1. W I T H H I S T O R Y I N T E R A C T What rights are worth fighting for? Examine the Issues The year is 1960, and segregation divides the nation’s people. African Americans are denied access to jobs and housing and are refused service at restaurants and stores. But the voices of the oppressed rise up in the churches and in the streets, demanding civil rights for all Americans. What are the risks of demanding rights? Are all Americans entitled to the same civil rights? Why might some people fight against equal rights?

2. OVERVIEW Activism and a series of Supreme Court decisions advanced equal rights for African Americans in the 1950s and 1960s. Landmark Supreme Court decisions beginning in 1954 have guaranteed civil rights for Americans today. MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW

3. Morgan v. Virginia Sweatt v. Painter Brown v. Board of Education NAACP SCLC SNCC CORE 1. Examples of tactics, organizations, leaders, and Supreme Court decisions of the civil rights movement up to 1960. continued... Tactics Leaders Challenging Segregation Organizations ASSESSMENT Supreme Court Decisions nonviolent resistance legal action Thurgood Marshall Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ella Baker Jo Ann Gibson Robinson

4. 2. Do you think the nonviolence used by civil rights activists was a good tactic? ANSWER Nonviolent protests, such as the Montgomery bus boycott and sit-ins, alerted people to the problem of racism while capturing their sympathy; television coverage depicted the extent of the problem. the Montgomery bus boycott television coverage of events sit-ins ASSESSMENT continued...

5. 3. How did the tactics of the student protesters from SNCC differ from those of the boycotters in Montgomery? ANSWER The students confronted businesses that had segregationist policies instead of boycotting them. ASSESSMENT continued...

6. 4. After the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka ruling, what do you think was the most significant event of the civil rights movement prior to 1960? Why? ANSWER POSSIBLE RESPONSES: the crisis at Little Rock, because it forced the government to actthe crisis at Little Rock, because it forced the government to act the Montgomery bus boycott, which brought Martin Luther King, Jr., into a leadership rolethe Montgomery bus boycott, which brought Martin Luther King, Jr., into a leadership role the role of civil rights leaders the results of confrontations and boycotts the role of grassroots organizations ASSESSMENT End of Section 1

7. 5. Look at the graphic to help organize your thoughts. List the steps that African Americans took to desegregate buses and schools from 1962 to 1965. continued... 1962 A federal court case allows James Meredith to enroll in the University of Mississippi. Voting Rights Act passed. Johnson signs Civil Rights Act. Protests, boycotts, and media coverage force Birmingham to end segregation. Kennedy orders troops to desegregate the University of Alabama. March on Washington takes place. ASSESSMENT 1963 1964 1965

8. The civil rights movement turns north, new leaders emerge, and the movement becomes more militant, thus leaving behind a mixed legacy. Malcom X & Nation of Islam -Black Panthers & Black Power (Nationalism – pride in African Heritage & high moral standards ) -Separate from Whites -Fight back: racism, poor living & working conditions, (economic) MLK, Jr. SCLC -Peaceful non-violent protest -1963- Letter from Birmingham Jail -Lincoln Memorial Speech “I have a dream” 200,000 people attend -1964 – Wins Nobel Peace Prize -1968 –gunned down in Memphis

9. 6. Compare and contrast the civil rights strategies of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. Whose strategies do you think were more effective? ANSWER Both wanted civil rights and greater opportunities. King preached racial equality. Malcolm X preached black separatism and armed self-defense. Effectiveness: King, because his demonstrations caused civil rights legislation to be passed; Malcolm X, because he urged African Americans to fight back. ASSESSMENT End of Section 3