Highlights of the Civil Rights Movement

1. Highlights of the Civil Rights Movement Parts One, Two, & Three The Struggle for Justice and Equality

2. Part One: Early Stages of the CRM • After WWII, the campaign for Civil Rights for African Americans sped up. • African Americans returned home to inequality, segregation, and violence (didn’t seem right). • Hundreds of thousands of blacks moved North and experienced a new sense of freedom.

3. Jackie Robinson • In 1946, the Brooklyn Dodgers MLB team recruited the first African American player—Jackie Robinson. • Robinson won Rookie of the Year in 1947!

4. Korea was the 1st war where blacks and whites fought side-by-side. President Truman In 1948, President Truman banned discrimination in hiring federal employees and ordered the end of segregation in the armed forces.

5. Starting the Fight: The NAACP • Established in 1909, the goal of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) was to end the segregation of the races. • In 1938, Thurgood Marshall became the leader of the NAACP. • The NAACP’s strategy was to challenge racial inequalities through the U.S. court system.

6. NAACP Success in Court During Thurgood Marshall’s years as NAACP President, NAACP lawyers won 29 out of 32 cases argued in front of the Supreme Court.

7. Plessey vs. Ferguson, 1896 • In 1896, in the years following the Civil War, the Supreme Court ruled in the Plessey vs. Ferguson decision that it was legal to have separate facilities for blacks and whites as long as they were EQUAL. • However, facilities were NOT equal. • This led to inequality for African Americans in all aspects of life (Jim Crow laws).

8. Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954 • 58 years later, in Topeka, Kansas, Oliver Brown challenged the Plessey decision. • He sued the State Board of Education of Kansas in order to have his daughter attend an all-white school that was closer to their home. • The all-black school she attended was 21 blocks away from her home, but the all-white school was only 4 blocks away.

10. The Brown Decision • In the Brown vs. Board of Education decision the Supreme Court unanimously stated that “separate but equal” was no longer legal. • Schools across the country were told to desegregate. Linda Brown (Oliver Brown’s daughter),1953

11. The Nation’s Reaction to the Brown • Reaction to the Brown vs. Boardof Education decision was mixed across the nation. • Some states expected to end segregation with little trouble, others warned it might “take years” to sort out. • Other states (esp. in the South), however, vowed total resistance.

12. Gov. Herman Talmadge of Georgia on the Brown Decision “The people of Georgia will not comply with the decision of the court….We’re going to do whatever is necessary in Georgia to keep white children in white schools and colored children in colored schools.”

13. Eisenhower’s Reaction to Brown • Initially President Eisenhower refused to enforce compliance of the Brown (and Brown II) decision. • He is quoted as saying, “The fellow who tries to tell me that you can do these things by force is just plain nuts.” • However, upcoming events would force the President to reevaluate his position.

14. Fighting Against the Brown Decision • The fight against school desegregation reached its climax in September of 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas. • Nine black students volunteered and had been pre-selected to integrate the all-white Central High School in Little Rock. • These students were called the “Little Rock Nine.”

15. “Events in history occur when the time has ripened for them, but they need a spark. Little Rock was that spark at that stage in the struggle of the American Negro for Justice.” --Daisy Bates

16. Governor Orval Faubus • Arkansas Governor, Orval Faubus, showed public support for segregation and promised that Central High would NOT be integrated. • On the first day of school, Faubus ordered the National Guard to turn away the black students. • An angry mob also gathered outside the school.

17. Protest Rally

18. Protest Rally

20. Protective Duty • President Eisenhower placed the Arkansas National Guard under federal control and ordered paratroopers from the 101st U.S. Airborne into Little Rock. • Under the watch of soldiers, the Little Rock Nine attended class. • But even the soldiers couldn’t protect them entirely.

24. Desegregating Society? • Not long after the Brown decision, civil rights advocates began to ask for desegregation to take place in other public accommodations. • Buses, restaurants, stores, etc. • These requests were most often refused.

27. Rosa Parks • On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a seamstress and NAACP officer, purposefully took a seat in the front row of the “colored” section of a Montgomery, Alabama bus. • As the bus filled up, the driver ordered her, and 3 other black riders, to give up their seats so a white man could sit down without having to sit next to any African Americans.

28. Parks Arrested • “It was time for someone to stand up—or in my case sit down,” recalled Parks. “I refused to move.” • Parks refused to get up, the driver called the police, and Parks was quickly arrested.

30. Organizing a Boycott • In response to Parks’ arrest, leaders of the African American community quickly formed the Montgomery Improvement Association to organize a bus boycott. • They elected 26-year-old, Martin Luther King Jr., to lead the group. • With passion and eloquence, King inspired the Montgomery community to refuse to ride the bus.

31. Walking for Justice • The Boycott began on December 5, 1955. • African Americans, who were largely dependent on the bus system (couldn’t afford a car) walked, organized carpools, rode bicycles, or did whatever they could to get to work, but they didn’t take the buses.

33. Success in Montgomery • The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for 381 days. • In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled bus segregation was illegal.

34. The Long-Term Effects of the Montgomery Bus Boycott • The Montgomery Bus Boycott proved to the world that the African American community could unite and organize a successful protest movement. • It also proved the power of nonviolent resistance—the peaceful refusal to obey unjust laws.

35. The Long-Term Effects of the Montgomery Bus Boycott (cont.) • And, despite threats to his life and family (and the bombing of his home), Martin Luther King, Jr. continued to inspire. • He gained recognition from the Montgomery Bus Boycott and from there became the leading spokesman for African American Civil Rights in America.

36. Rosa Parks on the bus after the Boycott.

37. The end of the Boycott—blacks entering at the front of the bus.

38. Martin Luther King & Rosa Parks

39. End of Part 1

40. Highlights of the Civil Rights Movement Part 2: Confrontations And Triumph

41. Civil Rights Groups: NAACP The NAACP fought to end inequality and segregation through the court system.

42. Civil Rights Groups: SCLC • Founded by Martin Luther King Jr. • SCLC = Southern Christian Leadership Conference • Based on the philosophy of non-violence protest

44. SNCC Leaders Ella Baker helped form SNCC—quiet leader who listened & helped guide the young students. Robert Moses was the group’s most influential and respected leader.

46. Members of Atlanta’s SNCC

47. Civil Rights Groups: CORE • Founded in 1943 by young students • Congress of Racial Equality • Membership in CORE was (and still is) open to "anyone who believes that 'all people are created equal' and is willing to work towards the ultimate goal of true equality throughout the world."

48. Woolworth Lunch Counter Sit-ins(Feb. 1960) • Inspired by the non-violence philosophy, CORE students vowed to integrate lunch counters, hotels, and entertainment facilities. • Started in Greensboro, N.C., where students sat at the Woolworth lunch counter and refused to leave until they were served. • More students joined the movement and returned each day.

49. Students were harassed, arrested, and beaten, but didn’t give up.