UNIT 10

THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

•Notes #1

REBELLION & REFORM IN THE 1960SThe Civil Rights Movement aka “The Mother” Movement

NAACP (W.E.B. DuBois, 1910)A. Phillip Randolph & “The Double V Campaign”

Brown v. Board of Education 1954

THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENTBetty Freidan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963)

JFK’s Commission on the Status of Women (1961)

NOW (National Organization for Women) (1966)

STUDENT POWERFree Speech Movement, Berkeley (1964)SDS Students for a Democratic Society

Port Huron Statement

SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference)

& Martin Luther King, 1957Rosa Parks &Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)

SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (1960)

 Radical Feminism

ANTI-WAR MOVEMENTMobilization to End the War

500,000 in DC (1969)BLACK POWERStokley Carmichael & Black Panthers

Black NationalismMalcolm X

Woolworth Sit-Ins (1960)March on Washington (1963)

Freedom Summer (1964)Goodman, Schwerner & Chaney

Title 7 of Civil Rights Act outlawed discrimination based on race and sex Civil Rights Act (1964)

Voting Rights Act (1965)

AIM – American Indian Movement (1968)

Standoff at Wounded Knee (1973)

Chicano MovementsLeague of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)

United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC)La Raza Unida (Mexican-Americans United)

The Election of 1960 The election of 1960 pitted Eisenhower's VP, Richard Milhouse

Nixon against the Democrat, JFK (John Fitzgerald Kennedy) Kennedy chose Texas Senator, Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) as his

running mate. Johnson was chosen partially because Kennedy (from Massachusetts) wanted to attract more Southern voters. Johnson would soon be thrust into the spotlight of American history.

Nixon argued that he was more experienced, but many felt that in the televised debates JFK appeared more confident and relaxed.

Kennedy won the election by only 120,000 popular votes and 84 electoral votes.

“The enemy is the Communist system itself, unceasing in its drive for world domination. The U.S. would pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the success of liberty.”

Bay of Pigs – A Disaster for the US In 1959, Fidel Castro led a revolution in Cuba and set

up a Communist government. Castro had very close ties to the Soviet Union.

The CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) began a project to train Cuban rebels to overthrow Castro and JFK pledged US support.

On April 17, 1961 American trained Cuban forces landed at the Bay of Pigs, but JFK did not provide the support he had promised and Castro’s forces quickly defeated the guerrillas

The incident was a source of embarrassment for Kennedy and pushed Castro closer to the Soviets.

Cuban Missile Crisis►The Bay of Pigs caused Soviet leader, Nikita

Khrushchev to question JFK’s toughness.►The Soviet Union erected the Berlin Wall (in Germany)

and also began sending long range missiles to Cuba.►Kennedy responded aggressively by sending troops to

Berlin and blockading Cuba from the Soviets.►For several days the US and the Soviets were on the

brink of nuclear war, Cuba armed nuclear missiles and Soviet ship moved toward Cuba, but Khrushchev backed down and agreed to dismantle Cuban missiles.

The Impact of JFK at Home John F. Kennedy was an extremely popular

President. His good looks and athleticism presented an image of youth and vitality.

President Kennedy often inspired young people to take a more active role in politics.

Domestically (within the US) Kennedy’s programs often were vetoed by Congress.

JFK was successful in passing the Area Redevelopment Act to provide economic assistance to the poorest parts of the US.

Kennedy’s Assassination As part of his 1964 Presidential campaign, Kennedy

traveled to Dallas, Texas. Around 12:30 PM Kennedy’s open-top motorcade

moved through downtown and the President was fatally shot in the head.

Within hours , police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald, who would himself be shot to death two day later by nightclub owner , Jack Rubenstein (Ruby).

New President LB Johnson appointed the Warren Commission to review crime scene evidence. The Commission concluded that Oswald acted alone

Notes #2

LBJ Continues Kennedy’s Work Lyndon Johnson assumed the presidency after the

death of President Kennedy. Johnson considered himself a caretaker of JFK’s

presidency and worked to continue Kennedy’s policies. On a promise to curb government spending, LBJ was

able to get Kennedy’s tax cut passed Johnson also continued Kennedy’s reforms for the poor

declaring a ‘war on poverty’ and creating the Job Corps and the Head Start Preschool programs.

Johnson’s Great Society►President Johnson also had his own visions for

America and called his reform program the Great Society in his 64’ election campaign

►Johnson’s platform included improving the quality of the nations goods and ending poverty and racial injustices.

“Racial Injustices”► Mendez v. Westminster (1947): Challenged

Racial segregation in Orange County► Delgado v. Bastrop ISD (1948): Separation of

Mexican Americans based on national origin was unconstitutional

► Sweatt v Painter (1950): Argued the “equal” education of University of Texas Law School

► Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson – Thurgood Marshall argued that it “branded black children with a badge of inferiority”

► Hernandez v. Texas (1954) Mexican Americans and other races had equal protection under the 14th Amendment

Re-election Campaign 1964

►In 1964, Governor of Alabama, George Wallace, entered the presidential primary

►He would run four different times, he was a fierce pro-segregationist

►He symbolically blocked the University of Alabama doors during the desegregation of the University

Johnson Re-elected

►Johnson won the election of 1964 in a landslide taking 61% of the popular vote.

►Johnson quickly began to make reforms in health care, education and urban renewal. Head start and upward bound fosters improved

development of young children from low income families

The Federal Housing Authority improved housing standards and conditions; insurance of mortgages

Civil Rights Acts• Desegregation of the Armed Forced (1948) –

President Truman ended segregation in the armed forces

• Civil Rights Act (1957) – the first civil rights legislation since Reconstruction; it was primarily a voting rights bill

• Civil Rights Act (1964) – Abolished racial, religious, and sex discrimination by employers

• Voting Rights Act (1965) – Outlawed the requirement to pay a poll tax or take a literacy test in order to be eligible to vote

Supreme Court Under Warren The Supreme court of the 1960’s followed LBJ’s

reforms and became known as the Warren Court after Chief Justice Earl Warren

In Reynolds v. Sims the Court declared that voting districts must be drawn in such a way that each vote counts equally.

In Gideon v. Wainwright , all accused people had the right to a lawyer and in Miranda v. Arizona accused had to be read their rights.

Decline of the Great Society Congress passed 181 out of 200 bills that LBJ

proposed, but some saw his programs as wasteful and unnecessary.

In 1966 Republicans increased their numbers in Congress and it soon became more difficult for Johnson to pass new legislation.

By 1966 the country’s attention had shifted to a new war in Vietnam, and the government began to focus money and attention on foreign policy more than domestic problems.

Notes #3

Racism in the South Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas,

(1955-1967) best known for his stand in the desegregation of Little Rock High School

He ordered Arkansas National Guardsman to stop African American students from entering the school.

This would force President Eisenhower to sent the U.S. Army to escort the students to school.

Little Rock Nine

September 4, 1957 – nine African American students tried to enter Little Rock Central high school, but were turned away by Arkansas National Guardsman

Racism in the South

Lester Maddox was the Governor of Georgia (1967-1971).

He was a former restaurant owner who refused to serve African Americans

He ran/won governor though he had not held a public office before

Non-violent Resistance to Racism In 1957, a group of African American leaders met in

Atlanta Georgia to discuss strategies to help end discrimination.

Led by Martin Luther King Jr. the group named themselves the (SCLC) Southern Christian Leadership Conference and pledged to use only nonviolent resistance in its protests.

By April of 1960 over 50,000 students (African American and white) had participated in nonviolent sit-ins to protest segregation.

The Freedom Riders►Following the success of student sit-ins, a

northern based civil rights group called the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) planned to send an integrated bus into the south.

►The Freedom Riders were met with intense violence. In Alabama one of their busses was bombed and a CORE member was beaten so badly that he suffered permanent brain damage

►Eventually, President Kennedy was forced to send Federal marshals to protect the bus riders.

Freedom Summer► In the summer of 1964, the SNCC (Student Nonviolence

Coordinating Committee) implemented a new plan to increase black voting called Freedom Summer.

► Volunteers were trained and accompanied to the South by lawyers and health-care workers.

► On June 20th , two white CORE workers were murdered in Mississippi.

► The murders intimidated African Americans and by the end of the summer only 1,600 new voters had been added to the voting rolls.

Civil Rights Act of 1964 In May of 1963 protesters in Birmingham, Alabama

were attacked by police using dogs, fire hoses and nightsticks.

Public outrage over the attacks increased support for the Civil Rights movement.

On August 28, 1963 200,000 people gathered at the Lincoln Memorial to bring awareness to the Civil Rights movement.

On July 2, 1964 the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion or sex and created the EOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).

Registering Black Voters The Civil Rights Act of 1964 allowed for equal voting

rights and removed registration restrictions designed to keep blacks from voting

In Mississippi, African Americans made up 40% of the population ,but only 5% of registered voters were black.

Civil rights leaders tried to encourage southern African Americans to register to vote, but many feared lynching or beating if they attempted to vote.

Leaders were widely unsuccessful in registering large numbers of black voters in the early 60’s.

Reforms in Voting Rights In January of 1964 the 24th Amendment to the

Constitution banned poll taxes as a condition for voting. On March 7, 1965 six hundred people marched through

Selma, Alabama to protest unfair voting policies in the southern city. This day became known as ‘Bloody Sunday’

Police officers attack the marchers with clubs, ropes and whips. Outraged Americans poured into Alabama to show support for the march

Congress passed the Voting Rights Act putting all voter registration under federal control.

Notes #4

Black Muslims In Detroit, Michigan, in 1930 Wallace Fard started a

group known as the Black Muslims By the time Elijah Muhammad became its leader, the

Nation of Islam had 8,000 members and preached the supremacy of the black race

Muhammad urged followers to create their own republic within the US. They also rejected their last names as slave names and used the last name X.

They stressed self discipline and did not smoke, drink, or accept assistance .

Malcolm X Malcolm Little (later to become Malcolm X) was born

in 1925. His father was killed in a racially motivated murder.

Malcolm was a good student, but dropped out of school after being discriminated against by a teacher.

Malcolm eventually spent ten years in prison where he studied the work of Elijah Muhammad.

In the 1950’s Malcolm X became a leading minister in the Nation of Islam and called for separatism and violent revolution if necessary.

By the 1960’s, Malcolm softened his separatist views and broke from the Black Muslims

Black Power and the Black Panthers►Tired of being beaten and intimidated, some

Southern blacks began a movement for black separatism called the Black Power movement.

►Black antipoverty workers, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, created a political organization known as the Black Panther Party.

►The Black Panthers declared that black people must be free to determine their own destiny, and the party set up armed defense groups who often battled with Police.

Violence and MLK’s Assassination Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the Civil Rights

Movement and preached a nonviolent approach and demanded equal rights

Martin Luther King disagreed with the tactics of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, but King embraced the need for economic power.

Riots in Watts and Detroit killed nearly 100 people and the nation seemed to be on the brink of becoming two societies; one black, one white.

On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King was killed by a sniper (James Earl Ray) on the second floor of his motel in Memphis, TN.

Backlash of Desegregation White and black Americans had come to disagree with some

desegregation policies. When schools were ordered to desegregate, many black students

had to be bussed to white neighborhoods to fill school quotas. Many white people also began to feel they were suffering

reverse discrimination, especially in the area of affirmative action which gave preference to minorities and women in admissions to universities and jobs.

In Supreme Court case, Regents of the Univ. of California v Bakke, the court upheld the right of a school to adopt an admission plan that included race or ethnicity as an element.

Looking back NAACP – worked for the increase rights for

people of color The Black Panthers – pushed for decreased

white influence (police influence) in predominately black neighborhoods

LULAC – worked for increase rights for people of Hispanic descent

NOW – pushed for increase rights for women United Farm Workers – worked to protect the

rights of predominately Hispanic labor force in the field of California

Looking back Chicano Mural Movement –

beginning in the 1960s, artists using the walls of city buildings, housing projects, schools, and churches to depict Mexican American culture

Other Influential People Caesar Chavez was a Hispanic labor leader and

farm worker who worked for reforms and rights of migrant workers

Rosa Parks was an African American civil rights activitis: Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)

Hector Garcia was a Mexican American physician and civil rights advocate. Organized the American G.I. Forum (1948) originally to improve veteran benefits and enhance medical attention, but it soon expanded to address educational and vocational training, housing, public education, poll taxation, voter registration, hospitalization, and employment

Betty Friedan wrote the Feminine Mystic and co-founded NOW

Civil Rights today… In the 21st century, we have the election

of the first African American president, Barrack Obama

The appointment of the first Hispanic woman to the Supreme Court, Sonia Sotomayor

Oprah Winfrey, one of the most influential African Americans of the time period

Edgewood ISD v Kirby (1993): the “Robin Hood” plan – redistributed property taxes from wealthy to poor school districts

American culture includes traditions, ideals, customs, beliefs, values, and arts, developed both domestically and imported from various countries around the world

America was founded as a country of immigrants and each cultural group has contributed to shaping the “American culture”