The Struggle for Civil Rights 1950s – 1960s

The Great Migration First wave ( ) caused by need for black labor to replace immigrants during World War I Second wave (1930s-60s) in response to Depression & AAA programs that drove sharecroppers off land Significance: made blacks politically visible – Able to vote & enjoyed greater civil liberties – Became swing vote in cities

World War II & the Cold War WWII led to great increase in black activism – Pittsburg Courier launched “Double V” campaign to fight racism at home as well as abroad – NAACP membership increased from 50,000 to 400,000 – James Farmer founded CORE (Congress Of Racial Equality) to fight segregation in Chicago Cold War put pressure on U.S. gov’t to live up to stated ideology

Desegregating the Schools NAACP Legal Division made strategic decision to devote limited resources to school desegregation Took gradual approach to overturn Plessy – Ex rel. Gaines (1938): Missouri must build separate black law school or admit Gaines to white law school – Sweatt v. Painter (1950): separate black law school couldn’t be equal due to “intangible factors” Brown v. Board of Ed. of Topeka (1954): “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” Charles Houston Thurgood Marshall

The Reaction White backlash: – Southern Manifesto – Revival of Ku Klux Klan Little Rock (1957): – Gov. Orval Faubus called out state militia to prevent integration of Central High School – Pres. Eisenhower sent in 1,000 troops to escort 9 black students Ole Miss (1962): – Gov. Barnett refused to allow James Meredith to enroll – Kennedy sent federal marshals & troops to escort Meredith onto campus Little Rock, 1957 James Meredith, 1962

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Attended Crozer Seminary in Philadelphia & B.U. for doctorate Became pastor of Dexter Ave. Baptist Church in Montgomery, Sept Lead Montgomery Improvement Association’s bus boycott, Dec Dec Time did cover story in Feb. 18, 1957 issue, & King received the NAACP’s Spingarn Medal in June 1957 Coretta & Martin King after his conviction, March 22, 1956

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference Based on Christianity & Gandhi’s example Dramatized evil to shock white consciences Based on respect for laws & American ideals Integrationist, not separationist Deliberately picked virulent racists whom they knew would provide violent drama – Bull Connor in Birmingham, 1963 – Jim Clark in Selma, 1965

March on Washington, Aug. 28, 1963 A. Philip Randolph orginally planned it to be about jobs Became rally in support of Kennedy’s civil rights bill King’s “I Have a Dream” speech appealed to patriotism, using lyrics from “America” Photos from David Cone, Martin & Malcolm & America

Congress Of Racial Equality and the Freedom Rides CORE had sponsored initial Freedom Rides in 1947, to test Morgan v. Virginia decision 1961 Freedom Rides tested Boynton v. Virginia ruling Met with violence in Alabama

The Greensboro Sit-Ins, 1960 Ezell Blair, Jr., Joseph McNeil, David Richmond & Franklin McClain = original four – All Southerners, NAACP – Dressed neatly & acted politely – 100s joined them by Saturday Woolworth’s sales declined 20% & profits 50% in 1960 July 25 – integration finally achieved

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee April 15-17, 1960 conference at Shaw University in Raleigh, N.C. called & funded by SCLC – More than 200 delegates from 50 schools & 13 states – Ella Barker was SCLC advisor to SNCC By Spring 1964, SNCC had over 150 field workers across the South, concentrating on voter registration Major effort = Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964

Senator Lyndon B. Johnson and Civil Rights Refused to sign Southern Manifesto Got Civil Rights Act of 1957 through Congress: – Est. Civil Rights Commission & Civil Rights Division in Justice Dept. – Watered down by removing section that accelerated school desegregation & adding right to jury trials (guaranteeing acquittals for whites) Civil Rights Act of 1960: – extended life of CRC – provided federal court referees to register blacks – made it a federal crime to interfere with court orders or cross state lines to commit violence

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 Discrimination in all places of public accommodation outlawed (hotels, restaurants, etc.) Required literacy tests to be administered in writing, & presumed all 6 th grade graduates were literate Attorney General empowered to bring school desegregation suits Equal Employment Opportunity Commission created Pres. Johnson hands pen to Rev. King after signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Extending African-American Voting Rights 24 th Amendment (1964) ended poll tax Court ruled Congressional districts must have “substantial equality”: – Wesberry v. Sanders (1964) – “one man, one vote” rule est. – Reynolds v. Sims (1964) applied rule to state legislatures Voting Rights Act of 1965: – Authorized Attorney General to send federal registrars of voters – Suspended literacy tests in counties where less than half of adults had voted in 1964 – Required any change in voting laws to be pre-cleared with Justice Dept.

The Impact of the Voting Rights Act and other legal changes Copyright 1997, Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Black Power New SNCC leaders Stokely Carmichael & Rap Brown abandoned nonviolent strategy and goal of integration Malcolm X & the Nation of Islam espoused radical black separatism Spawned growing white backlash – Riots seemed to show ingratitude of blacks – Northerners couldn’t see ghettoes as products of racism – Affirmative action seemed to be reverse discrimination Stokely Carmichael Malcolm X & Elijah Mohammed