“A Time For Justice” Outline
Murder of Emmett Till
• Emmett Till a 14 year old African American boy
from Chicago was visiting relatives in Mississippi in
the summer of 1955
• Till made a comment to the local grocery store
owners wife then whistled at her
• Till was later kidnapped and murdered by the
woman’s husband and his brother
Murder of Emmett Till (Continued)
• The two men were tried in front of an all white jury,
and despite confessing to the beating were only
charged with kidnapping and never with murder
Murder of Emmett Till (Continued)
What impact did this have on the Civil Rights
Movement?
• The trial drew national media and was broadcast
into homes across the US
• Till’s mother requested an open casket so that the
entire country could see what was done to her son
• Media involvement helped to spread word of the
cause
– Aimed at gaining the attention of those who didn’t care,
or didn’t understand
Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Began in December on 1955 when Rosa Park
refused to give up her seat to a white man on
the bus and the bus driver had her arrested
• As a form of protest the African Americans in
Montgomery, Alabama banded together and
refused to use public transportation until
segregation of the busses ended
Montgomery Bus Boycott (continued)
• What impact did this have on the Civil Rights
Movement?
• Many African Americans used public transportation
because cars were fairly pricey
• When they stopped using public transportation the
bus company lost a lot of money, and they had no
choice but to integrate
• It brought economic hardship to White Businesses
in the South
Montgomery Bus Boycott (continued)
• Rosa Parks was a kind church going person and was
a model citizen, so when she was jailed it attracted
major media attention
• As in the Till case it brought media attention to the
cause!
• First time Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. becomes
involved on a major level in the Movement.
The Integration of Little Rock Central
High School, Little Rock, Arkansas
• Little Rock Central High School was forced by
federal law to integrate in September 1957
• 9 African American Students were to begin
attending the high school that year, they are
referred to in history as “The Little Rock 9”
• The students were having a difficult time getting to
school because of protests by white folks who did
not want the school to integrate
The Integration of Little Rock Central
High School, Little Rock, Arkansas
(Continued)
• President Eisenhower called in federal troops
to make sure the 9 students got to school
safely
- each student was assigned a soldier
• Ernest Green the oldest of the 9 graduated in
June 1958, first African American to graduate
from the school
The Integration of Little Rock Central
High School, Little Rock, Arkansas
(continued)
What impact did this have on the Civil Rights
movement?
• When President Eisenhower called in federal troops
the federal government was now becoming more
involved in the integration movement
• Heavily covered media event showed the strength
of young people to the nation and inspired youth
across the nation.
Lunch Counter Sit-ins
• February 1960 Greensboro, North Carolina
• 4 black college students sat down at a Woolworth
Department Store lunch counter that was “Whites
Only” and refused to move until they were served.
• They stayed there all day until the store closed, and
then returned in the morning with more protestors
• They continued this process for 3 days until the
store was forced to close because of the angry
mobs that were surrounding the protesters
Lunch Counter Sit-ins (Continued)
• People began to protest outside of Woolworth
Department Stores in the north out of support for
the students in the south.
• By July 1960 the Woolworth lunch counter was
forced to integrate by economic reasons
Lunch Counter Sit-ins (Continued)
What effect did this have on the Civil Rights Movement?
• The Greensboro sit-in inspired sit-ins at lunch counters
and other segregated buildings across the country
• Media reported on the sit-ins and the violence
surrounding them
• The businesses that were targeted were hurt financially
by the sit ins
• Young people were at the heart of this particular
protest and they were willing to take beatings and to go
to prison for what they believed in because they had
nothing to lose
Freedom Riders
• May 1961
• In protest of the continued segregation after the
integration of interstate travel in 1946 of interstate
bus travel CORE organized a group of mixed race
protestors to ride buses from Washington DC to
New Orleans
• The group experienced some threats in Virginia and
South Carolina but no physical violence
Freedom Riders (Continued)
• In Anniston, Alabama an angry mob
attacked the bus and slashed the tires,
then followed the bus until it had to stop
for repairs then firebombed it
• In Birmingham, Alabama the bus was
attacked by the KKK and was given time
by law enforcement to beat the Riders
Freedom Riders (Continued)
• In Montgomery, Alabama the Riders
were again attacked, this is where they
saw some of the most violent beatings
–The mob was so bad that they took
the cameras away from the news
reporters and began beating the
members of the media with their
own equipment
Freedom Riders (Continued)
• After the beatings in Montgomery,
Alabama the federal government
ordered protection from the National
Guard for the Freedom Riders
• In Jackson, Mississippi the Riders were
jailed for starting a riot
Freedom Riders (Continued)
What impact did this have on the Civil Rights
Movement?
• The federal government once again was forced to
step in and help because it involved federal law
• The media spread the news of the Freedom Riders
across the nation, inspiring more Rides to begin
that summer
- they used their bodies as “living witnesses”
Freedom Riders (Continued)
• Other protests started through out the south
they became more and more violent
Birmingham, Alabama
• 1963
• Protests in Alabama turn violent at the hands
of Police
- attack dogs, fire hoses, beatings were all
used to break up Civil Rights
Demonstrations
• The children of Birmingham stage a march
that draws national attention when they take
impact of the police brutality
Birmingham, Alabama (Continued)
Impact on the Civil Rights Movement?
• The movement becomes impossible
to ignore!!!
• The law enforcement in the south is
exposed for their brutal tactics in the
media.
Birmingham, Alabama
• Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and thrown
in jail Birmingham Jail
-To gain attention for the movement he
wrote a letter and released it to the media
explaining why
he took the actions he took
even though it was a
religious time of year
Impact on the Civil Rights Movement?
• A minister willing to go to jail on Good Friday,
and the speech becomes one on the most
famous of King’s speeches
16th Street Baptist Bombing
• September 15,1963
• The KKK bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in
Birmingham, Alabama
• 4 Young girls were killed in the explosion while
getting ready for church service
16th Street Baptist Bombing
(continued)
• Man who placed the bomb originally was found not
guilty of the murder, but in 1977 was found guilty of
murder and was sent to prison where he died
• The other men who helped to plan the bombing
were arrested in 2002 and were sentenced to life in
prison
16th Street Baptist Bombing
(continued)
Effect on the Civil Rights Movement:
• Declared a national tragedy
• Soon followed by the assassination of
President Kennedy, the nation began to look
for a way to heal and make the situation
better
Sarah Collins Rudolph was with her sister Addie Mae Collins when a
bomb exploded in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala.
The 1963 bombing killed her sister and three other girls, and Collins
Rudolph was seriously injured in the attack.
Freedom Summer 1964
• Thousands of civil rights activists from the began a
drive to get African Americans in the south to vote
• Many of these activists were white college students
from the north
• Mississippi was a targeted state
• This was important because in order to get Civil
Rights Laws passed, the black vote needed to be
heard
Philadelphia, Mississippi
• During the voter registration drive three Civil
Rights Activists working on a voter registration
drive were killed by KKK members after being
arrested for a minor traffic offense
Freedom Summer 1964 (Continued)
• Civil Rights Act 1964 – ended all segregation in in
the United States including in voter registration and
employment
• MAJOR VICTORY!!!!!
Bloody Sunday
• February 1965
• Civil Rights Activist Jimmy Lee Jackson was
shot and killed by the Alabama State Police
• Jackson was unarmed and left to die
Bloody Sunday (Continued)
• March 7, 1965
• A march to protest the brutality of the police was
planned from Selma, Alabama to the capital in
Montgomery
• During this march the protestors were beaten by
the state police
Bloody Sunday (Continued)
• The protestors never made it to the capital
• All was caught on video and brought to the
attention of President Johnson
• The march was held again on March 21 under
federal protection and they were successful this
time
Bloody Sunday (Continued)
What effect did this have on Civil Rights?
• It showed the federal government once and for
all the brutality that was occurring at the state
level
In August 1965 the Federal Voting Rights Act of
1965 was passed and it allowed the Federal
Government the right to oversee all ELECTIONS