American Civil Rights Movement
1950s & 1960s
Historical Background
• Slavery
– Property vs. Human beings
– Slave codes
• No education, marriage, separate church, freedom of
movement
• Post Civil War
– 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments
– Jim Crow laws – legal separation
• Plessy v. Ferguson – Supreme Court upholds
separate but equal facilities or services is protected
by the Constitution
Historical Background
• Post Civil War (continued)
– Limit voting rights, property rights (Poll tax, literacy
test, grandfather clause)
– Limit economic opportunity
– Maintain status quo through violence (KKK, lynching)
or laws
• WWI and WWII
– Segregated units
• Post WWII
– President Truman orders U.S. armed forces to be
desegregated (1947)
Lynching in America
Origin of the Civil Rights Movement
• World War II • 1. African-Americans left
sharecropping jobs for industrial
jobs in Northern cities
• 2. 700,000 African-Americans
served in WW II – “We return from
fighting. We return fighting.”
• 3. During WWII, AfricanAmericans protested against Jim
Crow Laws—were successful
Who was Linda Brown?
• Brown v. Board of Education (Topeka,
Kansas) 1954
– Facts
• Linda Brown = 8 year old African American student
• Nearest elementary school = 4 blocks from the
Brown home (all white)
• Linda Brown’s school (all black) = 21 blocks from
the Brown home
• NAACP sues Bd of Education challenging the
separate but equal
Origin of the Civil Rights
Movement
• Thurgood Marshall
• Later became the first
African-American
Supreme Court Justice
Brown v. Board of Ed
• Supreme Court orders desegregation be
implemented with all ‘possible’ speed
• “Separate but equal inherently unequal”
Important Court Victories
• Desegregated interstate buses
• Desegregated law schools
• Desegregated graduate schools
Leaders Of The Civil
Rights Movement
Jackie Robinson
Born in Cairo, Georgia, in
1919.
At the University of California
in Los Angeles, Robinson
starred in football, track,
basketball and baseball.
In 1944, Robinson played in
the Negro leagues on a team
called the Kansas City
Monarchs.
42
Playing for the Dodgers
In 1946 Branch Rickey signed Jackie
Robinson.
Jackie Robinson, at the age of 27,
became the first Black Baseball player
in Major League history.
Jackie and Civil Rights
Jackie Robinson’s Actions
affected the world far beyond
Major League Baseball.
His courage and discipline in
standing up against racism were a
preview of the actions taken by
many members of The Civil
Rights Movement.
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks was born on February
4, 1913.
In the South, Jim Crow laws
segregated African American’s and
whites in almost every aspect of
life.
– This included a seating policy
on buses. White’s sat in the
front, Blacks sat in the back.
– Buses also drove White
students to school. Black
students were forced to walk.
Events Leading Up To Rosa’s
Protest
Parks was an active member of The Civil Rights Movement and
joined the Montgomery chapter of NAACP (National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People) in 1943.
In 1944 Jackie Robinson refused to give up his bus seat in
Texas.
In 1955, Black Activist in Montgomery were building a case
around Claudette Colvin, a 15 year old girl who refused to give
up her seat on a bus. She was arrested and forcibly removed
from the bus.
African Americans made up 75% of the passengers in the Bus
system but still had to deal with unfair rules.
The Arrest
On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks
refused to give up her seat to a
White man on a bus.
Parks was arrested and charged
with the violation of a segregation
law in The Montgomery City
Code.
50 African American leaders in
the community met to discuss
what to do about Rosa’s arrest.
“People always say that I
didn't give up my seat because
I was tired, but that isn't true.
I was not tired physically, or
no more tired than I usually
was at the end of a working
day. I was not old, although
some people have an image of
me as being old then. I was
forty-two. No, the only tired I
was, was tired of giving in.” Rosa Parks Autobiography
Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 5, 1955,
African Americans in
Montgomery began to
boycott the busses.
40,000 Black commuters
walked to work, some as far
as twenty miles.
The boycott lasted 382 days.
The boycott ended after the
Supreme Court ruled the law
unconstitutional.
Martin Luther King Jr.
• In 1953, at the age of 26, King
became pastor at the Dexter
Avenue Baptist Church
in Montgomery Alabama.
• His start as a Civil Rights
leader came during the
Montgomery
Bus Boycott.
Montgomery, Alabama
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Studied tactics of
Thoreau, Gandhi, and
others
• Preached about soul
force—non-violent
resistance
• “We will not hate you,
but we cannot . . . obey
your unjust laws”
Non-Violent Tactics
• Boycott
• Refusing to buy a good or service
• Sit-in
• Sitting in segregated areas and
refusing to move
• March
• Marching with a large group to
draw attention to a cause
King Becomes a National Figure
• His start as a Civil
Rights leader came
during the
Montgomery Bus
Boycott.
• Southern Christian
Leadership
Conference (SCLC)
• Civil Rights group
organized by King
• Included over 100
African-American
ministers
Civil Disobedience
• In 1957 King helped found the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference (SCLC).
 A group that used the authority and power of
Black churches to organize non-violent protest
to support the Civil Rights Movement.
 King believed in the philosophy used by Gandhi
in India known as nonviolent civil disobedience.
He applied this philosophy to protest organized
by the SCLC.
 The civil disobedience led to media coverage of
the daily inequalities suffered by Southern
Blacks.
 The televised violence led to mass public
sympathy. The Civil Rights Movement became
the most important political topic during the
early 60’s.
Little Rock, Arkansas—1957
• Nine African-American students were to
integrate Central High School
• Governor ordered Arkansas National Guard
to turn the students away
• Federal judge ordered the governor to allow
the students entry
• Governor refused—African-American
students were turned away
Little Rock, Arkansas—1957
• Eisenhower responds
• Put 1,000 paratroopers in
Little Rock
• Stationed in the High
School—escorted
students to class,
maintained order
The Movement Grows
• Student Non-violent
Coordinating
Committee (SNCC)
• Group of AfricanAmerican college
students in North
Carolina
Greensboro, North Carolina
• SNCC used sit-ins to protest segregated
lunch counters
• Media coverage showed racism to the entire
country
• By 1960, 48 cities had desegregated lunch
counters
Freedom Riders
• Wanted to test enforcement of Supreme
Courts decision to desegregate interstate
buses.
• Blacks and Whites rode through the South
Freedom Riders
• Peck (a civil rights activist) rode on Bus One. At
the Alabama state line, a half dozen white racists
got on the bus, carrying chains, brass knuckles,
and pistols. They yanked the young AfricanAmerican riders from their seats and shoved
them into the aisle. Peck and a 60-year-old
white freedom rider tried to intervene. The
thugs knocked Peck unconscious and kicked the
old man repeatedly in the head until his brain
hemorrhaged.
Freedom Riders
• When Bus One got to Birmingham,
Alabama, a mob was waiting at the bus
terminal, many holding iron bars and pipes.
As they entered the white waiting room,
they were dragged into the alley and beaten
with the pipes. Peck was again knocked
unconscious, this time he needed 53 stitches
in his head and face.
Freedom Riders
• In Anniston, Alabama, 200 whites attacked Bus
Two and slashed its tires. Six miles out of
town, the bus was crippled. The mob
barricaded the door, smashed a window, and
tossed a fire bomb into the bus. The freedom
riders were barely able to force the door open
and escape before the bus exploded.
Freedom Riders
• Another group of freedom riders rode from
Tennessee into Alabama. When they reached
Birmingham, the Police Chief had them pulled
off the bus, beaten and driven back to Tennessee.
The freedom riders returned to Birmingham.
When they proceeded to Montgomery, a white
mob had formed and no police were present.
The freedom riders were again beaten. John F.
Kennedy finally sent 400 U. S. Marshals to
protect the riders as they continued to
Mississippi
Ole Miss
• James Meredith won a court case that would
make him the first African-American
student at the University of Mississippi.
Ole Miss
• Mascot – Rebels
• Symbol – Confederate
Flag
Ole Miss
• Federal Marshals escorted Meredith to
register
• Riots ensued – 2 dead, 200 arrested, 5000
soldiers needed to stop the rioters
Birmingham, Alabama – 1963
•
•
•
•
Demonstrations to protest segregation
King was arrested – released
Children’s March- 959 were arrested
2nd Children’s March – police used fire
hoses, attack dogs against the marchers
• Finally, negative media attention, boycotts,
and protests led to desegregation
Letter From a Birmingham
Jail
•
King, wrote the letter after being arrested at a peaceful protest in
Birmingham, Alabama.
 The letter was in response to a letter sent to him by eight Alabama
Clergymen called, “A Call For Unity.”
 The men recognized that injustices were occurring in Birmingham
but believed that the battles for freedom should be fought in the
courtroom in not in the streets.
 In the letter, “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King justified civil
disobedience by saying that without forceful action, true civil rights
would never be achieved. Direct action is justified in the face of
unjust laws.
Jackson, Mississippi – 1963
• Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers was
killed in his driveway
• The killer, Byron de la Beckwith was
released after two trials (hung jury)
Washington, D. C. – 1963
• March organized to
persuade Congress to pass
Civil Rights Bill
• 250,000 met to hear
speeches, music
• “I Have a Dream” speech
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
• After Kennedy was shot,
Civil Rights Act of 1964
passed
I Have A Dream Speech
•
•
•
In a powerful speech, Martin
Luther King Jr. stated
eloquently that he desired a
world where Black and Whites
could coexist equally.
King’s speech was a rhetoric
example of the Black Baptist
sermon style.
The speech used The Bible, The
Declaration of Independence,
The United States Constitution
and The Emancipation
Proclamation as sources.
I Have A Dream Speech
•
The powerful words of Martin Luther King Jr.
 “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 selfevident, that all men are created equal.’”
 “I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state
sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of
oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and
justice.”
 “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.”
 “Black men and White men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and
Catholics - 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!"
Mississippi – 1964
• Freedom Summer – 1000 college students
went to Mississippi to register AfricanAmericans voters
• Met violent resistance—4 dead many
wounded, churches and businesses burned
Selma, Alabama – 1965
• Voter registration drive – 2,000 AfricanAmericans arrested, police beatings
• Police killed a demonstrator
• King announced a protest March from Selma to
Montgomery
• State police beat marchers, used tear gas
• Federal government stepped in protected
marchers
• 25,000 marchers reached Selma
Selma, Alabama – 1965
• Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed—
eliminated the literacy test
• Allowed federal government to enroll
voters who were denied suffrage
• Twenty-Fourth Amendment—
eliminated the poll tax
Watts, 1965
Black Power
• Slogan coined by Stokely Carmichael (SNCC)
• African-Americans should separate from whites,
define their own goals, and lead their own
organizations
• Signaled a shift away from non-violent
resistance
Black Power
Detroit, 1967
Mexico City, 1968
Tommie Smith and John Carlos
Tommie Smith and John Carlos
give the Black Power salute at the
1968 Summer Olympics.
The two men were suspended by
the United States team and banned
from Olympic village.
The action is considered a
milestone of The Civil Rights
Movement.
Black Panther Party
•
•
•
•
U.S. African American Militant group.
Founded in 1966 in Oakland.
Led by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale.
Believed violent revolution was the only way to
receive freedom.
• Urged African Americans to arm themselves.
The Violent Panthers
•
•
•
In the late 60’s party
leaders got involved in
violent confrontations
with the police.
Huey Newton was tried
in 1967 for killing a
police officer.
Black Panther activist
Bobby Seale, was a
member of the Chicago
Eight.
 A group of eight
people who disrupted
the 1968 Democratic
convention.
Black Panthers
•
•
•
•
•
Black Power
Black Militancy—suggested armed revolt
“Power flows out of the barrel of a gun”
Communist
Got into shootouts with police
Black Panthers
• Sold copies of Mao Zedong’s Little Red
Book to raise money so they could purchase
shotguns
Black Panthers
• Started free daycare and free breakfast
program in urban ghettos
• Made them popular in Northern cities
Black Panthers
Black Panthers
Black Panthers
• J. Edgar Hoover (head of the F. B. I.)
declares that the Black Panthers were the
"greatest threat to the internal security of the
country."
Black Panthers
• Begin to unravel
• Leaders are sent to jail, flee the country,
killed by police
Malcolm X
X Born in Omaha Nebraska, Malcolm Little was the son of a Baptist
preacher who urged Blacks to stand up for their rights.
X His father was killed by White Supremacist in Michigan, in 1931.
X After time, Malcolm moved to Harlem where he became involved in
gambling, drug dealing and robbery.
X Malcolm was arrested at the age of 20 for armed robbery. In jail he
studied the teaching of Elijah Muhammad.
Elijah Muhammad
X Elijah Muhammad was the leader of the
mostly Black political and religious
group, The Nation Of Islam.
 His teachings, often perceived as
racist, preached complete
separation from Whites in society.
 He often expressed the idea the
Blacks were the first people to rule
the world and that the Whites
tricked them out of power and
oppressed them.
 Young Malcolm X developed his
adept speaking skills and political
ideas under the direction of Elijah
Muhammad.
Nation Of Islam
X The Nation Of Islam
(NOI) was an activist
group that believed that
most African slaves
were originally Muslim.
X The NOI urged African
Americans to reconvert
to Islam in effort to
restore the heritage that was stolen from them.
X The NOI wanted to create a second Black
nation within the United States.
X The “X” in Malcolm’s name symbolizes the
rejection of his slave name.
Malcolm X: The Activist
X Malcolm X made constant
accusations of racism and
demanded violent actions of
self defense.
X He constantly retold the
injustices his people
suffered in the past.
X Malcolm X gathered wide
spread admiration from
African American’s and
wide spread fear from
Whites.
Malcolm X Speaks, 1965
X “Be peaceful, be courteous,
obey the law, respect everyone;
but if someone puts his hand
on you, send him to the
cemetery.”
X “Nobody can give you
freedom. Nobody can give you
equality or justice or anything.
If you're a man, you take it.”
X “You can't separate peace
from freedom because no one
can be at peace unless he has
his freedom.”
Malcolm X Quotes (On King)
X He got the peace prize, we got the problem.... If I'm
following a general, and he's leading me into a
battle, and the enemy tends to give him rewards, or
awards, I get suspicious of him. Especially if he
gets a peace award before the war is over.
X I'll say nothing against him. At one time the whites
in the United States called him a racist, and
extremist, and a Communist. Then the Black
Muslims came along and the whites thanked the
Lord for Martin Luther King.
X I want Dr. King to know that I didn't come to
Selma to make his job difficult. I really did come
thinking I could make it easier. If the white people
realize what the alternative is, perhaps they will be
more willing to hear Dr. King.
X Dr. King wants the same thing I want -- freedom!
Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Assassinated in
April, 1968
Violence Erupts
• 125 cities experience rioting
Washington, D. C., 1968
Kerner Commission
• Appointed by President Johnson
• Decides that the main cause of urban
violence is white racism
Civil Rights Act of 1968
• Banned segregation in housing
De Facto Segregation
• Difficult to overcome
• Involves changing attitudes, not laws
Affirmative Action
• Making special efforts to hire or enroll
groups that have suffered from
discrimination in the past.
• Very controversial—is it reverse
discrimination?