Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights Movement • Struggle for African Americans to get equal rights • Led to later efforts by women, other ethnic minorities, the disabled, the young, and the old to obtain equal rights

Civil Rights Movement • History of Civil Rights • 19th century • Abolitionists, Civil War, Emancipation, Reconstruction, resistance to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan • 20th century • W.E.B. DuBois economic efforts, birth of NAACP, desegregation of Armed Forces • Important amendments • 13th amendment (1865) – no slavery in US • 14th amendment (1868) – all people born in the US (except Native Americans) are US citizens and are entitled equal rights. Rights are protected by due process of the law • 15th amendment (1870) – Passed during Reconstruction; gave black men the right to vote • 17th amendment (1920) – gave women the right to vote

Civil Rights Movement • Political Reform organizations: • African American • NAACP, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Congress on Racial Equality (CORE) • Chicano • League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC), La RazaUnida (Mexican-Amercans United) • American Indian • American Indian Movement (AIM) • Women’s civil rights movements • National Organization for Women (NOW)

Civil Rights Movement • Origins • After Civil War, promise of equality to all but promise cut by Reconstruction • 1947 – Jackie Robinson first African-American baseball player to join the major leagues

Civil Rights Movement • Origins – Truman Years • Truman administration issued To Secure These Rights calling for civil rights laws • Laws proposed by Truman not pass Congress • Re-election demanded inauguration be integrated • 1948 – executive orders to desegregate armed forces • End discriminatory hiring practices in federal government

Civil Rights Movement • Brown v. Board of Education 1954 • After Reconstruction, Southern States passed laws requiring segregation • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – separate but equal • NAACP started challenging in the 1930s

Civil Rights Movement • Brown v. Board of Education 1954 • Sweatt v. Painter (1950) • Sweatt allowed to attend Law School at UT at Austin • 1953 – NAACP lawyers appealed Kansas court ruling to Supreme Court • Segregated public schools denied equal protection to African American students

Civil Rights Movement • Brown v. Board of Education 1954 • Thurgood Marshall argued case or NAACP • May 1954 Earl Warren wrote unanimous decision for Supreme Court • “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” • Brown overturned Plessy and marked end of legal separation in schools

Civil Rights Movement • Brown v. Board of Education 1954 • Court said desegregation should happen with “all deliberate speed” • Enforcement left up to lower courts • Vague terming allowed years before fully implemented

Civil Rights Movement • Supreme Court stopped segregation in schools, but Jim Crow laws allowed it to continue in other public areas

Civil Rights Movement • Montgomery Bus Boycott 1955-1956 • Dec 1955, Rosa Parks (seamstress and local NAACP member) refused to surrender bus sea to white passenger • Parks was arrested • Local African American leaders started boycott of public buses

Civil Rights Movement • Montgomery Bus Boycott • Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a pastor in Montgomery, was leader of the boycott • Lasted 13 months and brought cause attention of the world • King rallied boycotters at his church • Carpooled to take each other to work • King arrested and home bombed • Boycotted lasted and brought to federal court • Court ruled segregation on buses violated 14th amendment

Civil Rights Movement • Civil Rights Act of1957 • Eisenhower passed to increase African American voting in the South • Created Civil Rights Commission and established Civil Rights Division in US Justice Department • Gave federal courts the power to register African American voters • Registration procedures so complex the act prove ineffective but set pattern for later legislation

Civil Rights Movement • Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957 • Governor OrvalFaubus of Arkansas favored segregation • Ordered Arkansas National Guard to surround all-white Little Rock High School to prevent nine African American students from entering • Faubus refused to protect Little Rock Nine who were being threatened by angry mobs • Eisenhower ordered federal troops so they could attend school

Civil Rights Movement • Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957 • Faubus closed school down and asked for postponement of integration plan • Supreme Court forced reopening of school

Civil Rights Movement • Faubus one of many resisting desegregation • 1964 – restaurant owner Lester Maddox wielded axe handle at African American trying to enter “whites only” restaurant • Maddox sold restaurant instead of allowing African Americans • Maddox ran for governor of Georgia and won

Civil Rights Movement • 1963 – Alabama Governor George Wallace stood at the door at the University of Alabama to prevent two African-American students from enrolling • Claimed constitutional rights of states to operate schools • Forced to step down

Civil Rights Movement • Congressional Bloc of Southern Democrats • Southern Democrats banded in Congress to stop civil rights legislation • Many held important committee chairs • Power to prevent legislation coming to floor for a vote

Civil Rights Movement • Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides in the South – 1960-1961 • 1960: African American students held sit-in at “whites only” lunch counter in N. Carolina • Soon copied throughout the South • 1961 – Freedom Rides • Interracial groups rode busses. • Downtown stores agreed to desegregate lunch counters • Created confrontations federal government had to intervene • Riders faced risk of death and violence

Civil Rights Movement • King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963 • King believed in non-violence • Used civil disobedience against unjust laws • Led march in Birmingham, Alabama and arrested • Wrote letter explaining why African Americans could no longer patiently wait for constitutional rights • Critics felt fight for rights in courts, not the streets • King argued civil disobedience was justified because “everyone has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws”

Civil Rights Movement • March on Washington, 1963 • Dr. King and other Civil Rights leaders marched on Washington to encourage Congress to pass new civil rights bill • Largest demonstration for human rights in US history • King gave “I Have A Dream” speech • Dr. King and others met with President Kennedy at the Whitehouse • Kennedy assassinated few months later and Congress more willing to pass legislation proposed before his death afterward

Civil Rights Movement • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Prohibited discrimination based on race, color, religion, or ethnic origins in hotels, restaurants, and all places of employment doing business with the federal government or in interstate commerce. • Cut off aid to segregated schools • Gave federal government power to register voters • Established Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to enforce all of it

Civil Rights Movement • Voting Rights • 24th amendment • No more poll taxes in federal elections • Selma Marches • 1965 – Dr. King in Selma, Alabama to organize march demanding vote • Demonstrators attacked, President Jonson introducing voting rights bill

Civil Rights Movement • Voting Rights • Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Ended poll taxes, suspended literacy tests used to prevent African Americans from voting, and led to large increase in African American voting

Civil Rights Movement • Affirmative Action 1965 • Executive Order requiring employers with federal contracts to take steps to raise the number of minority employees to correct past imbalances • Women later added • Companies and institutions must actively recruit minority candidates

Civil Rights Movement • Affirmative Action 1965 • Increased minority representation in colleges, professions, and many businesses • Critics challenged it was a reverse form of discrimination • Regents of University of California v. Bakke • SC says affirmative action OK, racial quotas are not • Many affirmative action programs phased out over time

Civil Rights Movement • Billy Graham – Christian preacher and major civil rights supporter • Spiritual advisor to many presidents • Anti-Communist • Paid to bail out Dr. King from jail • Advised Eisenhower to send troops for Little Rock Nine • One of first preachers to address large crowds behind the Iron Curtain and call for world peace

Civil Rights Under Johnson • Lyndon B. Johnson became president when Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas November 22, 1963 • Johnson proposed a far-ranging social program similar to the New Deal called the Great Society • Improve quality and opportunity for all Americans

The Great Society • Civil Rights • Civil Rights Act (1964) • Voting Rights Act (1965) • Affirmative Action • War on Poverty • Economic Opportunity Act (1964) • Created new government office to administer programs • Job Corps – train underprivileged youths and domestic “Peace Corps” to help in depressed areas • Medicare Act of 1965 • Social Security expanded to provide medical care, hospital insurance, and post-hospital nursing for people over 65 • Aid to cities • New cabinet post added to help cities • Money provided for urban planning, slum clearance, rental assistance for the poor, reconstruction of buildings

Civil Rights Under Johnson • Changes to immigration • McCarren-Walter Act (1952) – kept immigration quotas at 1920s levels • Immigration Act of 1965 was less biased • Each country given identical quota • Preference given to those with family already here or with valuable skills • Restricted Latin American immigration for first time

Civil Rights Under Johnson • Johnson beat Barry Goldwater in 1964 election in a landslide • Goldwater wanted to revive conservatism • Many feared he was too extreme • Despite Great Society, many Americans stayed in poverty • Vietnam War caused Johnson to withdraw funding • Johnson did not seek another term in 1968

Women’s Liberation Movement • 1960s – Women’s Liberation (or feminist) Movement • Women were expected to stay at home and be wives and mothers • Women’s Liberation focused on greater economic and social equality

Women’s Liberation Movement Reasons • Dissatisfaction • Many women dissatisfied as housewives and sought freedom to express themselves in careers • Influence of Civil Rights • Many women leaders in movement • Adopt same techniques for women’s liberation – lobbying, sit-ins, demonstrations, boycotts, and strikes • Dynamic Leadership • Highly educated and talented women in leadership • Betty Friedman, Gloria Steinem • Steinem created Ms. Magazine for women’s concerns and viewpoints • “Sexual Revolution” • Sex education began to be taught in school • Birth control pills protected women from pregnancy • Women are not “sex objects”; they are human beings • Impact of Social Science • Margaret Mead and other social scientists began to see women’s low status in Western society as creation of men not biological

Women’s Liberation Movement • 1963 – Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique • Galvanized middle class women • Challenged belief that education suburban housewives were happy being at home • Women were as capable as men and should be permitted to compete for same jobs • 1966 – Friedan helped form National Organization of Women (NOW)

Achievements of Women’s Liberation • Education • Affirmative action – universities no longer able to discriminate based on sex for admissions • Women professors hired • Greater equality in admissions to military academies, law schools, and medical schools • Employment • End discrimination in hiring • 1963 – Equal Pay Act • Companies had to pay women the same wages as men for same work • New attitude • Replace Miss and Mrswith Ms • Opposed sexist language • No women as sex objects in advertising • Opposed sexual discrimination in textbooks • Lobbied for more funds to research women’s diseases like breast cancer

Achievements in Women’s Liberation • Roe v. Wade (1973) • Many states prohibited abortion • Feminists felt women had a right to choose • Pro-choice • Supreme Court held that a women has a constitutional right to privacy • A woman had a right to end her pregnancy in the first 3 months if she wanted • Overturned all state laws prohibiting abortion in first three months • Title IX • Part of Educational Amendments Act (1972) • Banned sex discrimination in educational institutions • Guaranteed girls had same opportunities as boys • Enforcement of act linked to federal funding • Major impact on American society • 1in 27 girls played varsity sports in high school before Title IX • 2001 – 1 in 2.5 • Helped women pursue higher degrees, compete in sports, enter jobs and educational fields dominated by men • Before – less women in college. Today, more women than men in college

Civil Rights Movement • Increasing African American Militancy • Demand for change strong among young African Americans • Civil rights had not ended private bias or provide equal opportunities • Many African Americans felt Dr. King’s methods of non-violence were not powerful enough

Civil Rights Movement • Militants believed in Black Power – African Americans should use their votes to win concessions from government and they should control their own communities and patronize their own businesses to free themselves from whites

Civil Rights Movement

Black Power Movement • Search for New Identity • Late 1960s – African Americans began to search for cultural identity • Rejected imitating whites o being absorbed in American culture • Proud of themselves and “Black is Beautiful” • Developed distinctive styles like Afro haircuts • New Groups Emerge • New groups to challenge non-violent NAACP • Militant Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) barred white participation • Black Muslims believed Islam should be religion of African Americans and create own black state • Black Panthers demanded reparations be given to the black community for centuries of oppression

Black Power Movement • Malcolm X • Leading black Muslim • Questioned King’s non-violent resistance • Believed African Americans should meet violence with violence and should not depend on white people • Urged African Americans to obtain control of businesses and communities • Assassinated by rival Black Muslims in 1965

Civil Rights Movement • Black Panthers • African-American activists in Oakland, California • Had own newspaper and claimed right to carry weapons to protect black neighborhoods from police • Ran free breakfast for African American children • 10 point program demanded greater opportunities and benefits for African Americans • Full employment, decent housing, education, and freedom to determine destiny

Civil Rights Movement • Ghettos Erupt – 1968 • In North, African Americans faced segregation based on living patterns • Many African Americans confined to ghettos • April 1968 Dr. King was assassinated • Death sparked race riots across the nation that cost dozens of lives and destroyed property • Commission found lack of job opportunities, urban poverty, and white racism was what was behind the riots

Chicano Movement • Mexican Americans, known as Chicanos, often faced discrimination, exploitation, and racism in US • Chicano Movement focused on farm workers’ voting and political rights

Chicano Movement • Early leader was Hector Perez Garcia, a surgeon and WWII veteran • Noticed Mexican Americans barred from entering restaurants, etc • 1949 – Garcia learned local Texas funeral home refused to allow Mexican-American soldier’s family to its chapel • Garcia arranged for burial in Arlington National Cemetery • Became first Mexican American to serve on US Commission on Civil Rights

Chicano Movement • Cesar Chavez • Organizer of farm workers in California • Chavez started group to support farm worker’s rights, demand increased wages, and better working conditions • Chavez focused on non-violent means • Organized nation-wide boycotts and took part in hunger strikes • State legislators passed laws to improve lives of farm workers

Chicano Movement • Dolores Huerta • Mexican-American labor leader closely associated with Cesar Chavez • 1960s – helped Chavez to form National Farm Workers Association which became Unite Farm Workers • Spent life working for legislation to extend air to families of farm workers • 1980s- expanded to include women’s rights, environmental protection, and immigration policy

Chicano Movement • Chicano Mural Movement • Mexican Americans expressed greater appreciation of own culture • Began painting murals in barrios (ethnic neighborhoods) through Southwest in 1960s • Wall murals gave public presence in public life • In El Paso, more than 100 Chicano wall murals

American Indian Movement (AIM) • Americans Indians also got restless during the 1960s. • 1953 – government transferred responsibility of Native Americans living on reservations to the state governments • Many state didn’t have the funds to give the same level of services • 1963 – federal government reversed its policy and began encouraging tribal life on reservations

Civil Rights Movement