CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

1. CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

2. Who was Thurgood Marshall? • African- American lawyer who led the challenge against segregation in Brown v. Board of Education. • 1st African American Supreme Court Justice

3. What was Brown v. Board of Education? • A Supreme Court case in which segregated schools were ruled unconstitutional. • Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson • Led to whites entering private schools and massive resistance from whites.

4. What happened at Little Rock High School? • 9 African American students desegregated Little Rock High School. • Eisenhower had to bring in troops to enforce the Brown v. Board of Education decision.

5. Who was Rosa Parks? • Woman who started the Montgomery Bus Boycott • Sparked the Civil Rights Movement • Song: Sister Rosa by the Neville Brothers

6. What was the SCLC? • Formed in 1957 by ministers and civil rights leaders. • Called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. • Led by Martin Luther King Jr.

7. What was SNCC? • Known was the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. • Formed by mostly college students • Led sit-ins and peaceful protests.

8. What were sit-ins? • Protest tactic in which blacks occupied whites-only seats at lunch counters. • 1st sit-in was in Greensboro, North Carolina (February 1960)

9. Who were the freedom riders? • Name for Civil Rights activists who tried to end segregation on national buses. • Many times the freedom riders were harassed, fire bombed, or beaten.

10. Who was James Meredith? • First African American to enroll in the all-white University of Mississippi. • Kennedy sent in U.S. marshals to allow Meredith to attend school.

11. Song: We Shall Overcome • Song that represented the struggles of the Civil Rights Movement • Had been sung in African American churches as early as 1900. • Lyndon B. Johnson used the phrase “We Shall Overcome” in a Civil Rights Address to Congress.

12. Song: This Little Light of Mine • A Negro spiritual that became a Civil Rights anthem in the 1950’s and 1960’s. • Has become a very popular children’s song over the years.

13. Song: A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke • Written in 1963 and released in late 1964 after Cooke’s tragic death. • Song was inspired by an incident Cooke and his band tried to register at a "whites only" motel in Shreveport, Louisiana and were summarily arrested for disturbing the peace. • Key song of the Civil Rights Movement.

14. Black Power Movement • Black Panther Party- founded in Oakland, California by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in 1966. Other key leader was Stokely Carmichael. • Demanded respect and would not turn the other cheek. • Controversial group that was investigated by the federal government.

15. 1968 Olympics • Tommie Smith won the gold and John Carlos won the bronze in the 200 meters. • Received the medals shoeless and with black socks to represent black poverty. • Wore beads to represent those killed in the Middle Passage and by lynching. • Carlos forgot his gloves so Smith gave him one to wear on his left hand for the salute during the national anthem. • Both athletes were sent home and treated terribly until recently.

16. Song: Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud by James Brown • Recorded in 1968 by James Brown. • Black power movement song • Talks about prejudice towards blacks and black empowerment • Song was recorded in LA and background was sung by mostly White and Asian children.

17. Speech: I Have a Dream • Given on August 28, 1963 • Part of the March on Washington to gain support for JFK’s Civil Rights Bill. • What is the dream? • As a nation, are we all living the dream?

18. Song: Let Freedom Ring (Hip Hop) • Brown v. Board of Education- overturns Plessy v. Ferguson • Rosa Parks- sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott of December 1955. • Civil Rights Bill of 1964- Part of LBJ’s Great Society, outlawed segregation in public places.

19. Song: Let Freedom Ring (Hip Hop) • Voting Rights Act of 1965- outlawed literacy tests. Provided for federal registration of voters in areas that had less than 50% of eligible minority voters registered. Extended by George W. Bush in 2006.

20. Voting Rights Act Map

21. Watts Riots (1965) • Protest turned into rioting after an African-American was pulled over by cops. • Escalated into rioting and the National Guard was called in. • Lasted 6 days, 34 people killed, 1,000 injured and 100 million dollars of damage. • Riots also in Northern cities like Detroit and Newark.

22. What was the Kerner Commission? • In 1968, issued a study on the cause of urban violence. • The main cause of urban violence in the cities was white racism. • Does this still hold true today?

23. What was the Civil Rights Act of 1968? • This law banned discrimination in housing. • Are their examples today where discrimination has occurred in housing?

24. What is affirmative action? • Program that began in the late 1960’s to make special efforts to hire or enroll minorities. • Why is this policy controversial?

25. Medgar Evers • African-American Civil Rights Activist from Mississippi was assassinated by a white supremacist in 1963. • Byron De La Beckwith was finally convicted of murder in 1994.

26. John F. Kennedy • President of the United States from 1961-1963 • Bays of Pigs-failed attempt to overthrow Castro • Cuban Missile Crisis • Americans embraced his optimism for a better future. • Assassinated in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald in November 1963.

27. Malcolm X • Spokesperson for Nation of Islam. • Left Nation of Islam in 1964 and advocated political and economic black nationalism. • Disagreed with Martin Luther King Jr. philosophy of passive resistance. • Assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam in 1965. • Speech: Malcolm X video

28. Martin Luther King Jr. • Leader of the American Civil Rights Movement • Led non-violent protests and passive resistance (like Gandhi in India) • Assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968 by James Earl Ray.

29. Robert F. Kennedy • Brother of JFK and Attorney General under JFK. • Ran for the Democratic Nomination for President in 1968. • Assassinated in a California Hotel by Sirhan B. Sirhan because of RFK’s support of Israel in the Six Day War.

30. In the Ghetto by Elvis Presley • Made popular by Elvis Presley in 1969. • Calling public attention to life in the inner cities. • Culture of poverty and cycle of violence. • How have things changed or have they stayed the same?

31. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman • Recorded in 1988. • Song about the cycle of poverty and how it is so hard to break. • What does the fast car represent? • What is the singer’s definition of the American dream?

32. Essay Assignment • Write a 1-2 page essay on your idea of the American Dream. Include the following: - Define the American Dream. - What does it take to achieve the American Dream? - What roadblocks are in the way of the American Dream? - Why are many Americans not living the dream?