Chapter 28
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
WHAT PAVED THE WAY?
1947 Jackie Robinson becomes the first
African American to play in Major League
Baseball
 What team?
 This paved the way for others to follow in his
footsteps

“ALL ARE CREATED EQUAL” OR ARE THEY?
After WW II US citizens started to recognize that
there needed to be a push for civil rights
 Things that led to this:

 African
American Migration- after Civil War to the
North= prominent jobs, influence
 The New Deal- enough said
 WW II- African Americans started to work and
therefore voted and more than that the Holocaust
opened our eyes
CONTINUED……
 Rise
of NAACP- National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, worked hard to
challenge segregation laws
 Specifically
Plessy vs. Ferguson, which stated that it was
lawful to have separate but equal public facilities
 Thurgood Marshall led the NAACP and lawyer Oliver Hill
were able to get $50 million in higher pay and better
education
THE GREATEST FIGHT OF ALL!
Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka,
Kansas historic Supreme Court case
 Result: Unanimous decision that “separate but
equal” was unconstitutional and could not be
applied to education and a movement to
desegregate began

DO ALL FOLLOW SUIT?
Mixed reaction
 African Americans rejoiced, white Americans
even if they did not agree accepted the ruling
 President Eisenhower who privately disagreed,
“The Supreme Court has spoken and I am
sworn to uphold the constitutional process in
this country, and I am trying.” “I will obey.”

I WILL NOT ACCEPT EQUALITY!!!!!!!
Not everyone did obey!
 Southern whites, especially in the deep south
reacted with resistance
 Georgia governor, Talmadge made it clear that
he would not tolerate the mixing of races in
public schools
 KKK becomes more active threatening those
that accepted the court ruling
 Was this the first time for the KKK?

SOUTHERN MANIFESTO
90 Congressmen came together to express
their opposition for the court
 Southern Manifesto stated that the Supreme
Court overstepped their boundaries
 Violated states rights
 Refused to desegregate because of chaos and
violence

END RESULT…… VIOLENCE AND RESISTANCE
Rosa Parks sat in the colored section of the
bus in Alabama
 What’s the problem?
 African Americans were “expected” to give up
their seats if whites did not have one
 She refused to get up and at the next stop was
arrested!
THE BOYCOTT
The plan called for all African Americans to
boycott public transportation until the bus
company changed their policy
 Martin Luther King, Baptist minister only 26,
became the spokesperson for the movement

 “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.”
“I HAVE A DREAM”
WAS THE BOYCOTT SUCCESSFUL?
First day rush hour the streets were packed
with people walking to and from work!
 Some walked as much as 12 miles
 “Determination of individuals willing to suffer
and sacrifice fro their freedom and dignity”
 Over the next year 50,000 African Americans
boycotted the bus and yet

HOPE AT LAST
Supreme Court in 1956 ruled that segregation
on bus, like school segregation was
unconstitutional
 Gave hope to African Americans and other
minorities

ISSUE IN LITTLE ROCK
Governor Faubus of Arkansas said he could not
keep order if he allowed integration(1957)
 Defied the Supreme Court ruling and sent the
National Guard at Central High School in Little
Rock
 Angry mobs of people also grouped and
prevented the entry of blacks

REMEMBRANCE OF THE DAY

15 year old Elizabeth Eckford remembered the
day:
“The Arkansas National Guard glared at me with a
mean look and I was very frightened and I don’t know
what to do. I turned around and the crowd came
toward me yelling. They moved closer and closer.
Somebody started yelling, “Lynch her! Lynch her!” I
tried to see a friendly face in the mob-someone who
maybe would help. I looked into the face of an old
women and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked
at her again, she spat at me.”
WHAT HAPPENED?
Even though Eisenhower didn’t agree with Civil
Rights he put the National Guard under his
order to protect the nine black students at the
school
 Paved the way for other minorities such as
Latin Americans, Mexican Americans and
Native Americans

Section 2
LEADERS AND STRATEGIES
GRASS ROOTS BEGIN
The Civil Rights movement began with ordinary
citizens in the 50’s and 60’s
 Paved the way for new organizations:

 1.
NAACP, W.E.B. Du Bois was the founder, and first
African American received a doctoral
 2. National Urban League, dealt with helping
people who moved from the South to have fair
treatment, housing and jobs
CONTINUED
 3.
CORE, Congress of Racial Equality, wanted
change but peacefully and without violence
 4. SCLC, Southern Christian Leadership Conference
advocated for nonviolent protests
CIVIL RIGHTS MOVES FORWARD
Martin Luther followed the ideas of Gandhi,
which pushed for passivism, the idea that the
oppressed should never fight back with force
 SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee (snick), shifted church leaders to
young activists, sought for immediate change

 Robert
Moses was the most influential leader of the
SNCC, he was humble, quiet and ordinary, very
unlike Martin Luther King
Section 3
THE STRUGGLE INTENSIFIES, IT DOESN’T GET
ANY EASIER!!!!!
LET’S HAVE A BREAK ALREADY!!
Implemented sit-ins, many organizations like
CORE went to segregated places and just sat
down (Jack Spratt Coffee House)
 Many were beaten or arrested (cigarettes down
shirt)
 Arrest was considered a badge of honor by
Martin Luther

LET FREEDOM………….. RIDE?????
Freedom Rides- wanted to test whether the
south would obey the Supreme Court ruling
 First one left Washington and started to the
South
 Only a few encounters at first but when they got
to Alabama they slashed their tires. Followed
them and threw a fire bomb into the bus


http://www.crmvet.org/images/imgcoll.htm
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE????
People were astonished by how sane and
relatively sensible people were reacting to
where people sat on the bus
 The first freedom ride died out in Mississippi
 Kennedy steps into office with all this

DEFECATION HITS THE ROTATING OSCILLATOR
James Meredith wants to go to “Ole Miss” an
all white college
 He is rejected and he goes to the Supreme
Court and they uphold his claim
 Governor said he could not enroll even thought
the Supreme Court said yes
 He physically stands in front of the admissions
building

KENNEDY ACTS RELUCTANTLY
Kennedy send in federal marshals to escort
him into the school
 Violence erupted, people destroyed cars etc.
 Tear gas was used and people died
 Meredith reports it wasn’t all bad, “I was here
for education, not for trouble”

TROUBLE IN BIRMINGHAM
Reverend Shuttlesworth asked Martin Luther to
come and help desegregate
 Martin Luther King was arrested for “parading”
without a permit
 Young people joined the march
 They were stopped with fire hoses that could
wash the bark off a tree and their legs were
attacked by dogs, when they fell they were
beaten by police

ULTIMATE SUCCESS
Photographers videotaped and allowed the
nation to watch the violence
 Ultimately they will win Birmingham and
desegregate the state
 http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web14/s
egment6.html

Section 4
THE POLITICAL RESPONSE
KENNEDY MAKES THE RIGHT MOVE!

Months before the election Kennedy gets
bonus points and gains respect
 Martin
Luther King had been jailed in Georgia and
forced in a hard labor camp
 Family feared for his life
 Kennedy pulled some strings and got him out
 Many African Americans will switch their vote from
Nixon to Kennedy
 Crucial in Kennedy’s slim margin victory!
DUH…I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING
ABOUT!!!
When Kennedy gets in office he tries to stand a
middle ground
 He appoints African Americans to positions
(Thurgood Marshal) but also segregationists
 Tried to keep people (democratic southern
senators) from getting angry

AGAIN THE DEFECATION HITS THE ROTATING
OSCILLATOR!
While speaking with Nikita Khrushchev he
realizes that around the world people are
watching the brutality in the south!!
 His speech:

 “We
preach freedom around the world, and we
mean it, and we cherish our freedom, here at
home, but are we to say to the world, and much
more importantly, to each other that this is the land
of the free except for Negroes?.... The time has
come for this nation to fulfill its promise!”
KENNEDY’S SUPPORT CAUSES VIOLENCE
Hours later Medgar Evers from the NAACP was
gunned down in front of his home
 His gunman was set free
 Kennedy will try to pass a much stronger bill for
desegregation, public education, federal
funding etc.
 Southern congressmen will try to keep it off the
floor

THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON
200,000 people will come from all over to call
for “jobs and freedom” led by A. Philip
Randolph
 Celebrities like, Jackie Robinson, Bon Dylan,
Sammy Davis Junior, James Baldwin will give
their support
 http://blip.tv/file/4545/

THE MARCH CONTINUED
The march was peaceful and this is where
Martin Luther will give his famous speech
 Even with this impressive speech the bill still
remained stalled
 http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/marchonw
ashington/ig/March-on-WashingtonPhotos/Aerial-View-of-Crowd.htm

THE DEATH OF KENNEDY
Three months after the march Kennedy was
assassinated and his civil rights bill was not
much closer to passage
 Lyndon Johnson will become the new president
and pass the bill along
 As a Congressman he voted against Civil Rights
but as president was dedicated to uphold the
wishes of Kennedy

THE PUSH WE NEEDED
Johnson fulfilled the promise to push for civil
rights and aggressively
 Opponents of the bill started a filibuster, a
debate that goes on day and night to prevent
votes and an ultimate decision
 Utilized cloture, a three fifths vote to limit
debate and get a vote

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964
Impacted many areas such as jobs, school, and
voting
 Gave the government the power to act more
vigorously

PARTS OF THE LAW
Title I banned the use of different voter
registration standards
 Title II prohibited discrimination in ALL public
accommodations
 Title VI withheld public funding from
organizations that practiced discrimination
 Title VII banned discrimination based on sex,
race, religion, or national origin by employers

 Created
the EEOC, Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission to investigate
CHANGE COMES SLOW
Even with the new law change came slow for
African Americans
 Freedom Summer- a drive was started in
Mississippi for voter registration in 1964

 KKK
held rallies to intimidate
 Three civil rights workers were found dead in a dam
three miles from their burned station wagon
 80 mob attacks, gun and knife fights, even
volunteers were attacked
DEMANDING REPRESENTATION
MFDP, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party,
included registered voters and SNCC
 Wanted to represent their people
 Johnson compromised: 2 seats to MFDP out of
the 68 seats of Mississippi and the rules of the
convention would be changed in 1968
 MFDP refused the offer

SELMA MARCH
Police arrested people just in line to vote
 Martin and others organized a march from
Selma to the capital, Montgomery, 50 miles
away
 State troopers on horse back came through the
crowd with whips, clubs and tear gas
 Americans were shocked
 Johnson sent in the National Guard to protect
the route

VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965
After the Selma March Johnson addressed the
public
 “And……..we……..shall…..overcome….!
 Despite a filibuster the voting rights was
passed which barred literacy tests to vote
 Voting swelled to 400,000 in the deep south
 24th Amendment eliminated the poll tax,
utilized to stop poor African Americans from
voting

Section 5
THE MOVEMENT TAKES A NEW TURN
THE INFLUENTIAL JAMES BALDWIN
His essays and novels spoke vividly about the
African American experience
 Wrote about the damaging effects of
segregation
 Pointed out that they were tired of empty
promises and that violence would erupt

SLOW PACE, NEED CHANGE NOW
Many were angered about the slow pace of
change
 This anger led to a divide in civil rights
 From those that did it peacefully to those that
did it violently
 The most well known radical and militant
leader was Malcolm Little, his slave name, also
Malcolm X

THE NATION OF MALCOLM
Turned to crime at an early age
 Joined the Nation of Islam, or Black Muslims,
believed white society was oppressive and
preached black separation and self-help
 Elijah Muhammad led the Nation of Islam and
taught about Allah and a “Black Nation”
 Malcolm spread the idea of black nationalism,
separate identity and racial unity

NO PASSIN HERE!!!
Malcolm disagreed with integration!!
 Called the March on Washington a Farce on
Washington
 “All of this non-violent, begging the white man
kind of dying, all of this sitting in, sliding in,
wading in, eating in, diving in, and all the rest.”
 No brotherly love

Quote from page 955
 Malcolm will have a change of heart when he
went on a pilgrimage to Mecca
 He changed his view of separatism and came
back ready to work with other civil rights
leaders

PEOPLE WERE NOT HAVING IT
Many people felt betrayed by Malcolm’s new
sense of civil rights
 He only had nine months to spread his new
ideas and was then assassinated at a New York
Rally
 Three members from the Nation of Islam were
charged

THE CHALLENGE IS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG
SNCC becomes more radical with Carmichael in
leadership
 He called on SNCC to carry weapons and
defend
 Rejected white activists
 It was obvious at a rally with Martin who was
chanting “We Shall Overcome,” SNCC chanted
“We Shall Overrun”

WE WANT BLACK POWER
Carmichael addressed the crowd and pointed
out the only way to win was to take over
 Black power was being chanted, it was a call to
unity, to recognize their heritage, to define their
goals
 The Black Panthers arose in 1966, a militant
group who demanded the rebuilding of ghettos
and to segregate themselves

PANTHERS CRY OUT
They were always in direct contact with the
police etc.
 Violent encounters
 “power flows from the barrel of a gun” Mao
Zedong

LETS ADDRESS THE FACTS
Earlier movement addressed the laws but now
they addressed the social conditions
 De facto segregation, the separation caused by
social conditions such as poverty
 Although there were no whites only signs in the
North, there was still discrimination
 African Americans still had low-paying jobs,
poor housing and education

LEADS TO RIOTS
African Americans were fed up with the unequal
treatment
 Riots occurred throughout the US, in NY, NJ and
LA
 The worst was in LA where people burned cars,
looted, and the National guard had to take over
 34 people dead

A DECADE OF ASSASSINATIONS
The death still of Kennedy was fresh in
peoples’ minds
 Martin focuses his attention to economic
improvement
 On a balcony in Tennessee, he is assassinated
 In an outburst of rage people rioted in over 120
cities
 50 dead and more than 50,000 to stop the
riots

THE OTHER KENNEDY
Robert F. Kennedy was the brother and Attorney
General
 Civil Rights crusader
 Runs for presidency because Johnson
announces he won’t run
 Condemned the Vietnam war
 He is assassinated
 Ends people’s hopes
