Civil Rights

African-Americans Seek change Agonizingly slow rate of change since 1880s De-facto segregation and/or De-jure segregation Jim Crow laws 1932 Berwyn “School Fight” for integration Jackie Robinson “re-inegrates” MLB in 1947 WWII veterans return … (Dpouble-V campaign) Irony of Cold War politics

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Supreme Court ruled segregation of facilities constitutional if “separate but equal” Upheld Jim Crow laws, De jure segregation Brown v. Topeka Board of Education (1954) Oliver Brown sued to allow his daughter to attend an all white school; challenged de jure segregation

Brown v. board of education (1954) Supreme Court: separating children “solely because of their race generates a felling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone” Supreme Court ruled “separate facilities are inherently unequal” Desegregate “with all deliberate speed” Dr. Kenneth Clark’s 1954 Doll Test replication

Brown Family

Montgomery bus boycott (1955) Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on segregated bus “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” Black leaders led by Martin Luther King Jr. (27 years old) organized boycott 1956 Supreme Court ruled bus segregation unconstitutional

“Little Rock Nine” (1957) Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas to desegregate with 9 black students Gov. Orval Faubus sent National Guard to block students White students blocked entrance Eisenhower sent 101st Airborne to protect students

Little rock nine

Civil Rights Organizations NAACP= National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (1910) SCLC= Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957) SNCC= Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (1960) CORE= Congress of Racial Equality (1942)

Major Confrontations (early 1960’s) Lunch Counter Sit-ins - NC, TN (1960) Major Confrontations (early 1960’s) CORE Freedom Rides (1961) James Meredith and Ole Miss (1962) Birmingham, AL (1963)

Civil Rights Legislation JFK’s TV address “moral issue” asks Congress for new Civil Rights Bill 1963 March on Washington and MLK’s “I Have a Dream speech” to rally support “The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights”

Civil Rights Part II Thinking Skill: Explicitly assess information and draw conclusions Objective: Assess the impact and changing tactics of the Civil Rights Movement 1964-1970

Civil Rights Act 1964 LBJ uses Kennedy assassination to gain passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964 Outlawed racial discrimination in all public places Justice Dept. intervene in voting and schooling Equal Opportunity provision for hiring –no discrimination based on race, gender, religion or national origin

Voting in the South Freedom Summer (1964) Selma March to Montgomery (1965) “Bloody Sunday” Voting rights Act of 1965 Federal examiners to register voters 400,000 voters in 1965 1 million in 1968 “We shall overcome…” -LBJ, 1965

Black Militancy Reasons Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam View of Whites Direction of Civil Rights Movement New goals

Black Militancy 1968 Summer Olympics

Black Militancy Stokely Carmichael “Black Power” Black Panthers

Riots Newark, NJ (1964) After 6 days, 26 people lay dead, an estimated 725 people were injured, and close to 1500 people had been arrested. Ten million dollars worth of damage occurred. Watts Riots, LA (1965) 5 days, 34 dead, 1000 injured Detroit (1967) Response to police abuse, lack of affordable housing, urban renewal projects, economic inequality “White flight”

1970’s De facto segregation divided urban centers Supreme Court ruling: “integrated busing” Republican resistance: Nixon and Ford Boston Busing (1974)

Affirmative Action: Bakke vs. U Calif. (1978) Bakke applied but was denied admission to U Calif. Medical School Argued minority applicants did not have to meet the same rigorous admissions standards “Reverse Discrimination” 5-4 ruling upheld Bakke’s complaint “No quotas” but race may be one of other criteria used to determine admission

Identify Assumptions What was life like in the 1950’s for African Americans? What changes did people seek? What tactics did they use? Who were the leaders? How successful were they? What issues are still present today?