A Foundation for ChangeEarly in the Civil Rights Movement

African Americans were still treated as second-class citizens after World War II.

Their heroic effort to attain racial equality is known as the civil rights movement. They took their battle to the street, in the form of peaceful protests, held boycotts, and turned to the courts for a legal guarantee of basic rights.

How did African Americans challenge segregation after World War II?

This would be a long and arduous process

A look back…

13th Amendment-Abolished Slavery

14th Amendment-Citizenship Rights

15th Amendment- Voting Rights

All are examples of Post-Civil War attempts to integrate and solve racial discrimination in america.

There were two types or categories of segregation at this time.

De Jure De Facto

• Generally in the South

• “separate but equal” (due to Plessy V Ferguson of 1896)

• segregation in schools, hospitals, transportation, restaurants, cemeteries, and beaches

• Generally in the North

• unwritten customs or traditions

• discrimination in employment, housing

• only low-paying jobs were available

Examples?

• Discrimination in the defense industries was banned in 1941.

• Truman desegregated the military in 1948.

• Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play major league baseball.

• Congress Of Racial Equality (CORE) was created to end racial injustice.

World War II set the stage for the rise of the modern civil rights movement.

This sets the stage for a number of key events within the Civil Rights March

Event #1- Montgomery Bus Boycott

Event #2- Integration of Central High

Event #3-Woolworth’s sit-in

Event #4-Freedom Riders

Event #5-Integration of “Ole Miss”

Event #6-Birmingham and the March on Washington

As you may have noticed….

Those slides were empty, and

• You will be responsible for teaching one of these key events to the rest of the class.

• Include all necessary information to completely describe or cover the topic.

• Please include three (3) pictures that help explain the story of your event, and be prepared to describe its importance to your event or the Civil Rights Movement.

An example: Brooklyn, NY Dodgers-Baseball (1947)

Issue Challenged- Integration of minorities in Professional Baseball

Key Players-Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey

What Happened- Branch Rickey decides to integrate Jackie Robinson to his previously all while Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball Team. While financial motivated, and looking to win, he also strongly believed it was the right thing to do.

Long Term effects- Baseball was integrated, leading the way for change in other aspects of society (Baseball being a reflection of American Society).

Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey

Jackie Robinson and Ben Chapman-