1950s and 1960s
De jure segregation: imposed by law ▪ Plessy vs. Ferguson De facto segregation: it was allowed to happen according to tradition
Court cases about segregation argued for NAACP by Thurgood Marshall The Supreme Court ruled that segregation is NOT equal However.... acceptance and enforcement of this decision would take years to accomplish.
From Chicago Visiting Mississippi Insulted a white woman a the local store He was kidnapped by two white men Murdered: pistol whipped, tied up, shot
His mother required an open casket so people could “see what they did to my boy.” International news 100 days later Rosa Parks will not give up her seat, and Emmett Till was part of the reason.
Nov Returning home after work one night, Rosa refused to give up her seat to a white man. She was arrested Her arrest helped spark the Montgomery Bus Boycott Civil Rights Movement begins in earnest
Little Rock, Arkansas; 1957 A group of students known as the Little Rock Nine volunteered to be the first ones in their community to attend the all white high school.
On the first day, the nine students were kept from entering the school by the National Guard at the request of Gov. Orval Faubus. Elizabeth Eckford remembered a mob screaming at her, “Lynch her! Lynch her!”
The President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, called out the U.S. Army to escort the students to the school and to their classes. This protection lasted a month.
Across the United States, violence and protests broke out as people protested integration.
Mostly college students Sat at lunch counters and were not served Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC---”snick”) Starts at Woolworth’s and spreads
Riding through the south to desegregate buses and waiting rooms Fire bombed and beaten
SCLC held protests and sit-ins 1963 Children’s crusade Commissioner of Public Safety, Bull Connor Segregation at All Costs: Segregation at All Costs: Used dogs and fire hoses against protestors Americans sent letters to JKF
Non-violent approach inspired by Christ and Gandhi Encouraged protest marches, bus boycotts, March on Washington D.C., August 1963 ▪ Most prominent Civil Rights March ▪ 200,000 demonstrators ▪ Lincoln Memorial "I Have a Dream" "I Have a Dream"
Freedom Summer, 1964 Northerners went south to register Black voters KKK increases violence Marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama March 7, 1965 “Bloody Sunday” Participants beaten at Edmund Pettus Bridge
In July 1964, The Civil Rights Act was signed by Pres. Johnson Outlawed segregation in public areas and in employment Voting Rights Act passed in 1965 Banned literacy tests Feds to oversee registration 24 th Amendment : outlawed poll taxes
Sept. 1962, Tried to enroll in Ole Miss Supreme Court ordered the university to desegregate Governor tried to stop his entrance Riots erupted JFK “Americans are free to disagree with the law but not to disobey it.” 1966 begins a 220 mile march from TN to MS to encourage voter registration Shot but not killed by a white man
Malcolm Little His Father was a minister and supported Marcus Garvey Became a follower of the Nation of Islam Dropped his “slave” last name and adopted X Worked for a separate Black society Later denounced the Nation of Islam
Black Power movement, 1966: Stokely Carmichael had been a Freedom Rider Leader in the SNCC Marched with Dr. King "Black is Beautiful“ Use economic and political muscle Black Panthers: Huey Newton and Bobby Seale Use violence if necessary to fight for your rights
Sept. 1963, Sixteenth Baptist Church in Birmingham bombed 4 young girls killed Nov. 23, 1963 John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas Feb Malcolm X assassinated by the Nation of Islam June 6, 1968 Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy assassinated
April 4, 1968 King assassinated In Memphis, Tennessee He stood on the balcony of his motel room Age 39 James Earl Ray Sentenced to 99 years Riots broke out across the country