Harlem Langston Hughes, 1951 What happens to a dream deferred?

1. Harlem Langston Hughes, 1951 What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore— And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over— like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?

2. Brown v. Board of Education • In 1951, a lawsuit was filed against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kansas. • The plaintiffs were recruited by the NAACP to confront segregation. • The case called for schools to reverse their policy of racial segregation. 

4. Brown’s NAACP Lawyers

5. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas • A landmark Supreme Court case that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. • The decision overturned the 1896 Plessy decision. • Decided May 17, 1954, the Warren Court’s unanimous (9–0) decision stated that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

6. Impact  - Ruling said that separating children by race denied them equal educational opportunities. - As a result, racial segregation was ruled a violation of the 14th Amendment. - This victory paved the way for integrationand the successes of the Civil Rights movement.

7. Clinton, Tennessee

8. Reaction To Supreme Court Decision • "Supreme Court or no Supreme Court, we are going to maintain segregated schools down in Dixie."U.S. Senator Eastland, Mississippi • “Two, four, six, eight…we ain’t gonna integrate!”—Chant heard outside Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas

9. De Jure v. De Facto - The Supreme Court case outlawed racial segregation in schools. Therefore, by law (de jure), it should not have kept occurring. - However, in practice (de facto), segregation continued in Southern schools. First significant challenge in Little Rock, 1957.

10. The Little Rock Nine • The Little Rock Nine were nine Af Am students who enrolled in the all-white Little Rock Central High School in 1957. • The Little Rock Crisis of 1957 occurred when Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus prevented students from entering the high school.

11. They were: Minnijean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Pattillo, Gloria Ray, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls. The Little Rock Nine with Daisy Bates, 1957

12. Elizabeth Eckford, Little Rock Nine, 1957

13. Elizabeth Eckford Facing the Mob • I recall that the mob "moved closer and closer. Somebody started yelling. I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the crowd — someone who maybe could help. 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.”

14. 101st Airborne Division • President Eisenhower sent in troops to enforce federal law when Governor Faubus blocked the entrance to the school. • The students got into school the next day. • “Walking into that school that day was probably one of the biggest feelings I ever had. I thought I’d cracked it.” Ernest Green • What was Ernest Green talking about?

15. Protesters in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1960

16. Mass Action vs Legislative Action • Before Brown , the Civil Rights movement (mostly the NAACP) was focused on legal action, trying to get laws changed through courts. • As the 1960s began, the Civil Rights movement got a different focus. It was made up of mass action by communities against discrimination.