Dr. King's Letter from Birmingham Jail Reaction

1. Unit 3 – civil liberties/civil rights SOCIAL MOVEMENTS & CIVIL RIGHTS (PRD – 1.A) SOCIAL MOVEMENTS & THE GOV’T. (PMI – 3.A) SCOTUS & CIVIL RIGHTS (CON – 6.A)

2. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS & CIVIL RIGHTS PRD – 1.A

3. Describe your reaction to the pbs‘eyes on the prize: the promised land’ documentary

4. Dr. King’s mainpoints from his ‘Letter from a birmingham Jail’ • Addressed to fellow white clergy (Jewish & Christian)… • Injustice is occurring in Birmingham, Alabama (injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere) • 4 basic steps involved in any nonviolent campaign…1) collection of facts to dtermine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purification (asking if you are ready to get beat up w/out retaliating & probably going to jail); 4) direct action • Birmingham is one of the most thoroughly segregated cities in the U.S. (police brutality against negroes, unjust treatment of negroes in the courts, bombings of negro homes/churches

5. Dr. King’s mainpoints from his ‘Letter from a birmingham Jail’ • A promise was made last September by local white merchants to remove humiliating racial signs from their store fronts…these promises were broken • Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis & establish such creative tension that negotiation is forced to confront an issue (this is the norm for history – privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily) • Nonviolent direct action never comes in a timely manner – we have always been told to ‘wait’. But ‘waiting’ always means, ‘never’

6. Dr. King’s mainpoints from his ‘Letter from a birmingham Jail’ • It is easy for whites to say ‘wait’. They never have to hear their sons say ‘Daddy, who do white people treat colored people so mean?’, they’re never humilated day in and day out by nagging signs reading ‘white’ men and ’colored’ when your first name becomes ‘n....’ and your middle name becomes ‘boy’ (however old you are) • It is hard for us to follow your southern Jim Crow laws when you won’t follow the 1954 Brown decision. We will follow ‘just’ laws and break ‘unjust’ laws (laws that are out of harmony with moral law) • Segregation is just such an immoral law

7. Dr. King’s mainpoints from his ‘Letter from a birmingham Jail’ • One who breaks an unjust law & is willing to go to jail for it, is expressing the highest respect for law • Civil disobedience has been around forever...refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego refusing to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar; Christians refusing to obey the laws of the Roman Empire, Socrates practicing civil disobedience, & the Boston Tea Party • Don’t forget that everything Hitler did was ‘legal’ & I’m sure that everything I could do to comfort my Jewish brothers would’ve been considered ‘illegal’ & I’m sure if I helped a Christian brother oppressed in a Communist country, that would be construed as ’illegal’

8. Dr. King’s mainpoints from his ‘Letter from a birmingham Jail’ • The greatest stumbling block to equal rights is not the white racist but the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice & who says, ‘I agree with your goals but not your methods’ • I stand in the middle of 2 opposing forces in the negro community…one of complacency & one of bitterness & hatred • Let the negro have his marches & sit ins for it is a way to let out many pent-up resentments & latent frustrations w/segregation • Better to allow a march/sit in than force the negro to violence • I came to Birmingham in hopes that the white clergy would see the jutstice in our cause & help us air our grievances with the white local government • I am hoping that you will stand with us and help us remove these dark clouds of racial prejudice

9. Research‘now’ • What does NOWstand for? • National Organization for Women • What social movement did it promote? • The Feminist Movement (Women’s) started in 1966 • What were the main goals of NOW? • Dedicated to promoting feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, & achieve/protect the equal rights of all women & girls in all aspects of social, political, & economic life • Take Back the Night Marches & Vigils (1973) • July 1978 – Equal Rights Amendment March in Washington D.C. attracted over 100,000 people wearing white with purple, white, & gold sashes • Who were some of the leading figures in NOW? • Betty Friedan (Feminie Mystique) • Pauli Murray • Shirley Chrisholm

10. Equal protection clause (14th amendment) • No state shall deny to any person the equal protection of the laws • Each state must treat every citizen within its jurisdiction in the same manner as others in similar conditions & circumstances • No state can create a law that discriminates and/or infringes on someone’s civil rights based on race, national origin, religion, gender, etc.

11. Pretend you are a pro-life advocate & argue how your perspective should be protected by the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment

12. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS & THE GOVERNMENT PMI – 3.A

13. BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION (1954) • Background • This was a consolidation of several cases arising in Kansas, S. Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, & Washington D.C. • 8 yr. old Linda Brown lived near an all-white school in Topeka Kansas but had to go across town to the all-black school because of the city’s Jim Crow laws. Her father sued the school district on the grounds that it was violating his daughter’s 14th Amendment rights under the Equal Protection Clause • Ruling • The Court ruled unanimously (9-0) that when it came to education, separate but equal facilities for racial minorities is inherently unequal & thus violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment due to the severe psychological damage done to the minds of minority children • Impact • Even though this ruling only applied to educational facilities, future civil rights cases will rely upon this ruling as precedent-setting and we will begin to see the separate but equal doctrine removed from every facet of public life (restaurants, hotels, restrooms, etc.)

14. Civil rights act (1964) • 6main provisions… • Bars arbitrary discrimination in voter registration • Outlaws discrimination in public accommodations (motels, restaurants, theaters, and sports arenas) • Gives the Attorney General the power to bring lawsuits to desegregate public facilities/schools • Calls for the withholding of federal funds from public/private programs that discriminate • Prohibits job discrimination by private employers or unions • Expands the power of the Civil Rts. Commission, creates a Community Relations Service to solve racial disputes, & establishes the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

15. The voting rights act (1965) • This act was signed into law on Aug. 6th, 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson • It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War • These discriminatory voting practices included… • Literacy tests • Poll taxes

16. Title ix of the education amendments act (1972) • Signed into law by President Nixon on June 23rd, 1972 • A comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity • This law was designed to equalize the playing field for men and women in higher education • Among other things, it states that their must be a proportion of female to male sports programs at all public colleges/universities that receive federal funding. • This led many colleges/universities to expand their number of women’s athletic programs to incorporate more female sports • Unfortunately, it also led some colleges/universities to eliminate some men’s sports

17. Scotus & civil rights CON – 6.A

18. Con – 6.a homework assignment • Research state laws & SCOTUS rulings restricting African American access to the same restaurants, hotels, schools, etc. based on the ‘separate but equal doctrine’ in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) • Explain how the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) used the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to rationalize why race-based school segregation is unconstitutional • Research SCOTUS rulings that uphold the rights of the majority in cases that limit & prohibit majority-minority districting • Research the definition to affirmative action & identify at least 1 pro and 1 con to it