The March forCivil Rights

Civil Rights Pretest

Civil Disobedience is the active professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of

government

A. TrueB. False

Civil Disobedience is the active professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of

government

A. TrueB. False

True or False: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had similar

views on how to achieve equality in America.

A. TrueB. False

True or False: Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had similar

views on how to achieve equality in America.

A. TrueB. False

_____________ marks the beginning of the modern civil right

movement.

A. Plessey v. FergusonB. Jim Crow LawsC. Brown v. BoardD. Rosa Parks

_____________ marks the beginning of the modern civil right

movement.

A. Plessey v. FergusonB. Jim Crow LawsC. Brown v. BoardD. Rosa Parks

"The Dream of Equality, 1954-1975 (Visual)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 13 May 2012.

Plessy v Ferguson• 1896• Supreme Court ruled

that segregation was legal, so long as services and facilities provided were “separate but equal”

• Opened the door for Jim Crow laws throughout the South

Democrats Split in 1948• In the 1948 presidential

elections, Southern Democrats became angered by Harry Truman’s support of civil rights and stated intentions of desegregating the military

• Rather than support Truman, they created their own party– Dixiecrats– Supported practice of racial

segregation without interference by the federal government

US Military Desegregates

• July 1948• President Truman issued

Executive Order 9981 ordering equal treatment and opportunities for all members of the US armed forces, regardless of race

• Last all-black units were dissolved in 1954

Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, KS

• 1954• Supreme Court overturned

Plessy v. Ferguson, rejecting the idea that racially segregated schools could offer equal services

• Court ordered the desegregation of public schools “with all deliberate speed”

Southern Manifesto• Over 100 Southern

members of Congress signed the “Southern Manifesto” – declaring the Court’s

decision to be “abuse of judicial power” and pledging to support segregation through every legal avenue available

Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

• Rosa Parks was arrested for violating segregation laws

• Organized a boycott of the public transportation system • Over 75% of the bus

system’s riders were black • Boycott seriously

damaged revenues• Lasted over one year until

Parks’ case was resolved • Supreme Court declared

the segregation law unconstitutional

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.• Organized the bus boycott • Non-violent means of

protest• The success of the boycott

propelled him and his technique of “civil disobedience” to national fame

Eisenhower’s Reaction• President Eisenhower believed

that racism and segregation would have to end gradually, • “I don’t believe you can change

the hearts of men with laws or [court] decisions”

• Eisenhower felt obligated as President to enforce that decision to desegregate the schools• Little Rock Nine- Eisenhower

sent 1000 soldiers to encircle the school and allow the students to register; the soldiers stayed for the rest of the school year

The Little Rock Nine

• Sept. 1957• Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus

ordered the National Guard to block 9 black students from enrolling at the all-white Little Rock Central High School and later simply relied on white mobs to intimidate the students

Civil Rights Act of 1957• Designed to protect

black’s right to vote• Created a civil rights

division within the Dept. of Justice and the US Commission on Civil Rights to investigate and prosecute allegations of voting violations

Greensboro Sit-in• Feb. 1960 Woolworth’s • 4 NC A&T students in Greensboro, NC sat down at the

racially segregated lunch counter and demanded service, refusing to leave when they were denied; over the next few days, the number of students involved grew and the sit-ins spread throughout the state, gaining national attention

Freedom Riders• Teams of black and white

CORE volunteers traveled into the South on buses to try to forcibly integrate bus terminals as had been ordered by federal courts, but ignored by most local governments

• These riders were attacked by angry white mobs in Alabama, and in Birmingham were met and beaten by members of the KKK who had been tipped off by the local police

Medgar Evers• WWII veteran who

became a civil rights activist and officer in the NAACP who helped gain James Meredith admission to Univ. of Mississippi

• Was shot and killed in front of his home by a member of the KKK

• No one was convicted of his killing until 1994

“Bull” Connor• 1897 – 1973• Public Safety Commissioner in

Birmingham, AL, known for his use of brutal police tactics to enforce segregation and who allowed the attacks on the Freedom Riders

• In 1963, Connor was running for mayor when Dr. King decided to stage protests in Birmingham designed to provoke a violent response and discredit Connor’s campaign

“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”

• Letter explained his rationale for using non-violent protest

• Connor ordered police to use clubs, dogs, and fire-hoses on King’s supporters

George Wallace• June 1963: Alabama Governor

blocked the admission of black students at the Univ. of Alabama, provoking President Kennedy to call on Congress to enact a new civil rights bill

16th Street Church Bombing

• Sept. 15, 1963• Birmingham, AL• Members of the KKK

bombed a black church which was frequently used as a meeting place for civil rights leaders, killing 4 girls aged 11 to 14

• No one was convicted of the crime until 1977

March on Washington• August 28, 1963• Dr. King wanted to lobby

Congress for passage of Kennedy’s civil rights bill and organized a massive rally on the mall in Washington, DC

• More than 200,000 attended to hear King and others speak

“I Have a Dream”"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.“

“And when this happens … we will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Civil Rights Act of 1964• Made segregation illegal in

public facilities such as restaurants, parks, libraries, and theaters

• Allowed US Attorney General to prosecute violators

• Banned discrimination in the workplace and created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to monitor discrimination

24th Amendment• Ratified in 1964• Specifically banned

the use of poll taxes– a tax that must be paid

in order to vote

Selma March & Bloody Sunday

• 1965• Dr. King led a demonstration in

Selma, AL to register black voters• White law enforcement attacked,

beat, and arrested over 2000 demonstrators

• In protest, King organized a march from Selma to Montgomery,– Marchers were attacked and

beaten by law officers while kneeling in prayer – an attack now known as “Bloody Sunday” – all on national television

– A movie about this will be coming out in January…called “Selma”

Voting Rights Act of 1965• Allowed the Attorney

General to circumvent local voting examiners in cases where discrimination is suspected

• Banned literacy tests as a voting requirement

• 1965 more than 250,000 Southern blacks had registered to vote

Watts Riot• Poor living conditions for blacks in

American urban areas led to high racial tensions

• In August 1965, a race riot broke out in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles over police brutality,– Killed 34 and $45 million in

damage before order was restored by 14,000 National Guardsmen

• Violent riots would follow in other major US cities over the next 3 years

• Kerner Commission – to investigate race riots

• Found that riots resulted from black frustration at lack of economic opportunity

Black Power• As the gains of the civil rights

movement began to slow, many blacks, especially those in the urban North, began to question the non-violent tactics of Dr. King and his supporters

• Many also began to call for the expulsion of whites from civil rights groups like CORE and the SNCC and for blacks to take sole power over civil rights movements into their own hands

Nation of Islam• Founded in 1930• Sometimes called the

“Black Muslims,” they preached black nationalism and that blacks should separate themselves from white society

• Attempted to create their own separate society within a society

Malcolm X• Became famous for his

endorsement of winning equality “by any means necessary” (even violence)

• Traveled to Mecca in 1964, where he had a religious awakening and returned encouraging racial cooperation

• Assassinated for criticizing the Nation of Islam

Black Panthers• Founded in 1966• Believed that only an armed

revolution against white society would force whites to grant true civil rights to blacks

• Called on African-Americans to take control of services such as schools and law enforcement within their own communities

• Movement dissipated in the mid-1970s

MLK Assassinated• April 4, 1968• King was shot while

standing on the balcony at the hotel he was staying at in Memphis, TN

• The killing triggered race riots across the United States

• Escaped convict James Earl Ray was convicted of the murder, but controversy surrounds his conviction

Civil Rights Act of 1968

• Banned discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing due to race, ethnicity, or color

Swann v Charlotte-Mecklenburg

• Many Southern school systems had been deliberately slow to integrate

• In 1971, the Supreme Court ordered that students be bused, districts redrawn, and racial quotas be used to fully integrate schools

Affirmative Action• Policy which requires any companies or institutions

which do business with or receive funding from the federal government to actively recruit minorities and often sets required quotas for how many minorities must be hired for jobs or admitted to colleges– Univ. of California Regents v Bakke 1978

• racial quotas are not permissible, but that considering race when accepting students for admission is OK

Indian Civil Rights Act• 1968• Guaranteed Native

Americans who lived on reservations full protection under the Bill of Rights while also recognizing the legitimacy of tribal laws