Chapter 29

1. Chapter 29 Civil Rights Era

2. Segregation • Plessy v. Ferguson – Supreme Court rule “separate but equal” was okay • Jim Crow laws – MAINLY in the south, laws that separated the races • Civil Rights movement begins to gain steam during WWII • Minorities fill job vacancies, fight in the war – desegregation begins out of necessity • FDR moves to prohibit race discrimination in federal agencies and all war production

3. Challenging Segregation • NAACP challenges segregation in court – win many rulings • Brown v. Board  major landmark case – desegregated schools – separate by nature not equal • Little Rock Central High – Eventually Eisenhower had to use federal soldiers to forcibly allow integration • Montgomery Bus Boycott – After Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up seat, African Americans refuse to ride the buses – 381 day boycott

4. MLK, Jr. • “Soul Force” – non-violent resistance to unjust laws • SCLC – Southern Christian Leadership Conference – organized the nonviolent protests • SNCC – Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee – college students who organized to challenge systemic discrimination • A bit more confrontational (while still nonviolent) – e.g. sit-ins to force desegregating lunch counters

5. More Civil Rights Actions • Freedom Riders – challenging court’s desegregation of interstate bus lines by riding bus trip across the South • Stopped at Alabama state line, many riders beaten, bus managed to continue • Met by angry mob at Birmingham terminal • Second bus was firebombed • Link – start at 19:36 (language: n-word warning) • Eventually received national attention and assistance – all travel facilities were ordered integrated

6. Actions cont’d • SCLC decided to focus on Birmingham – historically STRONG segregation, personified by police commissioner “Bull” Connor • Many marchers arrested , but repeated protests, economic boycotts, and a flood of negative media eventually led to desegregation

7. March on Washington • Kennedy was begins to take up cause of Civil Rights • 250,000 + people (including ~75,000 whites) march on DC to try to convince Congress to pass Civil Rights bill Kennedy was pushing • Kennedy wouldn’t survive to see it, but eventually Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed • Prohibited discrimination due to race, religion, national origin, and gender in any public accommodation (libraries, parks, restaurants, etc.)

8. Freedom Summer • Effort to register as many African Americans as possible in the South • Attempting to persuade Congress to pass voting rights protections • Secured in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Eliminated literacy tests for voter registration • Allowed federal registrars to register voters if local officials wouldn’t • Forced areas with history of discrimination to clear voting changes with federal gov (challenged and overturned June 2013)

9. Challenges and Changes • De facto (by practice and custom) v. de jure (by law) segregation • De facto – tough to fight – common in the North • As black populations move into northern cities, we see “white flight” to the suburbs • Urban areas decay, schools suffer, violence erupts, etc.

10. Other Important Leaders • Malcolm X – much more confrontational – black population should fight back in self defense • Stokely Carmichael – pushed message of Black Power - “call for black people to begin to define their own goals…to lead their own organizations.” • Black Panthers – political organization – more radicalized

11. King’s Death • MLK argues against violent resistance, confrontation inherent in Black Power movement • King assassinated in April of 1968 • Bobby Kennedy pushes for calm, but to no avail • Worst urban rioting in American history – over 100 cities affected

12. Lasting Impacts/Unfinished Business • Pretty much ended de jure segregation • Greater racial pride • Political gains • Difficult to change public opinion and race relations • Still plenty of de facto segregation • Affirmative action – programs to give preference to minority/discriminated-against groups