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Daily Quote &Question (DQ )
“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…”
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
SONG FOR THE DAY: 1. WE SHALL OVERCOME
WHAT PROGRESS WAS MADE FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN
CIVIL RIGHTS FROM THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR
THROUGH THE KOREAN WAR?
STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO:
-Identify people important to the Civil
Rights movement in the 50s and 60s
(Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr…)
-Evaluate the importance of young people to
- the Civil Rights movement (Ruby
Bridges, Little Rock Nine…)
-Describe the importance of Brown vs.
Board of Education and identify the
major case it overturned
-Analyze the importance of “peaceful
protest” and the “sit in movement”
Daily Comment & Card
1950s-1960s
CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT
INCIDENTS
-Emmett Till, black teenager, was killed by
two white men after supposedly whistling
at a white woman—they were acquitted.
-in 1960 4 black students in Greensboro,
North Carolina sat at a “whites only” lunch
counter sparking the sit-in movement
-Explosion kills 4 young girls at a church in
Birmingham, Alabama (1963)
-three college students killed during voter
registration drive in Mississippi
-1965 group marches from Selma to
Birmingham, Alabama for Voting Rights.
“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…”
-Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.
SONG FOR THE DAY: WE SHALL OVERCOME
Daily Comment & Card
1957
LITTLE ROCK
CRISIS
-Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
called for desegregation of schools
-In 1957 the NAACP registered 9
black students to attend the
previously all-white Little Rock
Central High
-Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus used
the Arkansas National Guard to try
and block the students from entering
-President Eisenhower intervened with
federal troops.
SONG FOR THE DAY: PEOPLE GET READY
“A life is
not
important
except in
the
impact it
has on
other
lives.”
-Jackie
Robinson
Daily Comment & Card
1950s-1960s
CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT
INCIDENTS
-Emmett Till, black teenager, was killed by
two white men after supposedly whistling
at a white woman—they were acquitted.
-in 1960 4 black students in Greensboro,
North Carolina sat at a “whites only” lunch
counter sparking the sit-in movement
-Explosion kills 4 young girls at a church in
Birmingham, Alabama (1963)
-three college students killed during voter
registration drive in Mississippi
-1965 group marches from Selma to
Birmingham, Alabama for Voting Rights.
1957
LITTLE ROCK
CRISIS
-Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
called for desegregation of schools
-In 1957 the NAACP registered 9
black students to attend the
previously all-white Little Rock
Central High
-Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus used
the Arkansas National Guard to try
and block the students from entering
-President Eisenhower intervened with
federal troops.
“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…”
-Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.
SONG FOR THE DAY: WE SHALL OVERCOME
Daily Comment & Card
1954
BROWN V.
BOARD OF
EDUCATION (OF
TOPEKA)
-Supreme Court case that challenged
“separate but equal” ruling established by
Plessy V. Ferguson
-Court, led by Chief Justice Earl Warren,
held that separate was inherently unequal
and instructed states to integrate
-Federal troops were used to help 9 black
students attend an all-white school in
Little Rock, despite mobs and the
Arkansas National Guard
“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…”
-Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.
SONG FOR THE DAY: A CHANGE IS GONNA COME
IN SWEATT V. PAINTER (1950) THE
NAACP WON A CASE INVOLVING
HERMAN SWEAT (AFRICAN
AMERICAN) WHO WANTED TO
ATTEND LAW SCHOOL AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS. UT HAD
CREATED A SEPARATE SCHOOL JUST
TO KEEP SWEATT OUT, BUT THE
SUPREME COURT RULED THAT THIS
FAILED TO QUALIFY AS “SEPARATE
BUT EQUAL) SINCE FUTURE LAWYERS
NEEDED TO MAKE CONNECTIONS
AND SWEAT WOULD BE ISOLATED.
ON MAY 17, 1954,
CHIEF JUSTICE EARL
WARREN READ THE
BROWN V. BOARD OF
EDUCATION, TOPEKA,
KANSAS DECISION
THAT SAID
“SEPARATE
EDUCATIONAL
FACILITIES ARE
INHERENTLY
UNEQUAL.”
THIS ENDED THE TRADITIONAL “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”
RULING FROM THE PLESSY V. FERGUSON CASE.
THE NEW RULING SET THE STAGE FOR THE VIOLENCE
THAT WOULD ACCOMPANY DESEGREGATION.
IN AUGUST 1955 IN SUMNER, MISSISSIPPI, 14 YEAR
OLD EMMETT TILL (VISITING FROM CHICAGO) WAS
FOUND SHOT IN THE HEAD WITH HIS BODY
MUTILATED FOR FLIRTING WITH A WHITE WOMAN.
THE MEN WHO TOOK HIM FROM HIS UNCLE’S HOME
WHERE AQUITTED BY AN ALL WHITE JURY…
ON DECEMBER 1, 1955, ROSA
PARKS REFUSED TO MOVE TO THE
BACK OF THE BUS IN
MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA. SHE
WAS BREAKING ONE OF THE
TRADITIONAL “JIM CROW”
LAWS. HER REFUSAL AND
ARREST LAUNCHED THE CIVIL
RIGHTS MOVEMENT…
“THE LONG WALK HOME” IS THE STORY OF
TWO WOMEN AND HOW THE BOYCOTT
CHANGED THEIR LIVES
THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT BROUGHT TO
THE FOREFRONT OF NATIONAL ATTENTION
ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS CIVIL RIGHTS
ACTIVITISTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY…
DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
-KING HELPED TO FOUND THE
SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN
LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (SCLC)
-HE WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT OF
SCLC IN 1957 AND HEADED IT
FOR 11 YEARS UNTIL HE WAS
ASSASSINATED IN 1968.
-GOAL WAS COORDINATING
CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVITIES.
-KING WAS AWARDED A NOBEL
PEACE PRIZE IN 1964.
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1957 WAS PASSED BY THE
EISENHOWER ADMINISTRATION TO INCREASE AFRICANAMERICAN VOTING IN THE SOUTH. THE ACT CREATED
THE CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION AND ESTABLISHED A
CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION IN THE U.S. JUSTICE
DEPARTMENT. IT GAVE FEDERAL COURTS THE POWER TO
REGISTER AFRICAN-AMERICAN VOTERS…THIS SET THE
PATTERN FOR LATER CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION.
ONE OF THE MOST NOTORIOUS CLASHES OVER SEGREGATION
OCCURRED AT LITTLE ROCK’S CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL
(ARKANSAS). IN SEPTEMBER OF 1957, NINE AFRICANAMERICAN STUDENTS WERE SCHEDULED TO ATTEND THE ALL
WHITE SCHOOL. ELIZABETH ECKFORD’S FAMILY DID NOT HAVE
A PHONE SO SHE WAS NOT TOLD THAT THEY HAD CANCELED
THE ATTEMPT TO ATTEND ON SEPTEMBER 4TH. SHE ALONE WAS
GREETED BY AN ANGRY MOB. GOVERNOR ORVAL FAUBUS ORDER
THE ARKANSAS NATIONAL GUARD TO SURROUND THE SCHOOL
AND PREVENT AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS FROM ENTERING.
-NINE STUDENTS DID NOT
ACTUALLY ENTER THE SCHOOL
UNTIL SEPTMEBER 23.
-UNTIL THE END OF SCHOOL,
FEDERAL PARATROOPERS
(ORDERED IN BY PRES.
EISENHOWER) ESCORTED THE
NINE STUDENTS TO AND FROM
CLASS.
-ERNEST GREEN
BECAME THE FIRST
BLACK GRADUATE
OF CENTRAL HIGH
SCHOOL AT THE END
OF THAT YEAR.
IN RETALIATION, ARKANSAS CLOSED ALL OF ITS PUBLIC
SCHOOLS THE NEXT YEAR. AFTER THE SUPREME COURT
RULED THIS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, ARKANSAS SCHOOLS
REOPENED FULLY INTEGRATED THE NEXT YEAR.
SEVERAL SOUTHERN GOVERNORS CLAIMED THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT WAS INTERFERING IN STATE MATTERS
AND PLEDGED TO RESIST DESEGREGATION TO KEEP THE
STATUS QUO (EXISTING SYSTEM).
IN 1963, ALABAMA GOVERNOR GEORGE WALLACE
RECEIVED NATIONAL ATTENTION WHEN HE STOOD
IN THE DOOR TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA IN
AJ ATTEMPT TO PREVENT TWO AFRICAN-AMERICAN
STUDENTS FROM ENROLLING.
LESTER MADDOX WHO WOULD LATER BECOME THE
GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA HAD CLOSED HIS OWN
RESTAURANT IN 1964 BEFORE HE WOULD ALLOW
AFRICAN-AMERICANS TO ENTER.
THROUGHOUT THE 1950s AND 1960s, THE
SOUTHERN DEMOCRATS IN CONGRESS BANDED
TOGETHER TO BLOCK ATTEMPTS TO PASS FEDERAL
CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION. MANY WERE VERY
POWERFUL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.
THE PEACEFUL “SIT IN”
MOVEMENT BEGAN IN
GREENSBORO, NORTH
CAROLINA WHEN FOUR
YOUNG COLLEGE
STUDENTS DARED TO
SIT AT THE
WOOLWORTH’S
“WHITES ONLY” LUNCH
COUNTER-FEBRUARY 1, 1960.
*THE PEACEFUL PROTEST WAS THE CORNERSTONE OF
KING’S STRUGGLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS.
TODAY THAT
COUNTER IS ON
DISPLAY AT THE
SMITHSONIAN
INSTITUTE.
IN 1960, FIVE YEAR
Please, God, try to forgive those people
Because
even if they say those bad things,
OLD RUBY BRIDGES
They don't know what they're doing.
So You could forgive them,
WAS SELECTED TO
Just like You did those folks a long time ago
When they said terrible things about You.
BE ONE OF THE
-PRAYER OF RUBY BRIDGES (1960)
FIRST TO INTEGRATE
NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC
SCHOOLS. FOR A
YEAR THE
KINDERGARTEN GIRL
FACED ANGRY MOBS
AND ENTERED A
CLASS WHERE SHE
AND HER TEACHER
WERE ALONE BECAUSE
OTHER PARENTS
PULLED THEIR
CHILDREN
OUT OF
THE SCHOOL.
“RUBY BRIDGES” IS THE STORY OF THIS
BRAVE YOUNG GIRL
IN MAY 1961, CIVIL
RIGHTS LEADERS
TURNED THEIR
ATTENTION
TOWARD
INTERSTATE
TRANSPORTATION.
THE “FREEDOM
RIDES” WERE
DEVELOPED IN THE
HOPES THAT AN
INTERRACIAL BUS
TRIP THROUGH THE
SOUTH WOULD LEAD
TO MORE FEDERAL
INTERVENTION AND
THE END OF JIM
CROW LAWS…
…THIS WAS TRUE, BUT
ONLY AFTER THE 13
PEOPLE ON BOARD THE
BUS (7 BLACK, 6 WHITE)
WERE ATTACKED ALONG
THE WAY.
WHEN THEY GOT TO
ALABAMA, TWO BUSES
WERE TAKEN.
ONE BUS HAD
WINDOWS BROKEN AND
ITS TIRES SLASHED.A
FIREBOMB WAS
THROWN THROUGH THE
REAR WINDOW.
THE SECOND BUS WAS MET
BY A MOB IN BIRMINGHAM
THEY PULLED THE RIDERS
FROM THE BUS AND BEGAN
BEATING THEM WITH CLUBS
AND LEAD PIPES.
ONE RIDER NEEDED 50
STITCHES ON HIS HEAD,
ANOTHER WAS LEFT
PARALYZED FOR LIFE.
AMERICANS WATCHING
THE NEWS ON MAY 14, 1961
WERE SHOCKED. THE
FREEDOM RIDES WERE
TEMPORARILY HALTED…
FURTHER ATTEMPTS
ENDED IN ARRESTS…
JAMES MEREDITH WAS THE FIRST TO CHALLENGE THE
“WHITES ONLY” UNIVERSITY SYSTEMS. MEREDITH, A
FORMER AIR FORCE STAFF SERGEANT, WANTED TO ATTEND
THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI.
HIS FIRST ATTEMPT WAS BLOCKED
BY GOV. ROSS BARNETT HIMSELF.
HE WAS ONLY ALLOWED TO
REGISTER ON HIS THIRD TRY
(ESCORTED BY FEDERAL TROOPS).
THE TROOPS STAYED FOR THE YEAR TO ENSURE HIS
PROTECTION. HE GRADUATED IN 1963 WITH A
DEGREE IN POLITICAL SCIENCE.
ON JUNE 13, 1963, MEDGAR
EVERS (FIELD SECRETARY FOR
THE NAACP) WAS SHOT IN HIS
OWN DRIVEWAY. ALTHOUGH
BYRON DE LA BECKWITH OPENLY
BRAGGED ABOUT COMMITTING
THE MURDER, HE WAS
ACQUITTED TWICE. IT WAS
NOT UNTIL 30 YEARS LATER
THAT HE WAS TRIED AND
SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON
(HE WAS 73).
THE STORY OF HOW HIS MURDERER WAS
FINALLY CONVICTED CAN BE SEEN IN “THE
GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI.”
ON AUGUST 28, 1963
MARTIN LUTHER KING
JR. GAVE HIS
FAMOUS “I HAVE A
DREAM” SPEECH AT
THE LINCOLN
MEMORIAL DURING
THE “MARCH ON
WASHINGTON.”
MORE THAN 200,000
PEOPLE ATTENDED…
“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…”
DR. KING BELIEVED IN NOV-VIOLENCE—THAT
PASSIVE RESISTANCE TO UNJUST LAWS COULD
CHANGE THE ATTITUDES OF OPPRESSORS (LIKE
THOREAU AND GANDHI).
KING LED A MARCH IN BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA AND
WAS ARRESTED. HE WROTE “LETTER FROM A
BIRMINGHAM JAIL” EXPLAINING THE REASONS WHY
AFRICAN AMERICANS COULD NO LONG WAIT
PATIENTLY FOR THEIR RIGHTS. HE SAID CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE WAS JUSTIFIED BECAUSE
“EVERYONE HAS A MORAL RESPONSIBILITY TO
DISOBEY UNJUST LAWS.”
ONE PROMININET SUPPORTER OF CIVIL RIGHTS
WAS BILLY GRAHAM, A CHRISTIAN PREACHER AND
SPIRITUAL ADVISER TO SEVERAL U.S. PRESIDENTS .
HE WAS AN OUTSPOKEN OPPONENT OF
SEGREGATION AND EVEN BAILED DR. KING OUT OF
JAIL. THE TWO DID A REVIVAL TOUR IN 1957. HE
WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PREACHERS TO ADDRESS
LARGE CROWEDS BEHIND THE IRON CURTAIN.
18 DAYS AFTER THE MARCH ON
WASHINGTON, A BOMB EXPLODED AT THE
SIXTEENTH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH IN
BIRMINGHAM KILLING FOUR LITTLE GIRLS…
(SEPTEMBER 15, 1963)
DENISE MCNAIR
CYNTHIA WESLEY
“SINS OF THE FATHER” TELLS OF HOW ONE
OF THE MEN RESPONSIBLE WAS FINALLY
BROUGHT TO JUSTICE IN 2002. (WITH THE
TESTIMONY OF FAMILY MEMBERS)
CAROLE ROBERTSON
ADDIE MAE COLLINS
Bobby Frank Cherry went to
jail in 2002 for the bombing.
PRESIDENT KENNEDY WAS
ASSASSINATED ON NOVEMBER 22.
BOMBINGS WERE NOT UNCOMMON.
IN BIRMINGHAM THERE WERE 18 UNSOLVED BOMBINGS
BETWEEN 1957 AND 1963…
MARCHERS WERE MET WITH
ARRESTS, FIREHOSES, AND
POLICE DOGS… (EVEN WHEN
THEY WERE CHILDREN)
A MARCH FROM SELMA-TO-MONTGOMERY
WAS PLANNED FOR MARCH 7, 1964. 600
MARCHERS SET OUT BUT WERE CONFRONTED
BY ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS WITH CLUBS
AND TEAR GAS.
THIS CAME TO BE
KNOWN AS “BLOODY SUNDAY.” IT WAS ALL
CAPTURED ON NATIONAL TELEVISION…
THEY TRIED AGAIN ON MARCH 9
AND WERE STOPPED…
FINALLY ON MARCH 16 A DISTRICT COURT JUDGE RULED THEY
HAD THE LEGAL RIGHT TO MARCH…THE PRESIDENT ORDERED
THE ALABAMA NATIONAL GUARD ALONG WITH REGULAR ARMY
AND FEDERAL MARSHALLS TO PROTECT THE
MARCHERS…(JOHNSON ANNOUNCED HIS INTENTION TO
SUBMIT A VOTING RIGHTS BILL TO CONGRESS)
PROTESTORS, BLACK AND WHITE, MARCHED ON
MARCH 21. BY THE TIME THEY REACHED
MONTGOMERY 4 DAYS LATER, THEY NUMBERED
25,000…
“”SELMA” IS THE RECENT MOVIE
ABOUT THESE EVETNS.
“SELMA LORD SELMA” IS A MOVIE
ABOUT A YOUNG GIRL’S
PARTICIPATION IN THE MARCH
IN THE SUMMER OF 1964, THREE
YOUNG MEN WORKING FOR SNCC
(STUDENT NON-VIOLENT
COORDINATING COMMITTEE)
DISAPPEARED IN MISSISSIPPI…
THEIR BODIES WERE LATER FOUND;
THEY’D BEEN SHOT AND AT LEAST
ONE WAS BURIED ALIVE…
“MISSISSIPPI BURNING” TELLS
THE STORY OF SCHWERNER,
GOODMAN, AND CHANNEY
21 WHITE MEN WERE ARRESTED. 6 EVENTUALLY SERVED
TIME FOR “VIOLATING THE CIVIL RIGHTS” OF THE VICTIMS
WITHIN TWO WEEKS,
PRESIDENT JOHNSON
SIGNED THE CIVIL
RIGHTS ACT OF 1964.
(IT FOCUSED ON
DISCRIMINATION IN
PUBLIC
ACCOMMODATIONS
AND SET UP THE
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT
OPPORTUNITY
COMMISSION).
THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT; HOWEVER, WAS NOT
ENOUGH—IT DID NOT ADDRESS THE RIGHTS OF
VOTING GUARANTEED BY THE FIFTEENTH
AMENDMENT. THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965
ASSURED AFRICAN-AMERICANS OF THE RIGHT TO
VOTE THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THEIRS 100 YEARS
EARLIER WITH THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR.
24th amendment (1964)
NO POLL TAX (VA, AL, MS, TX, AK)
1896—PLESSY V FERGUSON “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”
1920s—HARLEM RENAISSANCE
1936—JESSE OWENS WINS 4 GOLD MEDALS (BERLIN)
1939—MARION ANDERSON SINGS ON LINCOLN
MEMORIAL STEPS
1947—JACKIE ROBINSON BREAKS COLOR BARRIER IN
PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL
1948—EX ORDER 9981 INTEGRATES U.S. MILITARY
1954--BROWN V BOARD SAYS NO SEPARATE BUT EQUAL
SCHOOLS ORDERED TO INTEGRATE
1955—ROSA PARKS REFUSES TO GIVE UP SEAT
1957—LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL INTEGRATED
1960—SIT IN MOVEMENT BEGINS
1963—DR. KING GIVES “I HAVE A DREAM” SPEECH
1964—”BLOODY SUNDAY” MARCH TO SELMA
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964
1965-VOTING RIGHTS ACT
24TH AMENDMENT (NO POLL TAX)