1 / 106

Civil Rights

Civil Rights. 1950 - 1968. Where did legal segregation come from?. Plessy v. Ferguson The state of Louisiana enacted a law that required separate railway cars for blacks and whites. . Plessy v. Ferguson.

kaia
Download Presentation

Civil Rights

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Civil Rights 1950 - 1968

  2. Where did legal segregation come from? • Plessy v. Ferguson • The state of Louisiana enacted a law that required separate railway cars for blacks and whites.

  3. Plessy v. Ferguson • In 1892, Homer Adolph Plessy--who was seven-eighths Caucasian--took a seat in a "whites only" car of a Louisiana train. He refused to move to the car reserved for blacks and was arrested.

  4. Supreme Court ruled that what happened to Mr. Plessy was legal • “Separate but equal” became the rule of law. • that separate facilities for blacks and whites satisfied the Fourteenth Amendment so long as they were equal. (The phrase, "separate but equal" was not part of the opinion.)

  5. Separate Schools

  6. Separate Seating

  7. Separate Water Fountains

  8. Early “Cracks” In the Segregation Divides • 1947 – Brooklyn Dodgers was the first to hire a “colored” player. • JACKIE ROBINSON • Most Valuable Player 1949. • Many other African Americans began to join what had been “white only” sports.

  9. The NAACP • NAACP – National Association for the Advancement of Colored People • Legal Affairs team sought cases to fight against segregation in the courts. • Rosa Parks was represented by the NAACP.

  10. The NAACP: “Mr. Civil Rights” • Thurgood Marshall • 1908 - 1993 • Took on “Separate but equal” laws as unconstitutional.

  11. What eventually happened to Thurgood Marshall? • First African American Supreme Court Justice in 1967. • Served until his death in 1993.

  12. Brown v. Board of Education • 1951 Topeka, Kansas • Segregated Schools • 8 year old Linda Brown tries to go to school.

  13. 1954: US Supreme Court rules on Brown v. Board of Education • Unanimous decision. • Separate but equal is unconstitutional. • Ordered desegregation of Topeka schools “with all deliberate speed.”

  14. Linda Brown today • Works for St. Louis Public Schools as an administrative assistant.

  15. Public Reaction to Brown v. Board of Education? • African Americans rejoiced • Some whites thought this would bring about a peaceful desegregation

  16. Public Reaction to Brown v. Board of Education? • The Klan did NOT approve. • Klan violence went up against African Americans and others who supported the changes.

  17. Public Reaction to Brown v. Board of Education? • “The good people of Georgia will not tolerate the mixing of the races in the public schools or any other tax-supported institutions.” • Governor Herman Talmadge

  18. 90 Members of CONGRESS banned together to create the “Southern Manifesto” • “We pledge ourselves to use all lawful means to bring about a reversal of this decision, which is contrary to the Constitution, and to prevent the use of force in its implementation.”

  19. Notes on the Montgomery Bus Boycott • Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. • MLK organized PASSIVE RESISTANCE movement.

  20. Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted a YEAR • 50,000 African Americans refused to get on the buses • Even though the bus service was losing money – they still refused to give up. • Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of buses in 1956.

  21. Resistance in Little Rock, Arkansas • Fall of 1957, Governor Faubus posted National Guard troops around Central High School to turn away 9 African American students who were going to attend.

  22. 15-year old Elizabeth Eckford • The National Guardsman glared at me with a mean look and I was very frightened and didn’t know what to do.

  23. 15-year old Elizabeth Eckford • “I turned around and the crowd came toward me. They moved closer and closer. Somebody started yelling “Lynch her! Lynch her!” • “I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the mob – someone who maybe would help.”

  24. 15-year old Elizabeth Eckford • “I looked into the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat on me.”

  25. Eisenhower’s Reaction • Saw what was happening in Little Rock as a challenge to federal authority (the President’s and the Supreme Court’s) • Ordered US soldiers to escort the kids to school.

  26. Other Voices of Protest • 1947 – Mexican Americans sued to be able to attend the same schools as whites. • Native Americans protested against policies of “termination” of reservations.

  27. Leaders and Strategies of the Civil Rights Movement • NAACP • Interracial group • Appealed mostly to people with education. • National Urban League • Helped African Americans moving from the South to find jobs and homes. • CORE • Interracial • Organized peaceful protests against segregation.

  28. Leaders and Strategies of the Civil Rights Movement • SCLC • Southern Christian Leadership Conference • 1957 – created by Martin Luther King, Jr. and other ministers wanting civil rights changes. • Use of nonviolent protest.

  29. SCLC was different • It was primarily focused on the South and was not dominated by African Americans / whites from the North. • Used Gandhi’s ideas on nonviolence as the only way to achieve victory against stronger foes.

  30. Leaders and Strategies of the Civil Rights Movement • MARTIN LUTHER KING, Jr. • 1929 – 1968 • Son and grandson of Baptist ministers. • Had white playmates as a child but at school age became aware of segregation.

  31. MLK • Eloquent and inspiring. • Gave an example of dignity despite all the prejudice around him. • Arrested, beaten physically and verbally many times. • Nobel Prize for Peace in 1964

  32. MLK

  33. Martin Luther King Assassination • April 1968 • Memphis, Tennessee • Came to give support to the striking garbage men. • Prophetic Speech the night before his death.

  34. The Killer? • James Earl Ray • Caught in 1969 • Sentenced to 99 years. • Toward the end of his life, met with King’s son and said he hadn’t been alone in the killing.

  35. Nonviolence as a form of protest • Those who fight for justice must peacefully refuse to obey unjust laws. • MUST remain nonviolent, regardless of reactions. • Required TREMENDOUS courage and discipline.

  36. 17 Rules for Nonviolent Protest • “Pray for guidance and commit yourself to complete nonviolence in word and action as you enter the bus … Be loving enough to absorb evil and understanding enough to turn an enemy into a friend.”

  37. 17 Rules for Nonviolent Protest • “If cursed, do not curse back. If pushed, do not push back. If struck, do not strike back, but evidence love and good will at all times …

  38. 17 Rules for Nonviolent Protest • “If another person is being molested, do not arise to go to his defense, but pray for the oppressor and use moral and spiritual force to carry on the struggle for justice.”

  39. SNCC: Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee • Students who wanted to be in the Civil Rights movement. • Didn’t want to be a part of church leaders work. • Sought more immediate change than the SCLC did. • Interracial at first.

  40. The Struggle Intensifies • “As a child in the rural Mississippi town of Centreville, I grew up wondering what ‘the white folks’ secret’ was. • “There homes were large and beautiful with indoor toilets. Every house I ever lived in was a one or two room shack with an outdoor toilet.” • Anne Moody - SNCC

  41. Anne Moody (cont.) • “I was horrified when 14-year old Emmett Till, visiting from Chicago, was killed in Mississippi for whistling at a white woman.”

  42. Anne Moody (cont.) • “After I was jailed for my involvement in the Civil Rights demonstrations, it wasn’t as bad as the reaction I got from home.”

  43. Anne Moody • “My mother, afraid for the lives of her relatives, begged me to end my involvement.” • “My brother was beaten up and almost lynched by a group of white boys.”

  44. Anne Moody • “The local sheriff warned me never to return to my hometown.” • “My sister angrily told me that my activism was threatening the lives of every colored in Centreville.”

  45. Sit-ins Challenge Segregation • Sitting-in a place and disrupting business until they were served or arrested.

  46. Sit-ins • It was a Woolworth in the heart of the downtown area, and we occupied every seat at the lunch counter, every seat in the restaurant ….

  47. Sit-ins • “A group of young white men came in and they started pulling and beating primarily the young women. They put lighted cigarettes down their backs, in their hair, and they were really beating people.”

  48. Sit-ins • “In a short time, police officials came in and placed all of us under arrest, and not a single member of the white group., the people that were opposing our sit-in was arrested.” • John Lewis

  49. Sit-ins • MLK called participation a “Badge of Honor” • 70,000 participated by the end of 1960. • 3,600 had been arrested. • People were witnessing how wrong segregation was.

  50. The Freedom Rides • 1960, Supreme Court ruled that interstate bus segregation was illegal. • Protestors decided to “test” this in “Freedom Rides” in 1961

More Related