1947 Jackie Robinson breaks color barrier in major league baseball 1948 Truman Desegregates Military 1940s Civil Rights Events

Topeka school board had denied Brown admission to an all-white school. NAACP sued. Thurgood Marshall NAACP lawyer represented Linda Brown Decision was that public school segregation violated "equal protection" clause of 14th Amendment Brown vs. Board of Education, 1954

Brown v. Board of Education "Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. It has no place in public education.” This ruling overturned Plessy v. Ferguson One year later, the court ordered school integration "with all deliberate speed.”

Southern Response = MASSIVE RESISTANCE 1956: Virginia state legislature passed a law cutting off state aid to desegregated schools. By 1962, only one half of one percent of non-white school children in the South were in integrated schools. Southern Manifesto: signed by more than 100 Southern officeholders in opposition to integration

Emmett Till 1955 – Money, Mississippi 14 year old boy from Chicago Brutally killed for disobeying the social rules of race relations in the South

December 1955, Rosa Parks arrested in Montgomery, Alabama after refusing to give her bus seat to a white man; she was ordered to sit at the back of the bus. Montgomery Bus Boycott,

Montgomery Bus Boycott African American leaders called for a boycott; nearly 80% of bus users were black. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as leader of civil rights movement. Montgomery bus boycott lasted nearly 400 days. 1956, Supreme Court ruled segregation on Montgomery buses was unconstitutional.

Little Rock Crisis Gov. Orval Faubus ordered National Guard to surround Central High School to prevent 9 black students ("Little Rock Nine") from entering the school. Federal court ordered removal of National Guard and allowed students to enter. Riots erupted and forced Eisenhower to act.

Eisenhower reluctantly ordered 1000 federal troops into Little Rock and nationalized the Arkansas National Guard, this time protecting students. First time since Reconstruction a president had sent federal troops into the South to enforce the Constitutional Rights of African Americans

Southern Christian Leadership Conference Jan. 1957, King president of (SCLC) Nonviolent resistance King urged followers not to fight with authorities even if provoked. King’s nonviolent tactics similar to Mohandas Gandhi

Sit-ins became effective new strategy of nonviolence. Greensboro sit-in (Feb. 1960): First sit-in by 4 North Carolina college freshman at Woolworth lunch counter for student being refused service

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Created by SCLC to better organize the movement. (SNCC pronounced "snick") Students adopted civil disobedience when confronted with jail

Freedom Rides Organized by CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) -Rode interstate buses to verify that segregation wasn’t happening. Robert F. Kennedy Attorney General -RFK petitioned Interstate Commerce Commission to issue a ruling against segregation of interstate facilities; sent 400 marshals to protect freedom riders.

Sept. 1962, JFK had to send U.S. Marshals to enforce a court order to enroll James Meredith at Ole Miss

1963, Birmingham closed parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, and golf courses to avoid desegregation. Martin Luther King, Jr. chose Birmingham because it was the toughest challenge and a victory would break segregation throughout the South. MLK and supporters arrested on Good Friday for marching without a permit SHOWDOWN IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

Public pressure mounted for civil rights legislation. Business leaders gave in & agreed to desegregate stores. 1963

June 1963, JFK federalized Alabama National Guard to enforce a court order requiring the admission of two blacks—James Hood and Vivian Malone— to the University of Alabama. KENNEDY ACTIVELY PURSUES CIVIL RIGHTS

Governor George Wallace symbolically stood in the door way protesting that states’ rights were being crushed "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever"

That night, Medgar Evers, NAACP director in Mississippi, was assassinated. In response, JFK announced he would send a civil rights bill to Congress March on Washington, August 28, 1963 (led by MLK, Jr.) Protesters demanded: support for Kennedy’s civil rights bill and for better and more jobs.

TRIUMPH OF CIVIL RIGHTS (PART OF THE GREAT SOCIETY) 24th Amendment (1964): Abolished poll tax in federal elections Civil Rights Act of 1964 Outlaws segregation in public accommodations (hotels, restaurants, theaters, etc.)

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Created to enforce the law. Relieved individuals of responsibility for bringing discrimination complaints to court themselves; federal government now responsible.

Voting Rights Act 1965 Why? -15 th amendment was not being enforced -literacy tests, grandfather clauses, intimidation, etc. March from Selma to Montgomery Results: -740,000 blacks registered to vote within three years. -Hundreds of blacks elected by late 1960s in the Deep South -Blacks no longer feared white reprisals during elections. -Southerners now began courting African American votes -For first time since Reconstruction, African Americans migrated into the South.