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RIDING FOR FREEDOM
Civil rights activists ride buses across the South (Washington D.C. to New Orleans)
CORE in 1961 tests Supreme Court decisions banning segregation on interstate bus routes
They wanted a violent reaction from white southerners– why?
Beaten in Alabama by white mobs and by cops in Birmingham
Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, makes bus drivers continue driving
Pres. Kenney sends 400 U.S. marshals to protect the riders
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INTEGRATION OF SOUTHERN SCHOOLS James Meredith is
accepted to Uni. Of Mississippi (1962)
Gov. Ross Barnett refuses to let him register
Pres. Kennedy sends federal marshals
Riots break out Federal officers had
to accompany him to class
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Birmingham, Alabama
“Bombingham” Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC) and MLK Jr. are invited to help desegregate the city
King is arrested during a demonstration on April, 1963
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How did King feel about white religious leaders who felt he was pushing too fast?
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Birmingham, Alabama
King gets out of jail after two weeks
Helps plan demonstrations
African-American children march
2,000 black kids are shown on t.v. being beaten, attacked by dogs, sprayed by fire houses
Pres. Kennedy demands Congress pass a civil rights bill
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Questions
1. What did the freedom riders hope to achieve?
2. What events led to desegregation in Birmingham?
3. Why do you think many white southerners used violent means to oppose (fight) the civil rights movement?
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5/2/14 – Partner Assignment1. How have civil rights advocates
been trying to desegregate the South?
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2. How were African Americans negatively impacted by segregated education?
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3. How did violence used by white southerners help the Civil Rights Movement?
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4. How do you think white Americans can help in the Civil Rights Movement?
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5. How were African Americans prevented from voting and why is it important for southern blacks to have voting power?
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5/5/14 – Partner Assignment 1. Select a Civil Rights topic 2. One partner works on
image/visual – words, pictures, cartoon, etc.
3. Other partner writes a two paragraph (4-5 sentences for each paragraph) description of the event.
Make sure to include date, where it took place, significance, who participated , why the person was important, how the individual contributed to the Civil Rights Movement, etc.
Use pages 700-716 and “Eyes on the Prize” handouts
Topics Plessy v. Ferguson Thurgood Marshall Brown v. Board of Education “Little Rock Nine” Montgomery Bus Boycott “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” SNCC SCLC CORE Freedom Rides James Meredith March on Washington Civil Rights Act of 1964 Freedom Summer Selma Campaign Voting Rights Act of 1965
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Journal
“White folks respect us more when they find out we mean business. When they only listen to our speeches or read our writings –if they ever do – they think we are just blowing off steam. But when rioters break the plate of glass windows of their stores, they know the steam has some force behind it.” - Langston Hughes
Do you think violent tactics will accomplish more than the non-violent tactics of MLK and the SCLC?
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Section 3: Changes in the Movement 1965 the movement goes to the
North and Civil Rights groups drift apart
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Northern Segregation
De facto segregation – by practice and custom
De jure segregation – by law
Migration of African Americans during WII leads to “white flight” and the deterioration of black neighborhoods
MLK’s campaign against police brutality in Chicago fails
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Urban Violence
Harlem, NYC – July 1964
Watts, CA – August 1964
1967 – race riots in 100 different cities
“Why would blacks turn to violence after winning so many victories in the South?”
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What was the goal of LBJ’s Great Society?
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LBJ’s Great Society – federal money to help poor Americans – goes to Vietnam
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New Leaders
Tell blacks to take control of their communities, livelihoods, and culture
“If you think we are here to tell you to love the white man, you have come to the wrong place.” – Malcolm X
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Malcolm X
Born Malcolm Little Goes to jail at 20 Studies teachings of
Elijah Muhammad = head of the Nation of Islam
Changes “slave name” to X
Blacks should separate from white society
Appeals to many African Americans and their growing sense of pride
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“Concerning nonviolence: it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks. It is legal and lawful to own a shotgun or rifle. We believe in obeying the law… [T]he time has come for the American Negro to fight back in self-defense whenever and wherever he is being unjustly and unlawfully attacked.” – Malcolm X
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Malcolm X 1964 - Breaks with Elijah
Muhammad and forms another Muslim organization
Embraces racial equality after coming back from pilgrimage to Mecca
“Well, if you and I don’t use the ballot, we’re going to be forced to use the bullet. So let us try the ballot.”
1965 – assassinated while giving a speech in Harlem
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Black Power
Stokely Carmichael of SNCC joins MLK Jr. in continuing James Meredith’s walk against racism after he is shot by a white racist
Black Power = “call for black people to define their own goals and to lead their own organizations”
Black Panthers form in Oakland, CA – 1966
Led by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale
To fight police brutality in the ghetto
Advocate self-sufficiency and self defense for African Americans
Established day cares, free breakfast programs
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1968
King is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee
Riots in more than 100 cities
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What the Civil Rights Movement Accomplished Ended de jure segregation -> legal protection
for the civil rights of all Americans Civil Rights Act of 1968 -> ends discrimination
in housing School desegregation -> more black students
graduate from high school -> and college -> better jobs
More black pride More black movie stars 100 blacks in political positions in 1965 ->
7,000 in 1992
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