* Identify the events and influential individuals
of the civil rights, human rights, and
counterculture movements and assess their
impact
* d. Evaluate the impact of changes in the
national economy on contemporary American
society
*
A.
*
The Struggle for Equality
After WWII the campaign for civil
rights began to accelerate
*
*July 1948:
Truman banned
discrimination in the hiring of
federal employees and ordered the
integration of the armed forces
-change came slowly however – the
armed forces weren’t integrated
until 1950
*
* Date: 1942
* Event: Formation of CORE
* Facts: Students in Chicago found the Congress of Racial
Equality.
* CORE commits to nonviolent direct action to affect
change.
* CORE protests segregation at a Chicago coffee shop.
* Date: (1945 for minor leagues)1947
* Event: First black baseball player in the major
leagues
* Facts: Jackie Robinson is hired by the Brooklyn
Dodgers.
* He faces prejudice from fans, teammates, and
opposing players.
* Other professional sports begin accepting black
players at about the same time.
Jackie Robinson
*For many years, major league baseball
had refused to allow African Americans
to participate, forcing them to play in
the separate Negro Leagues
*1945: Brooklyn Dodger general
manager Branch Richey decided to
challenge the ban
*
*Richey chose Jackie Robinson to break the color
barrier
-He had earned letters in football, basketball,
baseball, and track while attending UCLA
*Before signing him up, Richey attempted to
discourage Robinson though insults and
threatening violence when he called Robinson
into his office
-Robinson replied, “Mr. Richey, do you want a
ballplayer who’s afraid to fight back?”
-Richey answered, “I want a player with guts
enough not to fight back.”
*1947: Robinson joined the Dodgers, becoming
the first African American to play in the major
leagues
*Despite threats and racial slurs, Robinson acted
with dignity and even won the Rookie of the
Year award
*
*Robinson paved the way for other
African Americans to play
professionally in other sports
*
* Date: 1948
* Event: Desegregation of the armed forces
* Facts: President Truman signs Executive Order
9981.
* Executive Order 9981 makes equality of
“treatment and opportunity” regardless of race
official policy in the armed forces.
Brown vs. Board of Education
* Probably the greatest civil rights
victory in the early postwar period
took place in the courts
* Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) held that
segregation of the races was
constitutional as long as facilities
were equal – “separate but equal”
*Date: 1954
Event: Brown v. Board of Education ruling
Facts: A class-action lawsuit against desegregated
schools reaches the Supreme Court.
-The NAACP, led by Thurgood Marshall, argues that
segregation harms black children.
-The Warren Court rules that segregation violates
the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment.
*1951:
Oliver Brown sued the Topeka, Kansas,
Board of Education to allow his 8-year-old
daughter Linda to attend a school that only
white children were allowed to attend
-She passed the school on her way to the bus
that took her to a distant school for African
Americans
*After appeals, the case reached the US
Supreme Court where lawyer Thurgood
Marshall argued on behalf of Brown and against
segregation in American schools
*
*May 17, 1954:
The Supreme Court
issued its historic ruling by declaring
that “separate facilities are inherently
unequal”
*President Eisenhower, who privately
disagreed with the ruling, said “the
Supreme Court has spoken and I am
sworn to uphold the constitutional
processes in this country; I will obey.”
*1955: The Court ruled that local school
boards should move to desegregate
“with all deliberate speed”
* Date: 1955–1956
* Event: Montgomery Bus Boycott
* Facts: The boycott is sparked by the arrest of Rosa
Parks.
* On the first day, 90% of African Americans who usually
ride the bus honor the boycott.
* To make the boycott work, blacks organize an elaborate
carpool system.
* Martin Luther King Jr. earns a national reputation as a
civil rights leader
* After the boycott, he and other ministers form the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
C.
*
*
*
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
1955: The nation’s attention shifted
from the courts to the streets of
Montgomery, AL
Dec. 1955: Rosa Parks took a seat in
the middle section of a bus, where both
African Americans and whites were
usually allowed to sit
When a white man got on the bus and
had no where to sit, the driver order
Parks to give up her seat
*
*She refused and was arrested at the
next stop
*Civil rights leaders in Montgomery
quickly met and decided to organize
the Montgomery Bus Boycott
-Called for African Americans to refuse
to use the entire bus system until the
company agreed to change its
segregation policy
*
*Martin Luther King, Jr., the 26-year-
old minister at the church where the
initial meeting took place, became the
spokesperson for the protest
-“There comes a time when people get
tired…tired of being segregated and
humiliated, tired of being kicked about
by the brutal feet of oppression. We
have no alternative but to protest.”
*
*Over the next year, 50,000 African
Americans in Montgomery walked, rode
bicycles, or joined car pools to avoid
the city buses
*Despite losing money, the company
refused to change its policies
*The Supreme Court finally ruled that
bus segregation, like school
segregation, was unconstitutional
*
*The bus boycott produced a new
generation of leaders in the African
American community, particularly
King
*It also introduced non-violent
protest as a means of achieving
equality
*
Date: 1957
Event: Integration of Central High School
Facts: Governor Faubus calls out the Arkansas National Guard to
prevent integration.
 President Eisenhower sends in federal troops to maintain order and
enforce integration.
• Nine African American students attend Central High School this year
with military bodyguards and under harassment from white students
D.
*
*
*
Resistance in Little Rock
The Brown decision and the Montgomery
protest caused many white southerners
to react with fear and angry resistance
The worst confrontation came at Central
High School in Little Rock, Arkansas
1957: Governor Orval Faubus declared
that he could not keep order if he had
to enforce integration, or the bringing
together of different races
*
*Faubus posted National Guard troops at the
school who turned away nine African
American students
-His actions was a direct challenge to the
Constitution and the ruling of the courts
*Eisenhower acted by placing the National
Guard under federal command to protect
the nine students
*Military presence continued during the
whole school year
*
* Date: 1960
* Event: First lunch counter sit-in
* Facts: At a sit-in, protesters sit down in a public place
and refuse to move.
* The first sit-in is held by four black students at a
Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North
Carolina.
* They are joined by 20 other people on the second day.
* Sit-ins spread across the South.
* The Greensboro sit-ins lead to a boycott of
Woolworth’s, which eventually agreed to serve blacks.
*1960 – Sit-in Movement begins – Feb. 1,
1960, 4 college students from Greensboro,
NC went into a Woolworth’s store and sat
down at the “whites only” lunch counter
and ordered coffee – the waitress refused
to serve them – the students stayed seated
in silent protest until the store closed – the
next day several more students joined
them – even more came the following day –
the movement spread throughout the South
*
* Date: 1961
* Event: Freedom Rides
* Facts: CORE organizes Freedom Rides to test whether
southern states are complying with a Supreme Court
ruling that segregation in interstate transportation is
illegal.
* Freedom riders face violence in Anniston, Alabama,
when their bus is bombed.
* The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
(SNCC) continues the rides after CORE abandons them.
*1961 - Freedom Rides begin – boarded
buses that would take them across the
South - the freedom riders wanted to
end segregation on buses and trains –
many were beaten and some even killed
by angry whites – in Sept. 1961 the
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC)
outlawed segregation in interstate
travel
*
* Date: 1963
* Event: March on Washington
* Facts: In August, more than
250,000 people march in
Washington, D.C.
* It is the largest political gathering
ever held in the United States.
* The most notable event of the
day is Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I
have a dream” speech.
* At the time of the march, a civil
rights bill is making its way
through Congress.
* Date: 1963
* Event: Birmingham campaign
* Facts: Birmingham is chosen as a site for a major
campaign of nonviolent protests because it is deeply
segregated.
* King and other demonstrators are arrested and jailed.
King writes a letter explaining why African Americans
are using civil disobedience to protest segregation.
* Police use attack dogs and high-pressure fire hoses to
prevent protesters, including children, from marching.
* Date: 1964
* Event: Civil Rights Act of 1964
* Facts: Senators opposed to the bill filibuster, but
the bill is passed and signed into law.
* The law bans discrimination on the basis of race,
sex, religion, or national origin.
* The law is a landmark act and the most important
civil rights legislation passed since
Reconstruction.
* Date: 1965
* Event: Voting Rights Act of 1965
* Facts: The act outlaws literacy tests and other tactics used to
deny blacks the right to vote.
* Efforts to secure voting rights prove quite successful.
Between 1964 and 1968, the number of blacks in Mississippi
registered to vote rises from 7% to 59%. Overall across the
South, African American voter registration grows by more
than 2 million.
* Date: 1959
* Event: The Hate That Hate Produced airs
* Facts: This weeklong television special features
Malcolm X.
* The show brings widespread attention to Malcolm X
and the Nation of Islam.
* Date: 1965
* Event: Watts riot
* Facts: Watts is an African American ghetto in Los Angeles.
* In the six days of the riot, 34 people die, almost 900 are
injured, and nearly 4,000 are arrested.
* After more riots erupt in 1967, the Kerner Commission
produces a detailed study of the riots and their causes.
* Date: 1966
* Event: Black Panther Party is founded
* Facts: Bobby Seale and Huey Newton found the party in Oakland,
California.
* The Panther’s 10-point platform calls for black self-determination
and improvements in jobs, housing, education, and police
treatment.
* The Panthers provide services for blacks in their community and
send out observers to monitor interactions between police and
blacks.
* The Panthers carry weapons and are prepared to defend themselves.
*
* Date: 1968
* Event: Civil Rights Act of 1968
* Facts: Congress passes the law days after the assassination of
Martin Luther King
* Jr., who had taken on the issue of racial discrimination in housing.
* The law includes a fair-housing component that bans
discrimination in housing sales and rentals.
* The law gives the federal government authority to file lawsuits
against those who violate the law.
* Date: 1969
* Event: Congressional Black Caucus is formed
* Facts: In 1968, Shirley Chisholm of New York became
the first woman to win
* election to the House of Representatives.
* In 1969, the black members of the House of
Representatives form the caucus.
* Over the years, the caucus has worked to address
legislative concerns of
* African Americans.
* Date: 1971
* Event: Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of
Education
* Facts: This case raises the question of whether de facto
segregation caused by housing patterns is constitutional
in North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District.
* A year earlier, a federal judge ordered the district to use
busing to integrate its schools.
* In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court supports the
busing plan.
* Date: 1977
* Event: Roots airs
* Facts: This 12-hour miniseries is one of the most highly rated
shows in TV history.
* Based on a historical novel by Alex Haley, Roots tells the story
of several generations of an enslaved black family.
* More than 250 colleges plan courses around the broadcasts
and more than 30 cities have “Roots” weeks.
* Date: 1978
* Event: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
* Facts: In the late 1970s, a white male, Allan Bakke, challenged
preferential treatment in university admissions. He concluded
that he had been refused admission to medical school based on
his race and sued for reverse discrimination.
* The Supreme Court is deeply divided on the case. Four judges
are firmly against any use of race in university admissions.
Another four feel just as strongly that race should be used.
* Bakke wins the case and is admitted to medical school. The
Court declares that race can be used as a criterion for college
admission, but cannot be the only criterion
*Civil Rights Movement (1945-1970) –
Major Events:
-1955 – Emmett Till Case
-1955-1956 – Montgomery Bus
Boycott
-1957 – Little Rock public schools
*
*1963 – Violence in Mississippi - Medgar Evers, a
civil rights leader who helped integrate the
University of Mississippi (James Meredith was
the first African-Am. to be admitted), was shot
and killed in his driveway
*1963 – Struggle in Birmingham, Alabama – one
of the most segregated cities in America –
Alabama Governor George Wallace said, “I say
segregation now, segregation tomorrow,
segregation forever” – police used fire hoses,
dogs, and electric cattle prods to break up the
demonstrations
*
*1963 – March on Washington – JFK had
proposed a strong civil rights bill – 250,000
gathered in Wash. D.C. to rally support for
the bill – Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered
his famous “I Have a Dream” speech
*1965 – Selma March – voting rights were
being denied in Selma, AL – a 30 mile
march was held from Selma to the state
capital of Montgomery in protest – Alabama
State Police met the marchers at the edge
of town and fired tear gas into the crowd
*
*1965 – Watts Riot – a ghetto in LA –
riot started when a white police
officer arrested an African-American
driver on charges of reckless driving
– led to 5 days of violence – 34
people died
*
*Martin Luther King, Jr.
-born and raised in Atlanta, GA
-from a middle class family – his father was
also a preacher
-entered college at the age of 15
-based his non-violent method of protest on
the teachings of Mohandas Ghandi (leader
of India’s revolt against England)
-this strategy was designed to provoke
violent responses from racist whites that
would be covered by the media -…
*
…hoped the media images would bring
outraged responses from all Americans –
in turn, this would put pressure on the
federal gov’t to intervene and protect
the civil rights of African-American
citizens
-assassinated by James Earl Ray in
Memphis, TN (1968) – riots erupted in
60 cities across the country – 37 died
*
*Malcolm X
-born Malcolm Little in Omaha, NE
-father was killed by whites when he was a child
-ran away to Harlem and was arrested for burglary
-while in jail he learned of the Black Muslim
movement and its leader Elijah Muhammad
-joined the Black Muslims after his release from jail
and soon became their spokesperson
-believed that African-Americans should separate
themselves from whites – opposed integration
*
-also promoted taking pride in their
African culture
-traveled to Mecca and came back a
changed man – wanted to work more
closely with King but was
assassinated – probably by members
of the Black Muslims (though not
proven)
*