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Introduction to American Studies II

Introduction to American Studies II. The Civil Rights Movement: The 1950s and 1960s. Brown decision. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka 1954 Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) “Separate but equal” facilities are constitutional

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Introduction to American Studies II

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  1. Introduction to American Studies II The Civil Rights Movement: The 1950s and 1960s

  2. Brown decision • Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka • 1954 • Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) • “Separate but equal” facilities are constitutional • Unanimous decision written by Chief Justice Earl Warren • “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” • Violate “equal protection clause” of the Fourteenth Amendment

  3. Black Civil Rights Movement • NAACP • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People • Established 1909 • Had many Black and white members, most funding came from rich white sympathizers • W. E. B. DuBois (1868-1963) was the leading Black member in the first half of the 20th Century • Led legal challenges to segregation and attempted to have a Federal anti-lynching law passed (unsuccessfully) • SCLC • Southern Christian Leadership Conference • Established 1957 • Made up of ministers from predominately Black churches • First leader was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. • Best known for organizing “non-violent” resistance to segregation across the South

  4. Important Events • Montgomery Bus Boycott • 1955/56 • Rosa Parks, a Black woman refused to give up her seat to a white passenger and was arrested • Black citizens of Montgomery, AL organized a 381-day boycott • Lunch-counter sit-ins • Organized by students to protest segregation in eating facilities • First held in Greensboro, NC in 1960 • Led to the development of student-led civil rights movement • Freedom Rides (1963) • Protested segregation in interstate bus transportation • March on Washington (August 28, 1963) • Massive civil rights protest in Washington, D. C. • MLK delivers his famous speech “I have a dream”

  5. End to legal segregation • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Based on 14th Amendment • Banned segregation in public facilities • Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Banned discriminatory practices in denying Blacks (and others) the right to vote • Literacy tests • The 24th Amendment • Banned “poll taxes” that had been used to deny poor Blacks the right to vote • Affirmative Action • 1965, President Johnson issues executive order • "take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, creed, color, or national origin."

  6. Other groups • Successes of the Black civil rights movements inspired other groups to action • Women • Hispanics • American Indians • Gays and lesbians

  7. Women’s Rights • Both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Affirmative Action benefited women as much as any other group • Equal Rights Amendment • Proposed in 1971 • “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” • Adopted by only 35 states and therefore did not become a part of the Constitution • Sixties • More and more women in higher education and the workplace • Sexual revolution

  8. Gloria Steinem • “After Black Power, Women’sLiberation” • Ms. Magazine • National Women’s Political Caucus • Affirmative action benefited women perhaps more than any other group • Reproductive rights • Roe v. Wade (1972) • Decisions made in first trimester of pregnancy are private

  9. Hispanics • In the sixties most worked as poorly-paid farm labor • United Farm Workers • Established in 1962 • Led by Cesar Chavez • Agitated for better conditions and pay • Organized successful boycotts of produce and supermarkets that bought sold it • Table grapes • Led to improved condition and pay for farm workers

  10. American Indians • American Indian Movement • Established in 1968 • Brought the plight of Native Americans to public attention through protests • Alcatraz Island • 1969 • 19-month occupation • Trail of Broken Treaties • 1972 • March on Washington and occupation of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) headquarters • Wounded Knee (SD) • 1973 • Standoff between AIM members and Federal and Reservation officials • Lasted 71 days • Pine Ridge (SD) • 1975 • Two FBI agents killed • Leonard Peltier sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder

  11. Gays and lesbians • Prior to the mid-1960s sexual contact between members of the same sex was illegal in most states • Illinois and California led the way in decriminalizing • Police harassment in cities, in particular New York • Stonewall • June 27, 1969 • Police raid lower Manhattan bar the Stonewall Inn • Arrested 4 patrons and 2 bartenders • Crowd gathers and begins to attack the police, who retaliate • Next day large protest with more than 4000 participants protest against police harassment • Marks beginning of GLB movement in the Western world • Prior to AIDS crisis of early-mid eighties, limited political power • Inaction by Federal government led to creation of political movements • Act-up

  12. Further legal changes • Lawrence et al. v. Texas (2003) • State laws banning sodomy are illegal • Goodridge et al. v. Department of Public Health et al. (2003) • Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision • Declared that state could not ban same-sex couples from obtaining a marriage license under the state constitution’s “equal protection” clause • Mayor of San Francisco (2004) defies state law and grants marriage licenses to more than 3,000 same-sex couples • Marriages declared invalid • March 2005 – court declares state ban unconstitutional

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