Segregation
The United States is a “Separate, But Equal” Nation ****Plessy V. Ferguson (1896) The Supreme court ruled that facilities could be separate for the races as long as they were equal Primarily through the Southern States- “Jim Crow” laws were passed, separating the races Following the 1940’s (basically, World War II) African Americans demanded more rights
The NAACP and the Law Let the Supreme Court decide! The NAACP focused on inequalities in the school system- 10x’s more $$ spent on white students than African American students Thurgood Marshall-A brilliant African American attorney would challenge segregation Led by Marshall-The NAACP would win 29/32 Supreme Court cases challenging segregation
Brown V. Topeka Board of Education Linda Brown, an 8 year African American, student lived four blocks from an all white school The nearest African American school was 21 blocks away.-Her Dad sued Thurgood Marshall represented the Brown family The case went to the Supreme Court They ruled segregation in schooling was unconstitutional
Change Is Not Easy Many schools quickly desegregated- others did not In The deep South (Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia) they were SLOW and vowed resistance (That “state’s rights” thing again)
The Little Rock 9 In Arkansas, governor Orval Faubus promised to fight desegregation He ordered the state national guard to keep the students out (9 African American students that had volunteered to go to the formerly all white Little Rock Central High) The Federal courts ORDERED the governor to comply The Little Rock 9 were harassed by students and the protestors outside of the schools
President Eisenhower Acts Realizing the State of Arkansas was not submitting to Federal law, Eisenhower sent the 101 St Airborne to escort the students to class each day( He acted slowly) Governor Faubus, instead of submitting to segregation, closed the school at the end of the year
Martin Luther King and SCLC SCLC-Southern Christian Leadership Council-Headed by Martin Luther King, Jr Promoted non violent protest Many in the South used violence and murder to stop African Americans SCLC’s purpose was to “carron on nonviolent crusades against evils of second class citizenship”
Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee (Snick) SNCC University students who wanted to challenge segregation, Jim Crow Laws, and inequality in the South The had “sit ins”-many were attacked
Civil Rights Leaders
Malcolm X
Stockley Carmichael
Senator Robert Kennedy