Civil Rights Movement and Political Developments in the 1960’s

Mr. Stikes

SSUSH19 The student will identify the origins, major developments, and the domestic impact of World War II, especially the growth of the federal government. a. Explain A. Philip Randolph’s proposed march on Washington,

D.C., and President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s response.

SSUSH22 The student will identify dimensions of the Civil Rights Movement, 1945-1970. a. Explain the importance of President Truman’s order to integrate

the U.S. military and the federal government. b. Identify Jackie Robinson and the integration of baseball. c. Explain Brown v. Board of Education and efforts to resist the

decision. d. Describe the significance of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a

Birmingham Jail and his I Have a Dream Speech. e. Describe the causes and consequences of the Civil Rights Act of

1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

SSUSH23 The student will describe and assess the impact of political developments between 1945 and 1970.

a. Describe the Warren Court and the expansion of individual rights as seen in the Miranda decision.

b. Describe the political impact of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; include the impact on civil rights legislation.

c. Explain Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society; include the establishment of Medicare.

d. Describe the social and political turmoil of 1968; include the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and the events surrounding the Democratic National Convention.

SSUSH24 The student will analyze the impact of social change movements and organizations of the 1960s. a. Compare and contrast the Student Non-Violent Coordinating

Committee (SNCC) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) tactics; include sit-ins, freedom rides, and changing composition.

DURING THE 1940’S…

A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979)

• Early Civil Rights leader

• Founder of Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters

Randolph’s Proposed March on Washington

• 1941

• Threatened unless Federal government fixed discrimination in defense contractors/industry

• Pres. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802– Banned discrimination in defense industry– Established Fair Employment Practices Commission

Integration of the Military

• Supported by groups like League for Non-violent Civil Disobedience against Military Segregation, formed by A. Philip Randolph

• Ordered by Pres. Truman in 1948– Executive Order 9981 - "there shall be equality of

treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin"

Early Civil Rights Victories

• Both the integration of the military and defense industries were accomplished by executive orders, not Congressional action.– Why?

Executive Order:A presidential policy directive that implements or interprets a federal statute, a constitutional provision, or a treaty.

Congressional Action:Bill passed by the House of Representatives and Senate; becomes law

Jackie Robinson (1919-1972)

• Professional baseball player from Cairo, GA

• April 15, 1947– Became the first

African-American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era

– Debuted for the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Boston Braves

Larry Doby (1923-2003)

• Professional baseball player for the Cleveland Indians

• July 5, 1947– Integrated

American League

IN THE 1950’S…

Segregated Schools

• Complete “Separate is Not Equal – Brown v. Board of Education” from Smithsonian Institution– Primary Source Analysis (Pictures) Assignment

Public Education in GA prior to Brown

• 1930 - $43/white student v. $10/black student

• Segregated

• In Griffin:– Fairmont High School– Griffin High School

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)

• Ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional– Violated Equal Protection Clause of 14th

Amendment– Called for integration of schools with “deliberate

speed”

• Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1894) –“separate but equal”

Brown v. Board of Education (1954)• Thurgood Marshall,

later the first African-American Supreme Court justice, argued the case for Brown and the NAACP

• The Warren Court decided the case

Warren Court

• Name we use to refer to Supreme Court between 1953-1969, when Earl Warren was Chief Justice

• Considered liberal– Expanded civil rights

• Brown v. Board of Education (1954)• Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

• Helped advance idea that all individuals have Constitutionally protected rights

Reactions to Brown

• Little Rock Nine – Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957– School Board ordered all-white Central High

School to be integrated– Governor Orval Faubus ordered Arkansas National

Guard to surround the school to prevent integration for three weeks• Eventually they were removed by court order

– September 25, 1957• President Eisenhower ordered 1,000 federal troops into

Little Rock to escort the 9 to class

Reactions to Brown

• Little Rock Nine

Reactions to Brown

• “Southern Manifesto”– Officially the Declaration of Constitutional Principles – 1956 document signed by most Southern members of

Congress– Encouraged states to resist integration

Georgia after Brown

• UGA and Georgia Tech were integrated in 1961

• Schools in Griffin were fully integrated at the beginning of the 1970-71 school year

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• December 1, 1955– Rosa Parks refused to give

up seat on segregated bus

• Boycott led by Montgomery Improvement Association– Spokesman: Martin Luther

King, Jr.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Homes of leaders of the boycott were bombed• Carpools were organized

‘‘I want it to be known that we’re going to work with grim and bold determination to gain justice on the buses in this city. And we are not wrong.… If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong.’’ - Martin Luther King, Jr. December 5, 1955 (Papers 3:73)

Montgomery Bus Boycott

• US Supreme Court declared Montgomery’s and Alabama’s segregation laws unconstitutional in November of 1956.

“We came to see that, in the long run, it is more honorable to walk in dignity than ride in humiliation. So … we decided to substitute tired feet for tired souls, and walk the streets of Montgomery.’’ - Martin Luther King, Jr. December 20, 1956 (Papers 3:486)

Civil Rights Act of 1957

• First civil rights bill since Reconstruction (1875)

• Accomplishments:– Protected voting rights by making it illegal to

interfere with someone’s right to vote– Established Justice Department’s Civil Rights

Division – Established U.S. Civil Rights Commission

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

• Established by members of the MIA and others in 1957 in Atlanta after the Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Group of church-based African-American organizations– Led by Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Goal – end to discrimination

IN THE 1960’S…

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

• Student-led and organized group that helped fight for civil rights

• Participated in sit-ins and freedom rides

• Eventually turned militant

Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

• Founded in 1942

• Helped organize “Freedom Rides” through the South– Began in 1961– Mixed race groups that travelled through the

South on busses – Challenged state laws that ignored federal court

decisions that made segregated busses illegal

National Guard troops protect a Trailways bus carrying Freedom Riders on Highway 80 near Cuba, Sumter County, Alabama.

May 14, 1961. The first group of Freedom Riders (conceived of by CORE) had their bus set afire outside of Anniston, Alabama, where a white mob had followed them from the city.

Other Civil Rights Groups

• Nation of Islam– Founded by Wallace D. Fard in 1930– Led by Elijah Muhammad (1934-1975), began

preaching black nationalism– Malcolm X also became influential• Argued for end to non-violence• Argued for African-American separation

DID YOU KNOW: Malcolm X converted to Sunni Islam, rejected violence and separation and began advocating for concepts like pan-Africanism. He was assassinated by Nation of Islam members in 1965.

Other Civil Rights Groups

• Black Power– Movement that called for

African-American separation – Emphasized racial pride and

African culture and heritage– Led by Stokely Carmichael

and others

Other Civil Rights Groups

• Black Panthers– Founded by Huey Newton

and Bobby Seale in 1966– Argued for militant Black nationalism

Other Important Civil Rights Leaders

• Ralph David Abernathy (SCLC)• John Lewis (SNCC)• James Farmer (CORE)

Birmingham Campaign

• Civil rights protest organized by SCLC in March, 1963

• Protests, sit-ins, marches began on April 3

• Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested Good Friday, April 12th, for protesting without a permit

Video from PBS

Letter from a Birmingham Jail

• By Martin Luther King, Jr.

• Written on the margins of the Birmingham News while in solitary confinement following arrest

• Response to 8 Alabama clergymen who criticized the involvement of ministers in the protests

…I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly…

Excerpts from Letter…

…So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.

Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the

extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must

never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists

for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his

environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists…

March on Washington

• Civil rights rally in Washington, DC– August 28, 1963– Perhaps as many as

200,000-300,000 participants

• Organized by a group of civil rights leaders

I Have a Dream Speech

• Martin Luther King, Jr. during March on Washington

March on Washington

• MLK “I Have A Dream”

• Danny Glover reading part of John Lewis’ speech

Assassination of John F. Kennedy

• November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald

Assassination of John F. Kennedy

• Political Impact– Helped gain passage of key Kennedy legislation• Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Tax cut• Anti-poverty legislation “War on poverty”

– Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson became President

War on Poverty (1964)

• Launched by President Lyndon Johnson after Kennedy’s assassination

• Established Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO)– Coordinated anti-poverty programs• Head Start• Job Corps• Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA)

DID YOU KNOW: Federal poverty spending increased from $12 billion in 1962 to $27 billion in 1968. This caused the percentage of people living below the poverty line to decrease from 20% to 12%.

“Great Society”

• Pres. Johnson’s program for domestic renewal

• Established Medicare– National health insurance program for people over

65

• Established Medicaid– Free health care program for people in poverty

“Great Society”

• Elementary and Secondary Schools Act of 1965– Provided $1.3 billion to schools serving low income

students

• Omnibus Housing Act of 1965– Provided money for urban renewal and low income

housing assistance– Established Department of Housing and Urban

Development

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Encouraged by Presidents Kennedy (before assassination) and Johnson– Called for by Kennedy on June 11, 1963

• Supported by March on Washington participants

• Resistance from Southern politicians– Filibuster and 500+ amendments offered in Senate

Civil Rights Act of 1964

• Prohibited discrimination in voting, employment, & public facilities like hotels/restaurants

• Established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to prevent employment discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or sex

Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Outlawed discrimination in voting

• Required federal oversight of elections in areas with a history of discrimination

DID YOU KNOW: The Voting Rights Act in still in effect, having been extended as recently as 2006. Some challenge that the federal oversight of elections is no longer necessary and have sued the federal government challenging the constitutionality of the law. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Feb. 2013 concerning this (see Shelby County v. Holder).

Selma to Montgomery Marches

• Series of 3 marches in 1965 to protest continued discrimination in voting rights– Sunday, March 7, 1965 — "Bloody Sunday“– Tuesday, March 9, 1965 – “Turnaround Tuesday”– March 16-25 – march continued from Selma to

Montgomery

Youtube video - footage

Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

• Supreme Court case decided by the Warren Court

• 5-4 ruling required police to inform suspects of their right to consult an attorney during questioning

1968

• Year filled with demonstrations, assassinations and violence– Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated– Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated– Massive violent demonstrations at the Democratic

National Convention in Chicago– Tet Offensive in Vietnam encouraged more protests

Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

• April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN by James Earl Ray– Between 6:01-6:05 PM– Lorraine Motel

• In Memphis to support striking garbage collectors

Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy

• June 6, 1968 by Sirhan Sirhan

• Democratic nominee for President– Had won California primary earlier that day

• Shook nation still reeling from MLK’s assassination

1968 Democratic National Convention

• In Chicago, Illinois

• Much tension after high profile assassinations of MLK and RFK

• Antiwar protestors descended on the city– 10,000 + protestors– 23,000 National Guardsmen and police

1968 Democratic National Convention

• August 28, 1968– Large-scale “police riot,” tear gas shot into crowd