civil rights in mississippi mississippi studies coach marbury (cdt mrs. bailey)
TRANSCRIPT
Civil Rights in MississippiMississippi Studies
Coach Marbury(cdt Mrs. Bailey)
History-1876-1900 Most people were Sharecroppers
Black Exodus-black farmers left MS & headed out West, eventually many came back
Plessy v. Ferguson 1896: separate but equal facilities is okay led to Jim Crow laws which were used in the south for 50+ more years!
Great Migration 1910-WWII: blacks left to go north (better working conditions), they were forced off trains, arrested & sometimes sent back to the fields
Changes Are Coming!
1946-Truman & Fair Employment Practices: prohibited racial discrimination in hiring, & desegregation of Armed Forces
The same year Medgar Evers led a group of WWII vets to vote, but they were turned away at the polls by whites
Brown v. Board of Edu 1954: public facilities MUST be desegregated- it over-turned Plessy!
Citizens Council 1954: began in Indianola to prevent desegregation of public schools. Had 80,000 members by 1956
Beginning of the Movement in MS
Murder of Emmett Till 1955: 14 yr old from Chicago was beaten & murdered in Money, MS for whistling at a white woman- gained national attention!
State Sovereignty Commission 1956: developed to keep the Federal gov’t from encroaching on states’ rights. Included the gov’r, lt. gov’r, and other prominent citizens
Resolution of Interposition 1956: stated that MS was sovereign, and that all public officials in MS could prohibit peacefully & lawfully the implementation of integration
Ross Barnett elected 1959: promised to keep schools segregated.
Civil Rights Events Medgar Evers: Field Secretary for NAACP
1954-1963
• organized boycotts of area businesses
• Organized voter registration efforts
• Publicized racial terrorism
Shot & killed at his home Jun 1963
Paul B Johnson: Elected to governor in 1963
• He stated “Hate, prejudice, & ignorance would not lead Mississippi.” (This was the beginning of the end of white supremacy in MS)
• Freedom Summer 1964: Civil Rights activity dramatically increased that summer! Students from all over the US came to the south to: register blacks to vote!
Civil Rights Organizations
COFO (Council of Federated Organizations)
• Composed of reps from various organizations: NAACP, SCLC, SNCC, & CORE
• Conducted “Freedom Schools”- taught blacks how to answer tricky questions asked of blacks at voter registration centers
SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)
• founded by MLK, Jr., coordinated protest activities all over the south
SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee)
• Interracial group of students advocating non violence, supporting the Freedom Rides in 1961 & March on DC in 1963
• CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)
• a nonviolent approach to combating racial prejudice
Freedom Summer 1964
Philadelphia Murders: 3 COFO workers, Michael Schwerner, James Chaney, & Andrew Goodman were murdered by the KKK & their bodies were found in an earthen dam
Freedom Democratic Party: biracial group of Dem’s went to the DNC in NJ demanding seats at the convention. They were only given 2 seats, they got mad & left.
Fannie Lou Hamer: brought nat’l attention to the way blacks were treated in MS after having spoken on nat’l t.v. at the DNC
Change at Last! Civil Rights Act of 1964: Forbid discrimination
based on race, religion, national origin, & gender in public facilities or places of employment
Voting Rights Act of 1965: outlawed literacy tests & poll taxes
Election of 1967: 22 blacks elected to public office. John Bell Williams elected as gov’r
• 1969-70 dual public school system was abolished- this caused many white students to withdraw & go to private school
Jackson State University Protest