1. Civil Rights

2. Segregation
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): Supreme Court ruled “Jim Crow” segregation laws were legal, “separate but equal”.
South = Democrats support segregation
North = Republicans tend to oppose
1920s & 30s Black migration north - looking for work.
Benefitted from New Deal programs
Black Democrats in north oppose segregation.

3. Brown v. Board of Education 1954
Case challenged segregation in schools, Supreme Court ruled “separate was inherently unequal”.
Only applied to schools, but threatened segregation altogether.

4. Rosa Parks
Arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on Montgomery Bus
NAACP paid to represent her in court, challenge law itself.
Civil Rights Movement begins.

5. Civil Rights Act 1957
First federal law on Civil rights since Civil War, guarantee black voter registration.
Created federal gov’t agencies to regulate voter registration.
Federal gov’t allowed to regulate voting, not states.

6. Kennedy
Northern Democrat, overwhelmingly won black vote in (thanks to brother Bobby)
1963
Gov. George Wallace blocks black students at Univ. of Alabama
Civil Rights advocate Medgar Evers killed next day
Kennedy proposes new Civil Rights Bill day after that
dead before it passes.

7. Civil Rights Act 1964
Johnson, skilled Texas politician, uses mourning for JFK to get his bill passed
Segregation illegal in public places
Equal access to public facilities guaranteed for all
Illegal for private employers to discriminate in workplace
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission – permanent gov’t agency to monitor discrimination in the workplace.

8. Voting Rights Act
Authorized federal gov’t to monitor polls where local officials refused to register black voters, literacy tests illegal.

9. Civil Disobedience

10. Montgomery Bus Boycott
Year long peaceful protest began day of Rosa Park’s hearing.
Martin Luther King Jr. emerges as leader.
Martin Luther King Jr.: pastor from Montgomery, studied theology at Boston University and emphasized peaceful protest
influenced by Gandhi and Henry David Thoreau.

11. “The Little Rock 9”
Arkansas governor blocked 9 black students at Little Rock high school, Eisenhower sent national guard.
First time since Civil War that states challenged Federal law.

12. Civil Protests
Sit-Ins: mostly black college students sat peacefully in white sections of stores, restaurants, theaters, etc…
began with 4 black college students in Greensboro, NC
S.N.C.C. (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee)
Freedom Riders: teams of black and white college students rode interstate bus system to demonstrate desegregation violations.
Violently attacked in Alabama
C.O.R.E. (Congress Racial Equality)

13. Ole Miss Riots
Governor Ross Barnett blocked admittance of Air Force Veteran James Merideth at University of Mississippi.
Riots broke out and 160 U.S. Marshals wounded
JFK sent National Guard to stop riots.

14. MLK Arrested
Led peaceful protests through streets of Birmingham expecting violent reactions.
Police released attack dogs and firehoses on protestors upon his release.
Events broadcast on national TV.

15. March on Washington
MLK led 200,000 marchers in D.C. to influence support for JFKs Civil Rights Bill
Delivered famous “I have a dream” speech.

16. “Bloody Sunday”
50 mile peaceful march from Selma to Montgomery – culmination of voter rights movement.
Marchers beaten on TV while they prayed at the Edmund Pettus Bridge
Johnson called for Voter Rights Bill 8 days later.

18. Urban Unrest
Civil Rights leaders became critical of Dr. King by mid 60s
Produced new laws, but still racism and urban poverty
1965
70% blacks lived in cities
15% have managerial jobs – 44% for whites
Avg. black income is 55% of the avg. white income

19. Chicago Movement Freedom Summer 1965
Dr. King moved his family to slums of Chicago
Peaceful protests met with same violence as in the south
Mayor of Chicago agreed to fair rent and mortgages rates
Never happened
Movement seen as a failure
Freedom Summer 1965
Violent events in the Watts section of L.A. triggered race riots in major cities across the country

20. Black Power
Movement emphasized pride and racial distinctiveness, rather than assimilation to white culture.
Reaction to Dr. King’s failure in Chicago
African clothing, afro hairstyles
Many changed their name to identify as black more easily

21. Nation of Islam Was shot by organization members as a result.
Black Muslims believed African Americans should separate from white society into self-reliant communities.
Did NOT advocate violence, but did advocate self-defense.
Malcolm X: Black Muslim leader after prison conversion
changed name to reject white name given to his family during slavery.
broke with nation of Islam after a trip to Middle East
Felt peace with whites was possible
Organization had become too corrupt and violent
Was shot by organization members as a result.

22. Black Panthers: Oakland group called for armed revolution to force whites to give blacks equal rights.

23. Summer 1968
Series of over 100 protests and riots across America after assassination of Dr. King.
Civil Rights Movement as a whole had become too fractured
Never recovered from King’s death