The Civil Rights Movement 1954-1968

Read Plessy vs. Ferguson 1. Who was Plessy? Describe him. 2. Why did he challenge the Separate Car Act? 3. How did the Supreme Court rule in 1896? 4. What were the horrific consequences of the ruling? Who dissented and what does that mean? 5. How did this decision effect public life? 6. What do you think about separate but equal?

Brown vs. Board of Education This case challenged “Separate but Equal” Separate but Equal is the legal doctrine in the US that allowed racial segregation. This was defined as a result of Supreme Court case of Plessy vs. Ferguson

1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” * Brown v. Board of Education http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/civilrights/ka1.htm

1955 Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. Her refusal led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott movement in which African Americans created and relied upon their own forms of transportation. The Supreme Court later rules bus segregation unconstitutional. Martin Luther King., Jr. gains national attention during the boycott.

Before Rosa Parks Read the article about the first person who took a stand on public buses. Claudette Colvin-15 year old black high school student. “Its my right!”

1957 Little Rock Nine, Little Rock Arkansas Nine black students entered Central High School under the protection and surveillance of federal troops. These students faced constant threats as they entered the high school. Little Rock was one of the first schools to try to desegregate their schools.

1. What would you have done when you realized you were surrounded by a hostile and angry mob 2.What qualities of character do you think Ms. Eckford had to call on/employ in that moment? Ms. Eckford was walking alone from the rest of the other 8 students because she lacked a telephone and did not know the exact time they were all to meet up.

Little Rock 9 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oodolEmUg2g

1960 “Greensboro Sit-ins: Woolworth Counter” Feb.1st, 1960 Four NC A&T students peacefully demonstrated a sit-in at the local Woolworth Counter to protest against the refusal of service. This demonstration was the first of many sit-in movements throughout the Civil Rights Movement. Woolworth Counter

Greensboro 4 Letter to protesters

1961 Freedom Rides Two groups, CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) and SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) used buses to travel to the deep south to challenge and solve racial discrimination and segregation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxe9dJoZ-AQ Readings from summer recollections.

Mississippi Burning-1964

Mississippi Burning

1964 Mississippi Burning Case Three student activists during Freedom Summer were murdered by members of the KKK as a way to stop the volunteers of the movement in the south https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzIfk2Bh3A4 First 6 minutes Reopening of the case http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ro-kYKYHc Results of the new trial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vReC9d7DmQ

August 28,1963 Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream Speech Martin Luther King gives his most famous speech to a crowd of over 200,000 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in which he calls for racial equality and an end to racial discrimination http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vDWWy4CMhE  

I Have A Dream Too! After listening to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, create your own “I Have a Dream” Speech using the sheet you receive from me.

1965 March from Selma Bloody Sunday SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference led a march from Selma Alabama to the capital of Montgomery (50 miles). The purpose of the march was to gain national attention to the struggle for voting rights. The march was halted with police brutality. This event became known as Bloody Sunday. Three weeks later protesters continued the march. This time it was successful. This led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Major Accomplishments of the Movement Civil Rights Act Voting Rights Act

1964 Civil Rights Act Landmark legislation signed by Lyndon B. Johnson which eliminated discrimination in schools, workplace, and other public facilities

1965 Voting Rights Act “The resolution, signed into law on August 6, 1965, empowered the federal government to oversee voter registration and elections in counties that had used tests to determine voter eligibility or where registration or turnout had been less than 50 percent in the 1964 presidential election. It also banned discriminatory literacy tests and expanded voting rights for non-English speaking Americans.”   http://www.core-online.org/History/voting_rights.htm

1968 Martin Luther King Jr. Assassinated MLK Assassination Martin Luther King was assassinated April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis TN where he was protesting the unfair treatment and wages of sanitary workers in Memphis. James Earl Ray was charged with his murder. Dr. Martin Luther King, left a legacy on the Civil Rights Movement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzC2DiRy8zI