The Civil Rights Movement America’s Struggle for Equality in the 20 th Century

African-American Leadership at the Dawn of the 20 th Century Booker T. Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute and advocated a gradualist approach to civil rights and equality – his own life story (Up from Slavery) made the case for achieving social and economic equality before political equality W.E.B. Du Bois helped to found the NAACP and encouraged efforts to achieve civil rights and political equality as soon as possible; a product of the so-called “Niagara Movement”

African-American Challenges & Gains in the Early 20 th Century Segregation, racism, and lynching remained serious problems in the first three decades of the 20 th century African-Americans contributed directly to victory in both world wars and became a key element in FDR’s New Deal coalition Great Migration (c ) brought many African-Americans to northern urban centers in search of jobs; created both friction and economic opportunity Culturally, the Harlem Renaissance raised the status of African-Americans in the eyes of “white” America (ex: Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith)

Civil Rights in World War II & After A. Philip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, launched the “Double-V Campaign” in 1941 to protest discrimination in war industries and in the military – FDR issued an executive order requiring equal pay for equal work in war industries James Farmer founded CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) in 1942 to protest segregation in the North – racial violence erupted in 1943 Democratic Party adds a civil rights plank in 1948 – “Dixiecrats” split off in protest but Truman wins re-election anyway and desegregates the military in 1948

School Desegregation The Warren Court overturned “separate but equal” (established by Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896) in Brown v. Board of Education decision (1954); Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP represented the plaintiff successfully Led to conflicts over desegregation of schools, ex: Little Rock Central High School (1957) where the federal government intervened to force integration

The Birth of the Movement Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955) began when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat; Martin Luther King, Jr. emerged as a major leader of the boycott and organized the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) in 1957 CORE and the SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee) also organized sit-ins at lunch counters and other forms of non-violent resistance from the late 1950s to the 1960s

Intensified Activism, – CORE organized the Freedom Riders, who are greeted by angry mobs in Alabama – JFK sends in federal marshals to protects them 1962 – James Meredith attempts to enter “Ole Miss”; federal marshals intervene SCLC targets Birmingham for desegregation; Police Chief “Bull” Connor leads a violent crackdown that results in MLK’s imprisonment and a national backlash against segregationist tactics 1963 – over one million march on Washington to hear MLK’s “I Have Dream” speech on the National Mall; motivates Kennedy and Congress to take action

Civil Rights Legislation “Grass-roots” activism and Kennedy’s death provided the popular support necessary for LBJ and Congress to take action: Civil Rights Act of 1964 – banned segregation in public facilities and established Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) 24 th Amendment (1964) banned poll taxes Voting Rights Act of 1965 – eliminated literacy tests and enabled federal examiners to register voters These actions effectively enforced the 14 th and 15 th Amendments and completed the failed dream of Radical Reconstruction 100 years before LBJ led the Democratic Party into a new era but it cost the Democrats the “Solid South” by 1968

Radicalization of the Movement Watts Riot in 1965 ushered in four years of urban violence even as civil rights legislation took effect MLK openly opposed U.S. involvement in Vietnam; boxer Muhammed Ali defied his draft order to protest the war Malcolm X (Nation of Islam) preached a message of resistance and separation from white society SNCC leader Stokely Carmichael started the Black Power movement in 1966 Black Panthers founded in 1966 to openly fight police brutality in cities

The Dream Deferred? MLK’s assassination in April 1968 struck a blow to the movement Kerner Commission (1968) reported that the major cause of racial violence and low social-economic conditions for blacks was white racism De facto segregation replaced de jure segregation, “white flight” resulted from desegregation fights Problems of poverty, crime, poor health, and lack of educational opportunities continued to plague African-Americans in the 20 th century, despite many advances (examples: Thurgood Marshall’s appointment to the Supreme Court in 1967 and federal support for affirmative action)