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Civil Rights

Civil Rights. What rights are worth fighting for?. Taking on Segregation. Main Idea Activism and a series of Supreme Court decisions advanced equal rights for African Americans in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Why it Matters Today

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Civil Rights

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  1. Civil Rights What rights are worth fighting for?

  2. Taking on Segregation Main Idea Activism and a series of Supreme Court decisions advanced equal rights for African Americans in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Why it Matters Today Landmark Supreme Court decisions beginning in 1954 have guaranteed civil rights for Americans today.

  3. The Segregation System • Segregated buses might never have rolled through the streets of Montgomery if the Civil Rights Act of 1875 had remained in force. • It promised that all persons, regardless of race, color, or previous condition, was entitled to full and equal employment of accommodation in "inns, public conveyances on land or water, theaters, and other places of public amusement."

  4. Challenging Segregation in Court • The desegregation campaign was led largely by NAACP, which had fought since 1909 to end segregation. • The NAACP Legal Strategy • Charles Michael Houston • Public Education • Thurgood Marshall • Morgan v. Virginia, Sweatt v. Painter • Brown v. Board of Education • May 17, 1954 • Supreme Court struck down segregation in schooling unconstitutional

  5. Reaction to the Brown Decision

  6. The Montgomery Bus Boycott • The face-to-face confrontation at Central HS was not the only showdown over segregation in the mid-1950’s. • Boycotting Segregation • Dec. 1, 1955- Rosa Parks • Montgomery Improvement Association • Martin Luther King- 26 years old. • Walking for Justice • Dec. 5, 1955- filed a lawsuit and refused to ride the buses for 381 days • 1956- Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation.

  7. Martin Luther King and the SCLC • The Montgomery bus boycott proved to the world that the African American community could unite and organize a successful protest movement.

  8. The Movement Spreads • Although SNCC adopted King’s ideas in part, its members had ideas of their own. Many people called for a more confrontational strategy and set out to reshape the civil rights movement. • Demonstrating for Freedom • Sit-Ins • Lunch Counters

  9. Taking on SegregationReview • What were Jim Crow laws and how were they applied? • Jim Crow laws, passed in the South, were aimed at separating the races. Application of these laws included separate schools, streetcars, and public restrooms. • What were the roots of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s beliefs in nonviolent resistance? • King’s beliefs were rooted in Jesus’ teaching of love one’s enemy. Thoreau’s concept of civil disobedience, Randolph’s techniques for organizing massive demonstrations, and Gandhi’s use of nonviolent resistance.

  10. The Triumphs of a Crusade Main Idea Civil Rights activists broke through racial barriers. Their activism prompted landmark legislation. Why it Matters Today Activism pushed the federal government to end segregation and ensure voting rights for African Americans.

  11. Riding for Freedom • 1961- James Peck, a white civil rights activist, joined members of CORE and a trip across the South. • Freedom Riders • New Volunteers • Bus companies refused to carry CORE freedom riders • SNCC volunteers carried on • Arrival of Federal Marshals • Kennedy sends U.S. Marshals to protect freedom riders in Montgomery, AL.

  12. Standing Firm • With the integration of interstate travel facilities under way some civil rights workers turned their attention to integrating some Southern schools and pushing the movement into additional Southern towns.

  13. March to Washington • The civil rights bill that President Kennedy sent to Congress guaranteed equal access to all public accommodations and gave the U.S. attorney general the power to file school desegregation suits. • Dream of Equality • Aug. 28, 1963- 250,000 people • “I Have a Dream Speech” • More Violence • Two weeks after the speech 4 Birmingham girls are killed. • 2 Mos. Later JFK killed • Civil Rights Act of 1964

  14. Fighting for Voting Rights • 1964- African Americans began to register to vote in the South • Freedom Summer

  15. The Triumphs of a CrusadeReview • What was the significance of the federal court case won by James Meredith in 1962? • Meredith won a federal court case allowing him to enroll in the University of Mississippi. • Cite three examples of violence committed between 1962 and 1964 against African Americans and civil rights activists. • Fannie Lou Hamer was beaten trying to register to vote; a bomb in a Birmingham church killed four African-American girls; Klansmen, with the support of local police, murdered three civil rights activists in Mississippi.

  16. Challenges and Changes in the Movement Main Idea Disagreements among civil rights groups and the rise of black nationalism created a violent period in the fight for civil rights. Why it Matters Today From the fight for equality came a resurgence of racial pride for African Americans, a legacy that influences today’s generations.

  17. African Americans Seek Greater Equality • What civil rights groups had in common in the early 1960’s were their calls for a newfound pride in black identity and a commitment to change the social and economic structures that kept people in a life of poverty. • Northern Segregation • De Facto Segregation- segregation that exists by practice and custom. • De Jure Segregation- segregation by law. • During WWII many African Americans headed north • “White Flight” • 1966- “Open City” • Urban Violence • Aug. 15, 1965- Watts; Los Angeles • War on Poverty

  18. New Leaders Voice Discontent • Malcolm X, declared to a Harlem audience, “If you think we are here to tell you to love the white man, you have come to the wrong place.”

  19. 1968-A Turning Point in Civil Rights • MLK objected to the Black Power movement. He believed that preaching violence could only end in grief. • King’s Death • April 3, 1968- King addressed a crown in Memphis, TN • James Earl Ray • Reactions to King’s Death • Over 100 cities exploded into flames • Baltimore, Chicago, Kansas City, and Washington, D.C. • June 1968- RFK was assassinated.

  20. Legacy of the Civil Rights Movement • Mar. 1, 1968- the Kerner Commission- appointed by President Johnson to study the causes of urban violence. • One main cause outlined- “White Racism” • Civil Rights Gains • Ended De Jure Segregation • Civil Rights Act of 1968 • Greater pride in African American culture • Black studies in colleges • 1970- 2/3 were registered to vote • Rev. Jesse Jackson • Unfinished Work • Affirmative Action • Federal government jobs

  21. Challenges and Changes in the Movement- Review • What were some of the key beliefs advocated by Malcolm X? • Black nationalism, self-determination, racial pride, self-respect, the use of self-defense • Why did some civil rights leaders urge Stokely Carmichael to stop using the slogan “black power”? • Leaders felt that the slogan “black power” antagonized whites.

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