THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
There were two phases to the Civil Rights movement: one
phase between 1945-1965 and the other after 1965.
I. Why Did the Civil Rights Movement
Take Off After 1945?
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Black equality became a significant political issue for
the Democratic Party
WWII had been fought against racism abroad—hard
to keep harboring it at home
Black veterans came home dedicated to change
Increasing number of White Americans condemned
segregation
Discrimination in the United States hurt our
propaganda battle against the Communists
II. The Truman Years
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Truman’s 1948 election
year agenda
No significant Civil Rights
congressional legislation
Truman moves on his own
to do what he can for Civil
Rights
--Desegregation of the
military (1948)
Jackie Robinson’s
breakthrough (1947)
II. The Truman Years (cont.)
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Split at the 1948
Democratic convention
Energized Truman hits the
campaign trail hard
Republican Dewey runs a
boring, conservative
campaign
Truman’s stunning election
Truman’s “Fair Deal”
(1949)
III. The Battle in the Courts
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Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
-- “separate but equal”
facilities = legal
Smith v. Allwright (1944)
First attack = “separate is
not equal”
Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka,
Kansas (1954)
-- Chief Justice Earl
Warren
III. Battle in the Courts (cont.)
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Eisenhower disapproves of
Brown decision
Desegregation “with all
deliberate speed”
Other Warren Court Civil
Rights decisions
Popular opposition to the
Brown decision
No real progress on
desegregation at first
IV. The Eisenhower Years
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Eisenhower’s philosophy
related to Civil Rights laws
First Civil Rights Acts
passed since the Civil War
(1957 and 1960)
Opposition to the
integration of Little Rock
Central High School
(1957)
--Governor Orville Faubus
V. Out of the Schools and Into the
Buses
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The arrest of Rosa Parks
(December, 1955)
The Montgomery, Ala. Bus
Boycott
The leadership of Martin
Luther King, Jr.
The “Montgomery” model
for Civil Rights activism:
boycott, publicity, courts
SCLC formed (1957)
VI. A Mass Movement Takes Shape
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Lunch counter “sit-ins”
begin: Greensboro, NC
(February, 1960)
SNCC created (April,
1960)
CORE “Freedom Ride”
(May, 1961)
VI. A Mass Movement Takes Shape
(cont.)
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Demonstrations in
Birmingham, Alabama
(April, 1963)
--Eugene “Bull” Connor
“Letter from Birmingham
City Jail”
Governor George
Wallace tries to block
integration of the
University of Alabama
(Fall, 1963)
VI. A Mass Movement Takes Shape
(cont.)
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JFK finally begins to
campaign for Civil Rights
legislation
Continued violence even in
the face of some progress
Martin Luther King, Jr. and
the March on Washington
(August, 1963)
-- “I Have a Dream”
VI. A Mass Movement Takes Shape
(cont.)
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Mississippi Freedom
Summer Project (1964)
MFDP Protests at the 1964
Democratic convention
Voter registration in Selma,
Alabama (1965)
--Sheriff Jim Clark
By the mid-1960’s,
substantial success in the
South had been achieved
VII. The Kennedy and Johnson Years
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JFK’s initial reluctance to
push for Civil Rights laws
The integration of Ole’
Miss (1962)
--James Meredith
JFK finally decides to push
past better enforcement to
new congressional Civil
Rights legislation
VII. The Johnson Years (cont.)
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The role of Kennedy’s
assassination in the Civil
Rights movement
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Anti-poll tax Amendment
(24th—1964)
Voting Rights Act (1965)
Impact of the Voting Rights
Act
VII. The Johnson Years (cont.)
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The tone of public political
discourse changed after
1965
Johnson appoints first
Black cabinet secretary:
Robert Weaver of HUD
(1966)
Much more needed to be
done for Civil Rights
outside of the South, so 2nd
phase began
VIII. The Era of Disillusionment: 1965
On
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Early to mid-1960’s
were a hopeful time
for Civil Rights
advocates
Goal of Assimilation
A “Spoiled Utopia”
after 1965—things
would not be that
simple
A. New Problems
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Residential Discrimination
-- “Red Lining”
The Challenges of School
integration in the North
The historical, traditional
segregation of northern
cities
The resurrection of the KKK
once again
More effective White
opponents in the North
B. Race Riots
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Watts Riots in Los Angeles
(Summer, 1965)
Riots each summer from
1965-1969
--Chicago and Cleveland
(1966)
--Newark and Detroit
(1967)
--Washington, D.C. (1968)
B. Race Riots (cont.)
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Riots as an expression of
grievance against the
White American consumer
society
Riots shocked the White
American public
Frustration and selfdestruction expressed in
these riots
Unlike earlier race riots,
these riots were not started
by White mobs
C. “Black Power”
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Growing tension
between SNCC and
Martin Luther King, Jr.
--Stokely Carmichael
“Black Power”
Carmichael succeeded
by H. Rap Brown as
head of SNCC (1967)
C. “Black Power” (cont.)
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The formation of the
Black Panther Party in
Oakland, CA (1966)
--Huey Newton
--Eldridge Cleaver
Resurrection of the
philosophy of Marcus
Garvey
C. “Black Power” (cont.)
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The leadership of Malcolm
X
--Black Muslims
--Assassinated in 1965
Cultural expressions of
“Black Power”:
--Afro Hairstyles
--Black-studies programs
-- “Negro” no longer used
--1968 Olympics
D. Decline of the Civil Rights
Movement
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Economic contraction works
against Civil Rights
concessions
Northern phase not as
successful
Resistance from White
Unions
Vietnam replaces Civil
Rights as the liberal
crusade
Martin Luther King, Jr. loses
influence with LBJ