1. -Chief Justice Earl Warren in the Brown v. Board decision
Taking on Segregation
“…in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”
-Chief Justice Earl Warren in the Brown v. Board decision
Section 29-1 pp

2. The Segregation System
Jim Crow laws kept African Americans living as second class citizens
WWII and Civil Rights
New jobs
Served in military
FDR outlawed discrimination
WWII created a shortage of white, male workers and thus created more jobs for African-Americans
Many African Americans returned from WWII ready to fight for their own freedom at home
Franklin Roosevelt outlawed discrimination in war related industries and in federal agencies

3. Challenging Segregation in Court
NAACP
Legal team headed by Thurgood Marshall
Challenged segregation through court cases

4. Challenging Segregation in Court
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Outlawed segregation in public schools
Brown II (1955)
Ordered integration to happen more quickly

5. Reaction to Brown Little Rock Nine (1957)
AR Gov. refused to integrate schools
Eisenhower sends National Guard to escort students to school

6. The Montgomery Bus Boycott
First organized movement to fight segregation
Led by Dr. M.L. King
In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled segregated buses illegal
Rosa Parks Interviewed
Rosa Parks challenged discrimination on city buses

7. Martin Luther King and the SCLC
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Promoted
Nonviolence
Civil disobedience
Methods
Huge demonstrations
Boycotts
1957: Formed SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
Dr. King riding an integrated bus in Montgomery in 1956.

8. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
SNCC
Formed to involve college students in the civil rights movement
Chairman John Lewis
Sit-Ins
Often provoked angry whites
Won sympathy for protestors

9. The Triumphs of a Crusade
Section 29-2 pp

10. Riding for Freedom Freedom Riders (1961)
Rode buses to protest segregation
RFK and JFK sent 400 US marshals to protect riders
Segregation banned in travel facilities
Organized by CORE
Hoped publicity and arrests would force the president to intervene
Faced only mild opposition until Alabama, where a mob torched the bus and assaulted the riders, nearly killing 2 of them
SNCC riders took over and faced major opposition in Birmingham and Montgomery

11. Standing Firm James Meredith
Gov. refused to let him enter Univ. of Miss.
JFK sent US marshals to let him in
-A federal court ordered the university to admit Meredith as a transfer student
Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett and state officials refused to let Meredith enter
Barnett organized a mob of whites to attack the federal marshals- 2 died, hundreds wounded
5,000 army soldiers sent in to escort Meredith
Also used soldiers in the University of Alabama

12. Standing Firm The Birmingham Campaign
Protestors viciously attacked by police
Milestones
Poor blacks join demand for equality
Moderate whites in north and south begin supporting desegregation
King organized a “children’s crusade”, hoping that the image of children being persecuted would gain support for his cause
King was arrested and wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail” while incarcerated
In this event, blacks fought back, after being attacked by police

13. Marching to Washington
March in D.C. (1963)
250,000 demand immediate passage of civil rights bill
“I Have a Dream” Speech
Civil Rights Act passed in 1964
Largest political rally in American history
Speech outlined the visions of the civil rights movement and called for racial equality

14. Fighting for Voting Rights
Freedom Summer
Student volunteers register voters Mississippi
Led to violence and murder
24th Amendment: Banned poll tax
CORE and SNCC were hoping to provoke white extremists in Mississippi
In Mississippi, less than 10% of African Americans were registered to vote
In many areas, blacks outnumbered whites
FBI agents uncovered three volunteers who had been killed by the KKK in Meridian, Mississippi
Freedom summer was considered successful
-24th Amendment was designed to help poor whites and blacks

15. Fighting for Voting Rights
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Eliminated literacy tests
Allowed federal examiners to register voters
President Johnson and Congress were spurred by their anger over events in Selma, AL to pass the Voting Rights Act
In some areas, black voter registration increased by 40%
Continued the goal of the 15th Amendment

16. What moment of the Civil rights movement was most influential?
What do you think?
What moment of the Civil rights movement was most influential?