1. The Civil Rights Movement
There were two phases to the Civil Rights movement: one phase between and the other after 1965.

2. I. Why Did the Civil Rights Movement Take Off After 1945?
Black equality became a significant political issue for the Democratic Party
WWII had been fought against racism abroad—hard to keep harboring it at home
Black veterans came home dedicated to change
Increasing number of White Americans condemned segregation
Discrimination in the United States hurt our propaganda battle against the Communists

3. II. The Truman Years Truman’s 1948 election year agenda
No significant Civil Rights congressional legislation
Truman moves on his own to do what he can for Civil Rights
--Desegregation of the military (1948)
Jackie Robinson’s breakthrough (1947)

4. II. The Truman Years (cont.)
Split at the 1948 Democratic convention
Energized Truman hits the campaign trail hard
Republican Dewey runs a boring, conservative campaign
Truman’s stunning election
Truman’s “Fair Deal” (1949)

5. III. The Battle in the Courts
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
-- “separate but equal” facilities = legal
Smith v. Allwright (1944)
First attack = “separate is not equal”
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954)
-- Chief Justice Earl Warren

6. III. Battle in the Courts (cont.)
Eisenhower disapproves of Brown decision
Desegregation “with all deliberate speed”
Other Warren Court Civil Rights decisions
Popular opposition to the Brown decision
No real progress on desegregation at first

7. IV. The Eisenhower Years
Eisenhower’s philosophy related to Civil Rights laws
First Civil Rights Acts passed since the Civil War (1957 and 1960)
Opposition to the integration of Little Rock Central High School (1957)
--Governor Orville Faubus

8. V. Out of the Schools and Into the Buses
The arrest of Rosa Parks (December, 1955)
The Montgomery, Ala. Bus Boycott
The leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The “Montgomery” model for Civil Rights activism: boycott, publicity, courts
SCLC formed (1957)

9. VI. A Mass Movement Takes Shape
Lunch counter “sit-ins” begin: Greensboro, NC (February, 1960)
SNCC created (April, 1960)
CORE “Freedom Ride” (May, 1961)

10. VI. A Mass Movement Takes Shape (cont.)
Demonstrations in Birmingham, Alabama (April, 1963)
--Eugene “Bull” Connor
“Letter from Birmingham City Jail”
Governor George Wallace tries to block integration of the University of Alabama (Fall, 1963)

11. VI. A Mass Movement Takes Shape (cont.)
JFK finally begins to campaign for Civil Rights legislation
Continued violence even in the face of some progress
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the March on Washington (August, 1963)
-- “I Have a Dream”

12. VI. A Mass Movement Takes Shape (cont.)
Mississippi Freedom Summer Project (1964)
MFDP Protests at the 1964 Democratic convention
Voter registration in Selma, Alabama (1965)
--Sheriff Jim Clark
By the mid-1960’s, substantial success in the South had been achieved

13. VII. The Kennedy and Johnson Years
JFK’s initial reluctance to push for Civil Rights laws
The integration of Ole’ Miss (1962)
--James Meredith
JFK finally decides to push past better enforcement to new congressional Civil Rights legislation

14. VII. The Johnson Years (cont.)
The role of Kennedy’s assassination in the Civil Rights movement
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Anti-poll tax Amendment (24th—1964)
Voting Rights Act (1965)
Impact of the Voting Rights Act

15. VII. The Johnson Years (cont.)
The tone of public political discourse changed after 1965
Johnson appoints first Black cabinet secretary: Robert Weaver of HUD (1966)
Much more needed to be done for Civil Rights outside of the South, so 2nd phase began

16. VIII. The Era of Disillusionment: 1965 On
Early to mid-1960’s were a hopeful time for Civil Rights advocates
Goal of Assimilation
A “Spoiled Utopia” after 1965—things would not be that simple

17. A. New Problems Residential Discrimination -- “Red Lining”
The Challenges of School integration in the North
The historical, traditional segregation of northern cities
The resurrection of the KKK once again
More effective White opponents in the North

18. B. Race Riots Watts Riots in Los Angeles (Summer, 1965)
Riots each summer from
--Chicago and Cleveland (1966)
--Newark and Detroit (1967)
--Washington, D.C. (1968)

19. B. Race Riots (cont.)
Riots as an expression of grievance against the White American consumer society
Riots shocked the White American public
Frustration and self-destruction expressed in these riots
Unlike earlier race riots, these riots were not started by White mobs

20. C. “Black Power”
Growing tension between SNCC and Martin Luther King, Jr.
--Stokely Carmichael
“Black Power”
Carmichael succeeded by H. Rap Brown as head of SNCC (1967)

21. C. “Black Power” (cont.)
The formation of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, CA (1966)
--Huey Newton
--Eldridge Cleaver
Resurrection of the philosophy of Marcus Garvey

22. C. “Black Power” (cont.) The leadership of Malcolm X --Black Muslims
--Assassinated in 1965
Cultural expressions of “Black Power”:
--Afro Hairstyles
--Black-studies programs
-- “Negro” no longer used
Olympics

23. D. Decline of the Civil Rights Movement
Economic contraction works against Civil Rights concessions
Northern phase not as successful
Resistance from White Unions
Vietnam replaces Civil Rights as the liberal crusade
Martin Luther King, Jr. loses influence with LBJ