Civil Rights Movement

Beginnings Plessy vs. Ferguson- Jim Crow Laws- Court that upheld the idea that facilities that were separate but equal were constitution Jim Crow Laws- Laws that segregated blacks from white society

NAACP Founded by W.E.B. Debois Fought for black equality Hired Thurgood Marshall, who was a black lawyer, to argue in court for school integration- Brown vs. Board of Education He won, and was later appointed to the supreme court justice, the first black to do so

Thurgood Marshall

Brown vs. Board of Education Declared that separate educational centers for black and white was unconstitutional Eventually led to the decision that all separate facilities was a violation of the Equal protection clause in the fourteenth amendment and the Declaration of Independence statement “no state shall ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.“ “all men are created equal”

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Rosa Parks was a black woman who boarded a bus in Montgomery, Alabama and sat in the front row When riding public transportation blacks were required to sit in the back of the bus, whether there was a white person sitting up front or not She refused to move, she was arrested A boycott of the bus system in Montgomery was born, most of the buses in Montgomery were forced to stop running because there was not enough people riding them

Rosa Parks

Martin Luther King Jr. Became a leading force against segregation Modeled his teachings after Gandhi, non violence would win over violence Violence would only stoop to the level of the whites they were fighting against King will be arrested 30 times by the time he dies at 38, his house will be bombed several times, and he received constant death threats

Martin Luther King Jr.

Sit-In’s Non-violent protest Blacks would enter white only restaurants and sit at the counter They would not leave without being forcibly evicted or arrested Endured endless abuse by the whites Were told to be polite, not fight back and not resist arrest

March of Washington President Kennedy was pushing for a civil rights bill in Congress In support 500,000 black Americans march on Washington Gathered at the Lincoln Memorial and the Reflection Pool

Enforcing Brown Vs. Board of Education Federal law made state segregation illegal Most schools did not quickly integrate their schools Some cities responded by closing their public schools rather than integrating Federal troops were called in to require schools to integrate Police were often called in to escort black students to their classes.

Ole Miss University protested the integration, 200 students were arrested during the following riots

Voter Registration Several white and black voter registrars went into the south to register blacks Endured death threats and arrests

Police Tactics during demonstrations

Civil Rights Acts Voting Rights Act of 1965 Civil Rights Act of 1968 Public Segregation in restaurants and buses Fair housing for blacks Voting Rights Act of 1965 Outlawed discriminatory voting practices 24th Amendment- Banned Poll Taxes

Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated King traveled to Memphis to deliver a speech for industry workers to get higher wages and better treatment While standing on the balcony of his hotel, a shot was fired from across the street The bullet entered his cheek, went thru his spine and lodged in his shoulder After open chest surgery we was pronounced dead at the hospital