Segregation and Civil Right Movement

Chapter 21, Section 1

Jim Crow Laws - separate white and black people By the turn of the 20th century, many southern states adopted legal policies of racial discrimination Voting Restrictions Poll tax Grandfather clause Jim Crow Laws - separate white and black people schools, hospitals, parks, transportation

The Supreme Court ruled in 1883, that the Fourteen Amendment could not be used to prevent private citizens from discrimination against others on the basis of race.

Plessy v Ferguson (1896)

Plessy vs. Ferguson In 1892, Homer Plessy took a seat in a “whites only” car of a train and refused to move He was arrested, tried and convicted for breaking Louisiana’s segregation law. Plessy appealed, claiming he had been denied equal protection under the law.

The Court ruled that “separate-but-equal ” facilities for blacks and whites did not violate the Constitution

Racial etiquette to belittle and humiliate African Americans No shaking hands Yield side walks to whites Remove hats for whites Those who did not follow etiquette could be shot, burned, beating or hanged

By 1900, many African Americans moved to North cities for better paying jobs and social equity Segregated neighborhoods Discrimination in the workplace

Challenging Segregation in Court NAACP fought to end segregation, beginning in 1909 Developed a strategy to focus largely on inequality of separate schools 10 times as much money on educating white children as black children

Thurgood Marshall led a team of NAACP lawyers Won 29 out of 32 Supreme Court cases

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court (1954) unanimously struck down segregation in schooling as an unconstitutional violation of the Fourteenth Amendment Separate but equal is NOT EQUAL and therefore unconstitutional

Brown v. Board of Education made school segregation illegal

Schools were ordered to desegregate “with all deliberate speed” Several states ignored the ruling President Eisenhower was hesitant to enforce compliance

Reaction to Brown v. Board of Education

Crisis in Little Rock In 1957, Arkansas Governor ordered the National Guard to turn away the “Little Rock Nine” Little Rock Nine – Nine students who had volunteered to be the first students to integrate Little Rock Central High School

NAACP arranged for protection for 8 students The 9th student, 15 year old Elizabeth Eckford, could not be reached Faced an abusive crowd

Eisenhower sent soldiers to protect the Little Rock Nine At the end of the year, Arkansas governor shut down Central High School

Civil Disobediance Rosa Parks Martin Luther King Jr.

Rosa Parks Rosa Parks Seamstress NAACP officer Sat in the front row of the “colored” section of a Montgomery bus As the bus filled up, Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat to a white passenger and was arrested

Montgomery Bus Boycott In response, many leaders in the community organized a bus boycott led by Martin Luther King Jr. Blacks refused to ride the bus for 381 days Car pools Walking long distances In 1956, Supreme Court outlawed bus segregation

Nonviolent resistance – peaceful refusal to obey unjust laws Sit ins – Blacks sat down at segregated lunch counters and refused to leave until they were served Arrests Beatings Suspension from college Tear gas Fire hoses

Freedom Riders

Integrating Ole Miss James Meredith won federal court case to enroll in University of Mississippi Meredith was met with resistant from Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett and Kennedy sent federal marshals to Mississippi Barnett went on the radio Caused riots 2 deaths 1,000 soldiers, 200 arrests, 15 hours to stop rioters

20th century segregation III. The Civil Rights movement

Challenging Segregation in Court I. NAACP legal strategy II. Brown vs. Board of Education III. Resistance to school desegregation IV. Crisis in Little Rock

Montgomery Bus Boycott I. Rosa Parks II. Martin Luther King, Jr. III. Changing the world IV. SCLC – nonviolent protest