The Civil Rights Movement

Civil Rights: Major Details  Lasted approx  It was a movement that was aimed at outlawing racial discrimination and restoring voting rights for African Americans  The movement was characterized by acts of nonviolent protest  Examples include  Boycotts  An act of voluntary abstaining from using, buying, or dealing with a person, organization etc. as an expression of protest  Sit-ins  A form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment  Protesters remain until they are forcefully removed, arrested or until their requests have been met  Marches  The gathering and walking of a group of people in protest  Marches gained national attention and helped bring to light the African American situation

Civil Rights Timeline: 1954  African American lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, began to focus on desegregating the nation’s elementary and high schools in the 1950s.  He found a case in Linda Brown of Topeka, Kansas.  The Supreme Court combined several school segregation cases from around the country into a single case: Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.  The Supreme Court was aware of this case’s great significance. Brown vs. Board of Education

Civil Rights Timeline: 1954  The Supreme Court heard arguments over a two-year period. The Court also considered research about segregation’s effects on African American children.  In 1954 Chief Justice Earl Warren issued the Supreme Court’s decision.  All nine justices agreed that separate schools for African Americans and whites violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection of the law. This decision triggered national desegregation of public schools including Central High School in Little Rock Arkansas Brown vs. The Board of Education

Civil Rights Timeline: 1955  14 year-old Emmett Till was from Chicago  While visiting family in Mississippi, he was kidnapped, brutally beaten, shot, and dumped in a river for allegedly whistling at a white woman  The two white men that were arrested for the murder were later found innocent by an all-white jury  The murder of Till quickly became a leading event that motivated the Civil Rights Movement The Murder of Emmett Till

Civil Rights Timeline: 1955  In 1955 a local NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) member named Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to white riders.  The resulting Montgomery bus boycott led to a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on buses was unconstitutional. Montgomery Bus Boycott

Civil Rights Timeline: 1955  When Rosa Parks was arrested, the NAACP called for a one-day boycott of the city bus system.  Community leaders formed the Montgomery Improvement Association and selected Martin Luther King Jr. as its leader.  African Americans continued to boycott the bus system for a year—which hurt the bus system and other white businesses.  After the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was unconstitutional, integration of the buses moved forward. Montgomery Bus Boycott

Civil Rights Timeline: 1957  African Americans formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, or SCLC, to protest activities taking place all across the South  Martin Luther King Jr. was the elected leader of this group— which was committed to mass, nonviolent action Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Civil Rights Timeline: 1960  In February of 1960, four black students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College begin a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter  Although they are refused service, they are allowed to stay at the counter  The event triggers many similar nonviolent protests throughout the South  Student sit-ins would be effected throughout the Deep South in integrating parks, swimming pools, theatres, libraries, and other public facilities Sit-ins

Civil Rights Timeline: 1960  As the sit-ins became popular throughout the south, a group was formed called SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)  It’s purpose was to organize non-violent protests such as sit-ins on a greater scale  The Committee would provide young blacks with a place in the civil rights movement Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

Civil Rights Timeline: 1961  Over the spring and summer, student volunteers began taking bus trips through the South to test out new laws that prohibited segregation in interstate facilities, which included bus and railway stations  They were called “Freedom Riders” and were sponsored in part by SNCC  The program involved more than 1,000 volunteers, black and white Freedom Riders

Civil Rights Timeline: 1963  The March on Washington was a large political rally in support of civil and economic rights for African Americas  During the March, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech encouraging racial harmony  Around 250,000 people attended this march, both black and white  The march is widely credited with helping to pass the Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights Act (1965) The March on Washington

Civil Rights Timeline 1964 & 1965  Civil Rights Act (1964)  Landmark piece of legislation that prohibited discrimination (in public places as well as in work places) based on race, color, religion, or national origin  The law also provided the federal government with the powers to enforce desegregation  Voting Rights Act (1965)  Landmark piece of legislation that made it easier for blacks to register to vote  Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting were made illegal Successes of the Civil Rights Movement