Why did Civil Rights Move to the Front burner in the 1950’s? And why did it calm down?

Key developments 1954 Brown v. Board of Education … Landmark Sup. Ct. case holding that a state that had “separate but equal” school facilities for children based on race violated the 14th amendment. Court relies on the equal protection clause. Overturns the 1896 court decision of __________________.

Today, education is perhaps the most important function of state and local governments. It is the very foundation of good citizenship. Today it is a principal instrument in awakening the child to cultural values, in preparing to his environment. In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. Such an opportunity, where the state him for later professional training, and in helping him to adjust normally has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to [retard] the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial[ly] integrated school system.

We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

The Legend of Rosa Parks 1955 – Refuses to give up seat to a white bus rider during Starts famous Montgomery Bus Boycott Why her? Why then? Coincidence?

Myth v. Reality Rosa Parks was a quiet nobody who spontaneously sparked a civil rights movement by randomly refusing to give up her seat on a white only bus. Rosa Parks was an NAACP secretary well versed in challenges to segregation. She had previously challenged bus segregation practices. In1943, she refused to enter through the back door of a bus, and became known to drivers, who would sometimes refuse to let her on.

Myth v. Reality Rosa Parks purposely sat in the white only section of the bus and refused to move. Rosa Parks was sitting in the first row of the black section. When the white only section was full, blacks were expected to relinquish their seats. Rosa Parks refused to get up when another white boarded the bus.

Myth v. Reality Rosa Parks was the first person to challenge segregation laws. Rosa Parks was married, soft spoken and uncontroversial. She was selected as a “good plaintiff” by NAACP lawyers. A previous candidate who was thrown off the bus was pregnant, so Rosa’s case was taken.

Implementing Brown v. Board … Easier said than done …

Elizabeth Eckford was one of the nine black students whose admission to Little Rock's Central High School was ordered by a Federal Court following legal action by NAACP legal defense fund attorneys

Give one word to describe her …

What “lock down” really looks like…

What’s wrong w/ this picture?

Nearly Empty Desegregated School September 5, 1962, Lincoln School, Englewood, New Jersey African American students sit in a nearly empty classroom in newly desegregated Lincoln School during a boycott by students protesting desegregation.

Why is she so angry?

A young child walks with his angry mother as she removes him from Graymont School in Birmingham, which has just become desegregated.