The Civil Rights Movement
1. Setting the Scene
Segregation was included in jobs, housing, education etc.
2. Discrimination Creates Barriers
a. Segregation
Strict separation of the races especially in public places
b. Discrimination and Mexican Americans
Discrimination and segregation affected Mexican Americans differently than African Americans
c. Breaking Down the Barriers
NAACP was formed to help African Americans defend themselves against discrimination
d. Historic Firsts
Jackie Robinson played on a white team
Truman desegregated some troops
e. Integration
The mixing of different racial groups
3. The Court Fight for Civil Rights
African Americans and Mexican Americans used courts to gain equality
a. Civil rights movement
The effort to integrate blacks and whites and to gain rights for everyone
b. In Schools
In 1950 21 states & D.C. had legally segregated schools
i. Plessy v. Ferguson
Separate but equal facilities for blacks and whites IS constitutional
ii. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Ended segregation in schools/ overturned Plessy vs. Ferguson
c. Desegregating Public Schools
d.
The court ordered schools to be desegregated - 1957
e. On Juries
Mexican Americans organized to gain rights. They wanted equality under the law – representation on juries
4. The Montgomery Bus Boycott- African Americans refused to ride busses in hopes of ending segregation on busses. The
Boycott lasted 380 days.
a. Boycott- to refuse to use
b. The boycott continues- People walked to work or used carpools. Police pulled over carpool drivers and gave
unwarranted tickets.
c. Civil disobedience- Nonviolent protests against unjust laws.
d. Wide reaching effects- The bus boycott brought attention to inequality and resulted in desegregation of busses.
5. Martin Luther King Jr.