Civil Rights

Black Rights? Plessy vs. Ferguson(1896 ) –Separate but equal is legal Poll tax Literacy test Intimidation –KKK –Lynching Laws  names published

NAACP NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored people) –Worked for Civil Rights through the Court System Thurgood Marshall –Lawyer for NAACP  fighting segregation –Later becomes Supreme Court Justice

Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka Kansas (1954) African American girl refused entrance to neighborhood school Thurgood Marshall (NAACP Lawyer) Supreme Court finds that Separate IS NOT equal –What case does this reverse? Integration must be completed “with all deliberate speed”

Emmitt Till (August 1955) 14 years old Murdered for speaking to white woman Her husband & brother are charged and acquitted Later admitted to murder Angered African Americans into being ready for action

Rosa Parks (Dec. 1955) Refuses to give up seat  arrested Reaction: – Montgomery Bus Boycott Lasts over 1 year Law is changed – Martin Luther King becomes a leader

Martin Luther King Baptist Minister Civil Disobedience –Protest through nonviolent confrontation –Mahatma Gandhi Helped organized the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) –Organization of churches to fight segregation through Civil Disobedience Shot to death April 4, 1968

Little Rock 9 (Sept. 1957) Brown vs. Board of Education (1954) Little Rock High School (Arkansas) Governor Orval Faubus sends National Guard  keep students out Ike sends federal troops  to uphold Brown v Board decision

Sit-Ins (Feb1960) Greensboro, NC Woolsworth lunch counter 4 black students sat and waited to be served –1000’s followed their lead across the nation Led to the creation of the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) –Students organize nationwide to confront inequality through non- violence –Inter-racial (1:24-5:41/8:27)

Freedom Rides (1961) Supreme Court outlawed segregation in interstate transportation (busses) CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) organizes Freedom Rides –White and black protesters ride the bus in order to integrate bus stops. In Alabama, bus is stopped and attacked (burned) –Protesters assaulted SNCC finishes the ride JFK provides US Marshalls to provide security

March in Birmingham, AL (April 1963) (:38/ 4:55-7:15/ 7:40—7:50/ 8:53- 10:21/ 10:48-11:25 50% African American  less than 15% registered to vote TV showed non-violent demonstrators being attacked MLK thrown in Jail JFK makes speech asking for new civil rights legislation

Medgar Evers 1 st Field Secretary for NAACP in Miss. WWII Vet Investigated violent crimes Registered voters Organized Boycotts Shot in front of home June 12, 1963

March on Washington (August 28,1963) (11:25-12:32/ 14:45-16:01) Reason: –Wanted Congress to pass Civil Rights laws About 250,000 4 out of 5 were black Non-violent MLK  “I Have A Dream”

Church Bombing Birmingham, AL Sept young girls dead 17 days after March on Washington

Selma, AL March % black and les than 1% of the vote Selma to Montgomery March –Bloody Sunday 600 marchers attacked by troopers –TV Johnson gives speech of support –2 nd March turned around at bridge MLK –3 rd March 25,000 marched to Montgomery

Civil Rights Act of 1964 Banned racial discrimination in private facilities (theaters, restaurants, etc) Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

Freedom Summer (5:25-6:25/ 7:43- 9:28/11;13-15:50) Summer 1964 Campaign to register African American voters in the south Miss. 1 black worker and 2 white workers found dead (June) Nation outraged

Voting Rights Act of 1965 August 6, 1965 Outlaws literacy tests Sent voter registrars into many southern states Result: White politicians needed to pay attention to black voters

White Reaction and Black Frustrations

Nation of Islam Black pride Black separatists Believes that Elijah Muhammad is God’s last prophet (like Moses, Jesus, Muhammad) Black race is superior  white devil Malcolm X –National spokesman

Malcolm X –National spokesman for Nation of Islam –Separatists –“by any means necessary” –Broke away from Nation of Islam (1964) –Killed Feb (by followers of Nation of Islam) –Compare Martin Luther King & Malcolm X Goal: Method:

Watts Riot August 11, 1965 Anger at lack of opportunity and treatment in cities (North/ West) –1 of 8 had high school education –Unemployment highest in city Traffic stop turns into three arrests –Rocks thrown 5 days 34 killed/ over 1000 injured/ 4000 arrested Increased militancy  separatism What are 2 ways this protest is different?

Black Panthers Founded in Oakland, CA Patrolled police  conflicts –By BP dead/ 15 officers Black pride Separatism Stokely Carmichael –Takes over SNCC and ejects whites out of organization

Black Panthers (2) Served Community  education/ free lunch program/ Anti-drug Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice, and Peace

Results by late 1960s Voter registration increases in South Several hundred African Americans hold office in the South By 1972 ½ southern black children in integrated classes –Only 1/3 in northern schools