the National Guard • “It is important that the reasons for my action be understood by all citizens… A foundation of our American way of life is our national respect for law… If resistance to the federal court orders ceases at once, the further presence of federal troops will be unnecessary and the City of Little Rock will return to its normal habits of peace and order and a blot upon the fair name and high honor of our nation in the world will be removed” -President Eisenhower, 1957

14. 1957 • Civil Rights Act of 1957 • Established the U.S. Civil Rights Commission • Had the power to investigate violations of civil rights • Gave the Attorney General greater power to protect the rights of African Americans • Was not very effective, but was the first civil rights act passed since Reconstruction

15. Why did it take another three years before Brown v. Board was implemented?

16. 1960 • Sit- ins- students participating in non-violent protest of their discrimination • Began in 1960- Greensboro, NC at a Woolworth’s lunch counter • Stayed until closing, refused service • Word of this incident spread rapidly, sparking sit-ins, wade-ins, read-ins, etc. across the nations • Do you think sit-ins were effective?

17. 1960 • Ella Baker helps young activist students form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

18. 1961 • Freedom Rides • Began May 1961 • Both black and white students volunteered • Were subject to brutal mob attacks throughout journey

19. Freedom Riders • Initial group- 6 white, 7 African American riders leave Washington D.C. • May 14- Attacks in Alabama- By then riders had split into 2 groups • One group was firebombed outside of Anniston • A mob attacks the second group in Birmingham • May 20- Federal Marshalls arrive in Montgomery when riders are met with even more violence • May 24- Mass arrests, including the riders who are sent to jail • Despite arrests, more volunteers keep the freedom rides going • By the end of summer, more than 300 riders had been arrested

20. 1962 • James Meredith becomes first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi • Rioting over this incident was sobad, Kennedy had to address the nation: “Americans are free… to disagree with the law, but not to disobey it”

21. 1963 • Martin Luther King gets arrested and jailed during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama • May 2- 2nd demonstration in Birmingham • Over 1000 children marched • 959 arrested • 3rd demonstration on May 3rd • televised nationally • Police swept marchers off their feet with high pressure hoses, set attack dogs on them, clubbed marchers

22. 1963 • Mississippi's NAACP field secretary, Medgar Evers, is murdered outside his home. • June - Kennedy officially backs civil rights • August- March on Washington • At the Lincoln Memorial • 200,000 people attended • MLK Jr. Delivers his “I have a dream” speech • Was a huge success for the movement • Behind the scenes the SNCC had hoped for a more militant protest to show their dissatisfaction with the pace of change

23. 1963 • Alabama: Four young girls are killed while attending Sunday school when a bomb goes off at the 16th Street Baptist Church • President John F. Kennedy is assassinated

24. 1964 • President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Prohibits discrimination of any kind based on race, religion, national origin, etc. • Allowed the Justice Department to prosecute individuals who violated • Why did it take 10 years to institute another piece of civil rights legislation?

25. 1964 • Freedom Summer • Wanted to influence Congress to pass a voting rights act • More than a 1000 volunteers took on the challenge to register voters. • Increased violence: 4 deaths, 4 critically wounded, 80 beaten and many churches bombed and burned

26. 1965 • SCLC organizes a march in Selma, Ala. • Pressure the federal government to enact voting rights legislation • Protests turned into brutal confrontations • Day known as “Bloody Sunday” • February- Malcom X is shot and Killed

27. 1965 • Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Easier for Southern blacks to register to vote • Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting are made illegal

28. 1965 • August- Race riots of LA • In response to the Voting Rights Act • Violence, looting, and arson went on for days before the National Guard arrived • President Johnson issues Executive Order 11246 • Enforces affirmative action

29. 1966 • Term “Black Power” is coined • Symbol of black pride • African Americans should collectively used their economic and political muscle to gain equality • Militant Black Panthers formed • Inspired by Malcolm X’s philosophy • Organized armed patrols of urban neighborhoods • Created antipoverty programs • Protested their right to bear arms • Involved in many violent confrontations with the police

31. 1967 • Newark and Detroit Riots • 43 people died in Detroit • Property damage reached $50 million • Race riots led to the establishment of the Kerner Commission

32. 1968 • Tennessee- Martin Luther King is shot from the balcony outside his hotel room • What affect did this event have on the nation? • Robert Kennedy shot