The Civil Rights Movement

1. The Civil Rights Movement 1950s and 1960s

2. Origins/Causes of the Civil Rights Movement • WWI/1920s/Harlem Renaissance and Great Migration • FDR • New Deal programs – shifting AA voting patterns • Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC) • World War II • WWII service • Workplace discrimination • The Double V!

3. Origins/Causes continued… • Truman • Desegregation of armed forces through executive order (1948) • Introduced civil rights legislation • Jackie Robinson (1947) • Migration • Movement of African Americans to urban centers in North and South • Growing political support for Democrats in North

4. Origins/Causes continued… • Cold War • Freedom/democracy vs. Communism in Africa and Asia • Television • Support from other 1960s social movements • Women’s Rights • Student Movements • Antiwar movement

5. Desegregating Schools • NAACP had been fighting Plessy v. Ferguson for decades • Brown v. Board of Education (1954) • Earl Warren - “separate but equal facilities are inherently unequal” • Segregation ordered to end with “all deliberate speed” • Resistance to the Little Rock Nine • Little Rock, Arkansas  Governor Faubus and the National Guard • Eisenhower intervened  troop escorts for students

6. Montgomery Bus Boycott • Rosa Parks (1955) • Emergence of MLK and nonviolent resistance • Bus boycott organized  supported when Supreme Court in 1956 ruled segregation unconstitutional

7. Eisenhower’s Role • Reluctant support in Little Rock • Two Civil Rights laws signed • 1957 and 1960 • Modest in scope • creation of Civil Rights Commission • Justice Department received new powers

8. Nonviolent Protests • SCLC founded in 1957 • Organized ministers and churches • Greensboro, NC (1960) • Sit-in movement at Woolworth’s lunch counter • Deliberately invited arrest to draw attention to segregation • Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) • Sit-ins used throughout the 60s

9. Evaluating the 50s • Supreme Court, Eisenhower marked turning points in government • Montgomery marked turning point in civilian protest • Progress in 50s was slow, and the 1960s saw increased impatience • Led to more violent/radical movements

10. Kennedy and Civil Rights • Defiance in Alabama and Mississippi to court ordered segregation forced JFK to take a stand • JFK sent troops to control protest at University of Mississippi in 1962 • James Meredith • Similar incident at University of Alabama • Supported Civil Rights, but did not get legislation passed • Pen campaign

11. Johnson and Civil Rights • Persuaded Congress to pass most important legislation since Reconstruction • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Segregation made illegal in all public facilities • New federal power to enforce • Equal Employment Opportunity Commission • 24th Amendement (1964)  no poll tax • Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Ended literacy tests and provided federal registrars in voting districts • Response to violence in Selma, Alabama

12. The Role of Dr. King • Continued to push nonviolent resistance • Jailed in 1963  “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” • March on Washington (1963) • 200,000 protestors • March to Montgomery (1965) • Violence in Selma, Johnson sent troops • Assassinated in 1968

13. From Civil Rights to Black Power • Despite success, Civil Rights Movement began to fragment after 1965 • Watts Riots in LA • Poor, black community burst into violence • 34 dead, 4,000 arrested, $35 million in damage • Similar riots in Chicago, Cleveland and 40 other cities in the summer of 1966 • Long Hot Summer of 1967

14. From Civil Rights to Black Power • Shift of focus to the plight of urban blacks • 70% of black population was in urban areas, most heavily in ghettos • Nonviolence would not work as successfully in northern cities • Most violence in mid-1960s initiated by African Americans, as opposed to whites in the rural South

15. The Emergence of Black Power • By 1966, “black power” was the rallying cry • Stokely Carmichael • Head of SNCC in 1966 • Made black power the official objective; whites ousted from organization • H. Rap Brown succeeded Carmichael in 1967 • Urged violence

16. Black Panther Party • Self described “urban revolutionaries” • Founded in Oakland • Headed by Huey P. Newton and Edridge Cleaver, Supported by Carmichael • Armed group caused public fear, but eventually fragmented • Despite reputation, Black Panthers advocated for and achieved several initiatives for urban blacks • Free school lunch, health clinics, anti drug campaigns.

17. Malcolm X • Most articulate spokesman for Black Power movement • Disciple of Elijah Muhammad, Black Muslim leader in the United States • “Yes, I am an extremist” – endorsed racial separation in the United States • By 1964, he had split with Elijah Muhammad and formed a new organization

18. Malcolm X • Committed to the establishment of alliances between African Americans and the nonwhite peoples of the world • Assassinated in 1965, but had begun to abandon anti-white rhetoric before his death • Biracial message of social change

19. Legacy of the Black Power Movement • Widely publicized, highly visible • Only 15% of blacks labeled themselves separatists • MLK, NAACP and nonviolent much more popular in the African American community

20. Legacy continued… • Two positive effects of the Black Power movement: • Created greater pride for African Americans in their racial heritage • According to Malcolm X prolonged slavery and institutionalized racism had eroded self-esteem • African American and black

21. Legacy continued… • Forced King and other leaders to focus on needs of urban blacks • Desegregation of institutions meant little to people living in poverty, according to MLK • Jobs, housing needed as much as civil rights