29.1- Taking on Segregation

Lesson Objective: To understand the first major events of the Civil Rights Movement

Quiz-29.1 10/27

a) Civil Rights group made up mostly of college students

b) Leader of the SCLCc) Her arrest started the

Montgomery bus Boycottsd) Lawyer who won the Brown v.

Board of Education casee) Gov. of Arkansasf) Civil Rights group founded by

Martin Luther King Jr.

1.Thurgood Marshall

2.SCLC

3.Rosa Parks

4.Orval Faubus

5.SNCC

Judicial origins• Post-Civil War Origins:• 1868: 14th Amendment: Did What?

• Guarantees all U.S. citizens equal protection and/or treatment under the law• 1875: Civil Rights Act of 1875: Did what?

• Outlawed segregation in public facilities• 1883: Supreme Court declares 1875 Civil Rights Act Unconstitutional• 1896: PLESSY v. FERGUSON

• PLESSY v. FERGUSON: • Origin: 1890: Louisiana passes law requiring railroads to provide “separate but equal”

accommodations for “colored” and white passengers.• 1896: Supreme Court decision:• LA. State law does not violate the 14th Amendment• Origin of “separate but equal” justification for segregated public facilities, etc.

Judicial Origins• Results?• Segregated facilities were not

“equal”• State gov’ts., especially in South,

begin passing Jim Crow laws• Jim Crow: Laws specifically

designed to place minorities at a disadvantage• Examples?• Schools, Voting rights,

housing, etc.• Large African-American

migration to North during the WW I – WW II era

Jim Crow Era Lynching

World War II & Civil Rights• World War II impacts Civil Rights:

Why?• FDR supported minority

participation in war effort• Eleanor Roosevelt, FDR’s wife,

supported Civil Rights• Wartime demands for troops,

created new job opportunities for minorities, but not necessarily in the South• Truman Administration supports

integration of the military (1948)• What road blocks did the Truman

Administration face?

The NAACP Legal Strategy• 20th Century Origins:• 1909: N.A.A.C.P. founded: Define• 1938: NAACP prepares legal

strategy to overturn standing court decisions: Describe:NAACP will present a series of cases that will slowly attack every aspect of legal / judicial discriminationWho? Thurgood Marshall is chosen to lead the effort (see bio., p.258)

•What are the advantages to this strategy?

ThurgoodMarshall statue,Annapolis, MD

Brown v. Board of Education• 1954- Topeka, Kansas• Plaintiffs- Brown Family,

represented by Thurgood Marshall• Defendants- Topeka Kansas

Board of Education• Chief Justice Earl Warren

• Why does Linda Brown have to attend a non-white public school?• Court rules segregation

unconstitutional- schools must integrate • Overturns Plessy v. Ferguson

• Marshall & fellowLawyers celebrateBrown v. Bd. Of Ed.Decision, 1954

Little Rock• Brown v. Board decision is not supported in many areas• Problem• What if state gov’ts. / schools resist integration of public schools?• How will the U.S. Gov’t. enforce the Supreme Court’s decision?

• Problem realized:• When? 1957• Where? Little Rock, Arkansas• Why? • Little Rock city gov’t. had begun plans to desegregate public schools• GOVERNOR ORVAL FAUBUS runs for re-election• Faubus uses segregation as a platform to get votes• Faubus refuses to allow 9 African-Amer. students to enroll at Little Rock Central HS• Faubus uses Arkansas National Guard to prevent integration

•What does the Federal Government/ Eisenhower do?

• Governor Orval Faubus,Arkansas, 1957

Little Rock• Crisis:• Arkansas state gov’t. is violating

Supreme Court decision• So What?• What if state is allowed to disregard

Supreme Court decision?• Result?• Pres. Dwight Eisenhower informs

Faubus students must be allowed to enroll• Students known as the “Little Rock

Nine”• Faubus refuses• Eisenhower sends U.S. Army (101st

Airborne Division) to ensure integration

• U.S. ArmyTroops atLittle Rock H.S.,1957

Rosa Parks• Who? Seamstress & NAACP officer• Where? Montgomery, AL• When? Dec., 1955• Issue: • Despite Brown decision, many

states resisted the decision• Montgomery’s Af.-Amer.

population made heavy use of public buses• Buses were still segregated

• Did What?• Refused to move to another seat

when ordered to by bus driver• So What?• Public challenge to segregation&

Jim Crow laws

Montgomery Bus Boycott• Parks arrested• NAACP arranges boycott of city buses• Protest movement develops; led by

members of the Af.-Am. Religious community• Who? REV. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

leads movement• Why him? Speaking ability, charisma

• Montgomery bus boycott: • 381 days• Success

• Result? 1956: Supreme Court outlaws bus segregation

Protest Movements Develop• Success of Montgomery bus boycott:• Puts MLK in forefront of protest

movement• Proves NAACP organizing methods

work• Proves nonviolence can be

successful protest method• Where does NAACP get idea to use

nonviolence?• Various historical figures• Examples? • Jesus, Gandhi, etc.

• Why nonviolence?

S.C.L.C. and the S.N.C.C.• S.C.L.C. - Define:• Southern Christian Leadership

Conference• Led by MLK• Organize public protests & train

organization activists• S.N.C.C. (otherwise known as “Snick”)• Primary protest movement:• “SIT-INS”: Define:

• Refusal to leave lunch counters in public restaurants until served or arrested

• Results?• Widespread violence against protesters• Widespread arrests• Media coverage of protest movement

increases

• So what?

Sit-ins

“Letter form a Birmingham Jail” Response• Author, Audience, date, reason for writing it

• In a written response, identify what are the reasons behind MLK’s nonviolent protests and why he believes that this is the right course of action?