The Civil Rights Era Chapter 29 Vocabulary

Segregation The separation of people of different races. African Americans fought against segregation and for equal opportunities.

Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling that it was unconstitutional to separate schoolchildren by race. The Court’s decision in Brown v. Board of Education called on school authorities to make plans for integrating.

Integrate To bring races together The Court ordered that integration was to be carried out “with all deliberate speed” – as fast as reasonably possible.

Little Rock, Arkansas 1957 – a federal judge ordered Central High School to admit African American students. The state’s governor called out the National Guard to prevent African Americans from entering. Eisenhower sent hundreds of soldiers to Little Rock, Arkansas to patrol the school grounds and protect the students.

Boycott A refusal to use Rosa Parks' arrest led African Americans in Montgomery, AL, to organize a boycott of the city’s buses.

Montgomery Bus Boycott When African Americans in Montgomery, AL refused to ride the city’s buses for more than a year. It ended when the Supreme Court ruled that the Montgomery bus segregation law was unconstitutional. The Montgomery Bus Boycott caused the local bus company to lose thousands of dollars in fares, and downtown businesses lost customers.

Objective: To examine the causes and effects of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Left: Rosa Parks; Below: Rev. Ralph Abernathy Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; E.D. Nixon

The Voices of Montgomery Rosa Parks is arrested: · As in many southern states, Alabama’s Jim Crow laws required that blacks give up their seats on buses to whites. · In December of 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

Dr. King: · The NAACP, with the help of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., organized a bus boycott in Montgomery. · Without black riders, white owned bus companies stood to lose a lot of money. The Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., from left, at a press conference. (May 26, 1963)

An empty bus passes by during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1956.

King was arrested, his house was bombed, yet the boycott continued. · King insisted that his followers follow civil disobedience, or nonviolent protests against unjust laws. Martin Luther King, Jr., arrested, Montgomery, Alabama, 1958. (Photograph by Charles Moore)

Police started harassing the car pool, threatening to arrest drivers, revoke their licenses, and cancel their insurance policies.  On January 26, King was arrested for speeding and taken to jail (for driving 30 in a 25 mph zone).  A few days later his house was bombed.  Soon King was receiving dozens of hate letters and threatening phone calls every day.  In February an all-white grand jury indicted 89 people, including twenty-four ministers and all drivers in the car pool, for violating an obscure state anti-labor law that prohibited boycotts.  King was the first to be tried.  The judge found him guilty and sentenced him a year of hard labor or a fine of $500 plus court costs. 

A hard-won battle: In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was unconstitutional. Therefore, the Montgomery bus company agreed to integrate their buses and hire black bus drivers. Dr. King and his wife, Coretta, at the conclusion of the boycott.

Dr. King and Reverend Ralph Abernathy riding a bus on the first day for desegregated buses in Montgomery, AL. (December 21, 1956)

Civil Disobedience The refusal to obey laws that are considered unjust. Martin Luther King, Jr. was influenced by Gandhi's use of civil disobedience to bring about change.

SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference emphasized nonviolent protests and showed civil rights workers how to protect themselves from violent attacks. The SCLC prepared African Americans for the struggle for equal rights.

Poverty Line The minimum income needed to survive. President Johnson’s plan for a Great Society consisted of programs to help Americans who lived below the poverty line.

Medicare Helped pay for medical care for senior citizens.

Medicaid Helped poor people pay their hospital bills.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The act prohibited discrimination against African Americans in employment, voting, and public accommodations. It banned discrimination not only by race and color, but also by sex, religion, or national origin.

Sit-In The act of protesting by sitting down. Sit-ins were staged throughout the nation against stores that practiced segregation.

Interstate Crossing state lines The Supreme Court issued new regulations that banned segregation on interstate buses and in bus stations.

Freedom Riders A group of African Americans and whites that left Washington, D.C., on two buses bound for New Orleans to see whether the ruling against segregated bus facilities was being enforced. The bus trip went smoothly until it reached Alabama, where angry whites stoned and beat the Freedom Riders.

Two groups of Freedom Riders enter Alabama on May 14, 1961 Two groups of Freedom Riders enter Alabama on May 14, 1961. One bus is ambushed and burned by a racist mob outside of Anniston, the other arrives in Birmingham where another mob brutally assaults the riders. Students from the Nashville Movement take up the ride in Birmingham. When the buses pull into Montgomery the riders are viciously attacked by yet another waiting mob. Reporters and photographers are also brutally assaulted and their cameras smashed to prevent the rest of America from seeing pictures of the Klan assault on non-violent young men and women.

Voting Rights Act of 1965 Gave the federal government the power to force local officials to allow African Americans to register to vote. After events in Selma, Alabama, President Johnson urged passage of a voting rights bill. In August Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law.

Equal Pay Act Prohibited employers from paying women less than men for the same work. In 1963 Kennedy convinced Congress to pass the Equal Pay Act.

Feminist Activists for women’s rights Feminists created the National Organization for Women.

National Organization of Women An organization that fought for equal rights for women in all aspects of life. NOW helped end separate employment ads for men and women.

Equal Rights Amendment “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the U.S. or by any state on account of sex.” Opponents of the ERA warned that the amendment would upset the traditional roles of society.

Hispanic People from Latin America or Spain. The Hispanic population rose from 3 million in 1960 to 9 million in 1970.

Indian Civil Rights Act of 1968 Protected the constitutional rights of all Native Americans.