The Civil Rights Movement

1. Mrs. Eby The Civil Rights Movement

2. Slow Beginnings • Herman Talmadge • Governor (1948-1951) • After his father’s death, the General Assembly selected him to replace his father • Resisted desegregation of schools • Implemented GA’s first state sales tax • Money was used to improve public school systems

3. Benjamin E. Mays • Distinguished African American minister, scholar, and activist • Presided over Morehouse College • Emphasized • The inherent dignity of all • Differences between ideals America and actual practices in American society • MLK used his ideas to further the CRM

4. Brown v. Board of Education • In 1954, the US Supreme Court ruled that schools must be desegregated • This ruling helped launch the modern civil rights movement

5. 1956 Georgia Flag • In 1955, John Sammons Bell (GA’s Democratic Party Leader) wanted to change the GA flag to incorporate the Confederate Flag • In 1956, the General Assembly voted to change the flag • People received this change as a statement against the Brown v. Board decision • This move was seen as a recognition of GA’s Civil War past.

6. Martin Luther King, Jr. • Principal leader of the modern CRM • He was a clergyman and advocate for non-violent protest • Attended Morehouse College • Began career after the arrest of Rosa Parks • African Americans boycotted the buses after Ms. Park’s arrest • Took risk to his own safety and that of his family to progress Civil Rights for all

7. MLK continued • MLK led and participated in marches and protests calling for equal rights for all • Believed many problems were caused the economic inequalities in society • Killed by an assassin in Memphis, TN in 1968 • January holiday commemorates his birthday

8. The Civil Rights Movement • SNCC • Sibley Commission • Integration of UGA • Albany Movement • March on Washington • Civil Rights Act of 1964

9. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee • Group grew out of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) • Encouraged young people (both black and white) to use peaceful protest to gain equal rights • Sit-ins • Freedom riders • Protested by riding on segregated buses

10. Sibley Commission • Gathered information about how people felt about desegregation • Founded by Governor Ernest Vandiver • Report decreased resistance against desegregation • Local school boards with methods to slow down the desegregation process • Desegregation finally began in GA in the late 1960s

11. African Americans enter UGA • Charlayne hunter and Hamilton Holmes were the first blacks admitted to UGA in 1961 • The Hunter-Holmes building at UGA is named after them, and it was the site of their registration

12. Albany Movement • The goal of this movement was to desegregate the Albany, Georgia region • The groups involved: • SNCC • Youth Council of the NAACP • Baptist Ministerial Alliance • Federation of Women’s Clubs • Negro Voters League

13. March on Washington • Site of the famous “I Have a Dream” speech by MLK, Jr. • Five goals of march: • Meaningful Civil Rights laws • Massive federal works program • Full and fair employment • Decent housing, the right to vote • Adequate integrated education

14. Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Signed by Lyndon Johnson • Three main provision: • Guaranteed equal voting rights • Prohibited segregation in public places • Banned segregation by trade unions, schools, and employers involved in interstate commerce or business with the federal government

15. Lester Maddox • Became governor of GA in 1967 • Because he was popular with Georgians who favored segregation, many feared he would return widespread segregation to the state • Requested huge police presence at MLK, Jr.’s funeral which kept many blacks from attending

16. African Americans Take Office • In 1973, Maynard Jackson was elected the first African American mayor of Atlanta- the first in a major southern city • Jackson encouraged a number of Affirmative Action programs

17. Andrew Young • An aide to Martin Luther King, Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement • Served as an executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference • First African American from Georgia to be elected to Congress since the 1860s.