Ch.29
The Civil Rights Movement
1. What were the goals of the Civil Rights Movement?
Goals:
1. end segregation
2. desegregate schools and other public facilities
3. access to jobs and housing
4. reverse “separate but equal”
5. equality in general
2. What were the strategies of the movement participants?
Strategies: Court cases, sit-ins, boycotts, non-violent protest, and marches
Court casesNAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
-an organization headed by Charles Houston founded in 1909
-mission was to end segregation through the courts
Thurgood Marshall- symbolic leader of NAACP
-fought for desegregation in public schools in the courts
-argued 32 cases, winning 29
Brown Vs. Board of Education of Topeka, KS
-perhaps the most significant Supreme Court case argued by Marshall
in fight to end segregation
-ruled “there is no place for separate but equal in public
education”.
-overturned Plessy v. Ferguson which said that “separate but
equal” was Constitutional
-caused the desegregation of schools in 21 states
Not all desegregated willingly
-Little Rock Central H.S.- became battle ground for the
south’s resistance to Brown v. Board of Education
-Little Rock Nine- nine volunteer students who
successfully desegregated Central H.S.
-met opposition from Governor who used
National Guard to stop students from entering
school
-President federalizes Guard to protect students
-after one year Central H.S. is shut down rather
than allowing desegregation
Sit-ins-non-violent protest in which blacks and whites attempt to
desegregate lunch counters by sitting at counters until served
-met with violence, humiliation, vulgarities
Boycotts-the intentional refusal to use or pay for something
-Montgomery Bus Boycott- the attempt by those in Montgomery, AL
to desegregate the bus system
-after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man
and was arrested
-results in the desegregation of Montgomery buses after 381 days
Non-violent protest-strategy developed by Gandhi in India in which participants would
refuse to fight back when confronted with violence
-strategy adopted by Martin Luther King Jr., the SCLC &
SNCC(Southern Christian Leadership Conference & Student
Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) to fight segregation and
inequality in the U.S.
-primarily in the South
-Freedom Riders- white and black northerners who bussed to the
South to show support for movement and encourage voter
registration during Freedom Summer 1964
-met with violence
-bus burnings, slashed tires, beating of participants
Marches-protest marches to bring attention to injustices
-Selma to Montgomery & Washington D.C.
- the powerful “I have a dream” speech delivered at
culmination of D.C. march
-King spoke about his dreams for his children and the
people he represented as civil rights leader
-Assassinated on April 3, 1968
-KKK and white southerners who were against desegregation,
supported by the State Police and local Sheriff Departments
turned back marchers, beat participants, and even killed many
-President provides military support so marches may go on
3. What is the legacy of the civil rights movement?
Legislation- Acts of Congress which shaped the future of minorities in the
United States.
Civil Rights Act of 1964- replaced ineffective Civil rights Act of 1875 and
1957
-effectively ends discrimination based on race, religion, national
origin, and gender
- public facilities and other public accommodations
Voting Rights Act of 1965- eliminated the so-called literacy test and other
disqualifying factors that kept blacks from voting in the South
-some argued the law did not go far enough
-67% of eligible voters registered
-results in great changes in the make up of southern state legislatures
-new laws that would be passed reflect these changes
-results in substantial political gains
-some Civil Rights leaders become political leaders
Civil Rights Act of 1968- ends discrimination in housing
Kerner Commission 1968- Commission appointed by President Johnson
Findings of Commission- white racism is the cause of urban violence
- nation is moving toward two societies- one
white and one black
- these societies are separate but unequal
Commission recommendations- create jobs
- construct new housing
- end de facto segregation
- wipe out destructive ghetto environment
Other changes that leave lasting legacy
-“color bar” in entertainment lowered
-blacks appear more frequently in mass media
- African American Studies in colleges take root
- Non-violence takes back seat at times
-Black Panthers- radical, more militant group that grows out
of police brutality in the ghetto (Oakland, CA)
-Malcolm X- urged African Americans to take control of their
communities, livelihoods, and culture
-“if you think we are here to tell you to love the white
man, you have come to the wrong place”