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The Civil Rights Movement

The Civil Rights Movement . Libertyville HS. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). LA passed law requiring separate AA & white rail cars Homer Plessy , 1/8 AA, enlisted to challenge law USSC: 7-1 LA law did not violate 14 th Am. Confirmed “separate but equal” doctrine. Jim Crow South.

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The Civil Rights Movement

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  1. The Civil Rights Movement Libertyville HS

  2. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) • LA passed law requiring separate AA & white rail cars • Homer Plessy, 1/8 AA, enlisted to challenge law • USSC: 7-1 LA law did not violate 14th Am. • Confirmed “separate but equal” doctrine

  3. Jim Crow South • Laws mandated legal segregation of all public facilities • Public schools • Restaurants • Public transportation • Restrooms • US military / bureaucracy

  4. Jim Crow South

  5. Jim Crow South

  6. Brown v. Board of Ed. Topeka Kansas (1954) • School segregation accepted throughout country (required, in South) • Brown: unanimously decided by USSC • Ruled that school segregation was unconstitutional • Overturned Plessy • Integrate with “all deliberate speed”

  7. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

  8. Massive Resistance • “The Southern Manifesto” • 100 congressmen sign document pledging defiance to Brown • White Citizen’s Councils formed throughout South to organize resistance

  9. Massive Resistance

  10. Murder of Emmett Till1955 • Segregationist backlash against black citizens by gangs of whites • Emmett Till: 14 year old Chicago boy visiting cousins in Mississippi • On dare, said “Bye, Baby” to white woman, while exiting a store • Several days later, woman’s husband, brother hunt Till down

  11. Emmett Till • Body found 3 days later in river • Barbed wire around neck • Bullet in brain • Eye gouged out • Forehead crushed on one side

  12. Jury in Till Case • Eyewitness testimony against both men • All white, all male jury found both men “not guilty” • Galvanized a generation of young black men

  13. Rosa Parks & the Montgomery Bus Boycott,1955-1956 • Rosa Parks, 43, a seamstress • Refused to give up bus seat to white man; arrested • Dexter Ave. Baptist Church meeting of 50 ministers (incl. MLK) • Plan boycott of bus companies

  14. Bus Boycott • Boycott deprived company of 65% of its revenues • MLK arrested, charged with 1 year in jail or $500 fine • USSC: 8 months later, court decided that bus segregation violated the Constitution

  15. Little Rock (1957) • Little Rock Central HS supposed to start ‘57 year desegregated • Gov. OrvalFaubus announced AK Nat’l Guard would “monitor” the school • NG blocked students from entering school

  16. Central High School • 9/20: injunction vs. Governor – students try again • 9/23: white mob of 1000 townspeople blocked access • Ike: ordered 1000 paratroopers to Little Rock to escort students

  17. (5) • Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) founded, 1957 • Important as coordinating group for protests nationwide

  18. Sit-Ins • Greensboro NC Woolworth’s lunch counter refused service to Joe McNeill, an A-A college student • McNeill returned, refused service next 3 days • NYT wrote article covering sit in; soon, students across nation began sit in campaign

  19. Sit ins • Sit ins met with white violence • Beatings • Dumped ammonia on them • Heavy court fines • Arrest & imprisonment • Police eventually given orders not to arrest them due to negative publicity

  20. Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) • As a result of success of campaign, students encouraged to create new group • Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee formed • Worked with SCLC to coordinate protests

  21. Freedom Riders • 1961: busloads of volunteers of mixed races traveled cross country to end segregation of bus terminals • Test segregated seating on interstate buses and trains • Local segregation laws used to arrest freedom riders

  22. Freedom Riders • Riders through deep South were savagely attacked in Montgomery, AL • JFK sent in 600 federal marshals sent in for a confrontation with AL law enforcement • JFK cut deal with southern state leaders: no fed troops if no mob violence vs riders

  23. James Meredith & the Integration of Ole Miss • 1962: President Kennedy ordered federal marshals to escort James Meredith to attend University of Mississippi • First black student to enroll at the school • Riot broke out – two students killed before troops could arrive to back up marshals

  24. Birmingham • Birmingham AL one of the most segregated cities in America • Sit-ins at lunch counters • “kneel ins” on steps of churches • 100s of demonstrators fined, imprisoned • MLK led protest march in May 1963; met with cops w/ dogs, fire hoses • Arrested, jailed, wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

  25. “Justice too long delayed is justice denied” “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King 1963

  26. 16th St. Bombing and Medgar Evers • Sept 1963: KKK bombed Birmingham Baptist church • Four little girls preparing to lead service killed • Riots, fires broke out throughout town; 2 more teens killed • Mississippi Director of NAACP, Medger Evers, assassinated in driveway in the midst of leading a boycott against Jackson, MS businesses

  27. March on Washington • August 28, 1963: 200k marchers appeared to support Civil Rights movement • Purpose: show support for proposed CR bill • Dr King delivered his “I have a Dream” Speech

  28. Civil Rights Act of 1964 • LBJ called for CR Act as monument to JFK • Passed House; overcame Senate filibuster by Southern Democrats through massive lobbying campaign by Civil Rights, religious leaders • Prohibited segregation in public facilities

  29. Twenty Fourth Amendment • Prohibited use of poll tax • Illinois first state to ratify • Eight states have still not ratified it • Wyoming • Arizona • Texas • Oklahoma • Arkansas • Louisiana • Georgia • South Carolina

  30. Freedom Summer & “Mississippi Burning” • SNCC organized voter registration drive in South • Mainly in Mississippi • Strategy teamed black southern volunteers w/ white northern volunteers • White southerners resented strategy • 3 freedom summer workers disappeared; found later, shot and buried – arrested, beaten, by police, then turned over to KKK

  31. Freedom Summer Presiding Judge William Cox, in handing down lenient sentences for 7 of 18 white men convicted of charges (not murder): “They killed one ni—r, one Jew, and a white man. I gave them all what I thought they deserved.”

  32. Malcolm X • Joined Nation of Islam, a black separatist religion • Left movement in 1964, converted to Islam • Alternative approach to civil rights • Rejected non-violence of MLK • Rejected integration with whites • Advocated black separatism, black nationalism • The Ballot or the bullet • Assassinated Feb 1965 at NY rally by NOI members

  33. The Selma March (1965) • AL state troopers kill demonstrator; march organized by MLK • Gov. refuses to authorize march; MLK goes to LBJ • Marchers go anyway; state troopers at city line use billy clubs and tear gar to disperse demonstrators • Called “Bloody Sunday” by CR movement • LBJ promised action in honor of Selma

  34. Voting Rights Act (1965) • LBJ followed through • with Voting Rights Act, prohibiting literacy tests • Also sent federal registrars into south to register AA

  35. Watts Riot AAs riot in poor neighborhood of LA after cops beat black teen AA youths frustrated with brutality of police, pace of reform 34 people die; Nat’l Guard called in to stop violence

  36. Affirmative Action (1965) • Driven by frustration that Civil Rights legislation had not stopped discrimination • Employers, universities need to actively recruit minorities to make up centuries of discrimination • Issue continues to this day • Grutter v. Bollinger (2003): USSC upheld U of M’s admission policy allowing race to be a factor

  37. Chicago, 1966 • MLK led march to end housing, employment discrimination • In Cicero, whites show up throwing bricks and obscenities • MLK later says the hateful racism he saw in Chicago surpassed the racism from Jim Crow South

  38. Radicalization: StokelyCarmichael • 1966 - SNCC dropped its commitment to non violence • New leadership: Carmichael an advocate of Black Power • Blacks to take bold action to achieve equality, freedom • Promoted black nationalism, Afro-centric culture and history

  39. Radicalization: Black Panther Party (1966) • Founded by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale • Militant group providing social services to poor black neighborhoods • Stood up against police, city authorities • Armed, angry black men scare white people • Coincided with violent protest on college campuses against Vietnam war

  40. Assassination of King (1968) • Memphis Tennessee: supporting strike of sanitation workers • MLK’s focus had changed focus to poverty, Vietnam war • Government considered him dangerous • Assassinated by James Earl Ray while on balcony of Lorraine Motel

  41. Kerner Commission (1968) “…our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white- separate and unequal.” KernerCmm’n • LBJ organized commission in reaction to violence in northern cities following MLK’s death • Kerner – former IL gov • 7 month investigation • “Profound frustration” amongst nation’s urban blacks • Racism was deeply embedded in society

  42. Civil Rights Act 1968 • Prohibited discrimination in sale or rental of housing

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