THE CIVIL
RIGHTS
MOVEMENT
CHAPTER 16
U.S. HISTORY & GEOGRAPHY
ORIGINS OF THE MOVEMENT

They are fighting the decision by the U.S.
Supreme Court – Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 –
that declared that segregation was
constitutional & established the “separate but
equal” doctrine. This allowed for the Jim Crow
laws to be passed throughout states. These
laws forbade things like marriage between
blacks & whites, restrictions on social &
religious contact, separate schools, streetcars,
buses, waiting rooms, railroad coaches,
witness stands, public restrooms, etc.
ORIGINS OF THE MOVEMENT


Events of WWII: demand for workers filled in
part by African Americans, serving in the
Armed Forces honorably during the war, civil
rights organizations were actively
campaigning against Jim Crow laws &
obtaining voting rights.
African Americans were not just fighting de
jure segregation – segregation by law- but
also fighting de facto segregation –
segregation by custom and tradition – in
many areas which is much more difficult.
COURT CHALLENGES BEGIN
 NAACP
had some victories throughout
their fights in court over segregation
 Norris
v. Alabama 1935 – concluded that
exclusion of African Americans from juries
violated their rights to equal protection under
the law
 Morgan v. Virginia 1946 – declared
unconstitutional state laws mandating
segregated seating on interstate buses
NEW POLITICAL POWER
 African
Americans would use their right
to vote to assist them in increasing their
political power especially in the North
where politicians would listen to their
concerns so as to obtain their votes.
 Benefits form New Deal programs that
aided African Americans caused
African Americans to begin supporting
the Democratic Party
PUSH FOR DESEGREGATION



Congress of Racial Equality (CORE),
founded by James Farmer & George
Houser began using sit-ins in 1942 to start
the process to desegregate restaurants that
refused to serve African Americans.
The sit-in strategy surfaced from strikes in
industry that were used to get workers what
they were asking for.
Successes were found mostly in many
northern cities (Chicago, Detroit, Denver, &
Syracuse)
BROWN V. BOARD OF
EDUCATION, TOPEKA, KS
Thurgood Marshall would lead the NAACP in
several Supreme Court cases as the NAAVP’s
chief counsel focusing his efforts on ending
segregation in public schools.
 Brown v. Board of Education, May 17, 1954:
Linda Brown was denied admission to her
neighborhood school because of her race in
Topeka, KS. U.S. Supreme Court combined
several cases dealing with the same issue and
ruled that “separate but equal” had no place in
public schools as the educational facilities were
inherently unequal.
 This decision applied only to public schools but it
would threaten the entire system of segregation
SEE PG. 381


SOUTHERN RESISTANCE



Resistance to the Supreme Court’s decision would
begin throughout the South and an effort to defy
the decision would be encouraged by citizens
and politicians
States would adopt pupil assignment laws which
created other requirements for admission into
schools other than race as an effort to keep
African Americans from attending “white” schools
In 1955, Supreme Court ordered school districts to
desegregate “with all deliberate speed”. Wording
is so vague that many districts would be able to
keep their schools desegregate for many years.
SOUTHERN RESISTANCE
 “Southern
Manifesto” was signed by 101
Southern members of Congress
denouncing the Supreme Court’s ruling
as an abuse of judicial power and
would use all lawful means to reverse
decision
 It isn’t until 1969 that the U.S. Supreme
Court orders all school systems to
desegregate at once and operate
integrated schools
MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT



December 1, 1955: Rosa Parks was arrested in
Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up
her seat to a white man that was against the
law.
NAACP would use Parks’ arrest as challenge to
segregation & it would spark a new era in the
Civil Rights movement.
Montgomery Improvement Association will run
the boycott and negotiate with city leaders.
Martin Luther King, Jr. would be elected to take
the lead. Martin encouraged the people to
continue the protest but it had to be through
non-violent passive resistance
MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT
 Boycott
will continue for over a year.
 In November 1956, U.S. Supreme Court
ruled that Alabama’s laws requiring
segregation on buses unconstitutional
 Many cities in South, successful resisted
the ruling for years
AFRICAN AMERICAN CHURCHES



African American churches served as staging
areas for protests, planning meetings, and
mobilizing volunteers.
Many African American ministers, other than
Martin Luther King, Jr., would take the lead in
organizing the non-violent protests, like the bus
boycott.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
(SCLS), 1957: formed by Dr. King, Reverend
Shuttlesworth and other African American
ministers and civil rights activists to eliminate
segregation and encourage African Americans
to register to vote. They challenged segregation
in the areas of voting, public transportation,
housing, and other areas.
EISENHOWER RESPONDS


Eisenhower felt that sympathy towards the
movement but feared the effects a court
ruling overturning segregation could have.
He believed that segregation & racism
would end gradually and did not want to
divide the nation.
Eventually, Eisenhower knew that he had to
uphold the authority of the federal
government and will be the first president
since Reconstruction to send troops into the
South to protect rights of African Americans
CRISIS IN LITTLE ROCK

September 1957: Court order issued requiring
Central High to admit nine African American
students. Governor Orval Faubus was
campaigning for his reelection as a defender
of white supremacy and ordered Arkansas
National Guard to prevent the nine student s
from entering the school. An angry mob had
gathered to intimidate the students. Faubus’
use of the National Guard to oppose the
federal government was the first since the
Civil War.
Little Rock High School
Photograph courtesy of Little Rock Central
High School Museum and Visitor's Center
One of the "Little Rock Nine"
braves a jeering crowd
Photograph by and courtesy
of Will Counts
President Eisenhower and
Arkansas Governor
Faubus at their meeting in
Newport, Rhode Island,
September 14, 1957
A Negro newsman is attacked by mob
Photo by Ira Wilmer - courtesy of
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
U.S. Army troops from the 101st Airborne Division disperse a crowd in front of Little Rock's Central High School.
CREDIT: "Three men are driven from Central High School area in Little Rock at bayonet point today by 101st
Airborne Division troops." 1957. New York World-Telegram and the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection.
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
CRISIS IN LITTLE ROCK


Eisenhower attempted phone conferences to
resolve the situation which did not work. District
court ordered the governor to remove the
troops and Faubus left the school to the mob.
The nine African American students entered the
school and the mob turned violent.
Eisenhower would act and send the U.S. Army to
Little Rock and federalized the Arkansas
National Guard. The army encircled the school
and provided protection for the students.
Federal authority had been upheld but the
army had to stay there the rest of the year.
NEW CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION




Civil Rights Act of 1957 was intended to protect the right
of African Americans to vote.
Senate majority leader Democrat Lyndon Johnson put
together a compromise of the bill that would allow it to
pass Congress.
Final Form: weaker than originally intended; brought the
power of federal government into civil rights debate;
Civil Rights Division created within the Department of
Justice that is given the authority to obtain court
injunctions against anyone interfering with the right to
vote; United States Commission on Civil Rights is created
to investigate denial of voting rights.
SCLC would begin a campaign to register new African
American voters.
SIT-IN MOVEMENT
 February
1, 1960, Greensboro, North
Carolina: Four African Americans entered
the Woolworth’s store, purchased school
supplied and then sat at the white’s only
lunch counter and ordered coffee. They
were refused service and sat there until
the store closed, promising to be back
until they were served. News of the sit-in
spread quickly and the number of
participants grew dramatically.
The "Greensboro Four" waiting to be served at Woolworth's
Photograph by John G. Mobius, reprinted with permission of the News &
Record, Greensboro, NC.
SIT-IN MOVEMENT


Sit-in’s conducted by young college students
would then begin to occur across the country in
different cities. NAACP and the SCLC were
concerned about the sit-ins as many were
beaten, burned, punched, etc.
Ella Baker, former NAACP and SCLC executive
director, will establish the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960 that
would assist in the sit-ins and assist in registering
African Americans in obtaining their voting
rights. This group consisted of young African
Americans and young whites.
FREEDOM RIDERS



Laws outlawing segregation on interstate bus service
were largely ignored in the South where bus terminals
were still segregated. Alabama was still segregated and
the governor, John Patterson, was determined to keep it
that way.
Freedom Riders - May 1961: Team of African Americans
and white volunteers boarded buses and headed south
on interstate buses where they were met by angry white
mobs in Anniston, Birmingham, and Montgomery,
Alabama. Anniston’s bus had a firebomb thrown at it. In
the other stops the riders would be beaten.
The violence made national news drawing the federal
government back into the issue of segregation in the
South
KENNEDY & CIVIL RIGHTS


JFK ran for office on the premise that he would
support civil rights. JFK also knew that he needed
Southern senators vote to get other programs
passed in Congress and new civil rights legislation
would hinder that.
JFK did give African Americans high-level
government positions, appointed Thurgood
Marshall to a federal judgeship on the Second
Circuit Appeals Court (NY), and created the
Committee on Equal Employment Opportunity.
The Justice department, ran by Robert his brother,
was to support the civil rights movement and filed
many lawsuits across the South to aide African
Americans in registering to vote.
KENNEDY & CIVIL RIGHTS


JFK wanted a “cooling off” period after attacks
of Freedom Riders but James Farmer, leader of
CORE, said no and continued the rides into
Mississippi. JFK made a deal with Mississippi that
in exchange for no violence that he would
have no issue if they were arrested.
Thurgood Marshall allowed for CORE to
continue the rides by giving them access to
NAACP bail funds. JFK would then order the
Interstate Commerce Commission to enforce
the regulations and bring an end to the
segregated bus terminals which occurred
around 1962.
VIOLENCE IN BIRMINGHAM


Spring of 1963, MLK, JR. began to lead
demonstrations in Birmingham, AL which
provoked a violent response. MLK would be
arrested and while in jail wrote a letter “Letter
from Birmingham Jail” where he discussed two
types of laws, just and unjust, defined them, and
why individuals had a moral responsibility to
disobey unjust laws.
Eventually MLK was released and the protests
began again and grew in number. Alabama
responded with violence using clubs, police
dogs, and fire hoses on the demonstrators.
VIOLENCE IN BIRMINGHAM
 Children’s
March - May 2, 1963: Young
African Americans marched in groups in
downtown Birmingham. They would be
attacked by police and arrested. On May
3, a second “children’s crusade” came
face to face with helmeted police force
where the children were brutally
attacked. ALL captured on television
news reels.
Civil Rights Leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Whitney Young, and James Farmer meeting
with President Lyndon Johnson
Photograph by Yoichi R. Okamato
Photograph courtesy of National Archives
and Records Administration, LBJ Library,
#W425-21
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 1964
 June
11, 1963: George Wallace,
governor of AL, stated at his
inauguration “….Segregation now!
Segregation tomorrow! Segregation
forever!” He fulfilled this by standing in
front of the door way to the University of
Alabama blocking two African
Americans from enrolling. He was
forcibly removed by federal marshals.
JUNE 11, 1963
Vivian Malone, one of the first African
Americans to attend the university, walks
through a crowd that includes
photographers, National Guard members,
and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Nicholas
Wallace standing against desegregation
while being confronted by Deputy U.S.
Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach
at the University of Alabama in 1963
Katzenbach.
CIVIL RIGHTS ACT 1964
 June
12, 1963: Medgar Evers, NAACP’s
first field secretary, was focusing work
on voters registration in MI, will be killed.
 President Kennedy announces plans for
a new Civil Rights bill
MARCH ON WASHINGTON



August 28, 1963: more than 250k
demonstrators, African Americans & whites,
march through Washington D.C. and
gather at the Lincoln Memorial.
Dr. King delivers his “I Have A Dream
Speech” calling for freedom and equality
for ALL Americans
Two weeks later: Birmingham’s Sixteenth
Street Baptist Church – September 15, 1963:
KKK bombs the church, killing four African
American girls.
BILL BECOMES LAW



Kennedy fails to pass his civil rights bill.
However, after his assassination in
November 1963, Lyndon Johnson will work
to get the bill passed.
The bill passes House of Representatives in
February 1964. Senate attempts to do a
filibuster which will fail. Senate then votes for
a cloture, to end debate & vote, which
easily passes. Senate then will vote pass the
Civil Rights Bill.
Lyndon Johnson signs the Civil Rights Bill of
1964 into law on July 2, 1964.
President Lyndon Johnson signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964
into law, with Martin Luther King, Jr., looking on.
Photograph by Cecil Stoughton
Photograph courtesy of National Archives and Record
Administration, LBJ Library #276-10-64
BILL BECOMES LAW
 The
law makes segregation illegal in most
[places of public accommodation, gave
citizens of all races and nationalities equal
access to public facilities, U.S. attorney
general is given more power to force
school desegregation, requires private
employers to end discrimination in the
work place, and established the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) as a permanent federal agency
STRUGGLE FOR VOTING RIGHTS




Voting rights will continue to be an issue
despite the passage of the new Civil Rights
law.
Freedom Summer: College students who
were trained in non-violent resistance
would volunteer to assist African Americans
in registering for their right to vote.
June 1964: 3 civil rights workers, 2 were
white, disappeared in Mississippi. It was
learned later that KKK members & local
police had murdered them.
Twenty-Fourth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution will put an end to poll taxes in
federal elections (but not state elections)
SELMA MARCH



December 1964: Dr. King receives the Nobel
Peace Prize.
SCLC and King select Selma, AL as the focal
point for their voting rights campaign as the
majority of the population in the city was
African American yet they only made up 3% of
registered voters.
Sheriff Jim Clark would deputized & arm white
citizens allowing them to use clubs & cattle
prods on African Americans to terrorize them
into not registering to vote or voting. The
demonstrations would continue and more than
3k African Americans would be arrested.
SELMA MARCH

March 7, 1965: King will join with SNCC activists in
organizing a “march for freedom” from Selma to
Montgomery, state capital. Hosea Williams, SCLC,
& John Lewis, SNCC, will lead the march across
the Edmund Pettus Bridge where they were met
by Sheriff Clark who ordered them to disperse.
When they refused to disperse they would be
beaten on live television cameras. This becomes
known as “Bloody Sunday”. ALL caught by
television crews & would air on national television.
Demonstrators, black and white, would pour into
Selma from around the country.
Alabama police attack Selma-toMontgomery Marchers, 1965
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Photograph
SELMA MARCH
 Ten
days later, Lyndon Johnson will
appear to a joint session of Congress on
national tv & propose a new voting
rights bill
 On March 21 the march from Selma to
Montgomery, AL would occur with
federal protection & more than 25k
joining in.
VOTING RIGHTS ACT 1965



August 3, 1965: House of Representatives
pass the voting rights bill. Next day, the
Senate passes the bill.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: authorizes the U.S.
Attorney General to send federal examiners
to register qualified voters, bypassing local
officials, and it suspended discriminatory
devices (i.e literary tests)
Over 250k African Americans registered as
new voters by the end of the year. Number
of African Americans serving in the U.S.
Congress will begin to rise as well
URBAN PROBLEMS


Despite the new laws, they were unable to
change people’s attitudes allowing for racism
to continue to exist.
Urban poverty among African Americans would
continue to rise as well.





70% lived in large cities
Few allowed to live in white neighborhoods
Many stuck in low-paying jobs. 15% worked in
professional, managerial, or clerical jobs as
compared to 44% of whites
Average income was only 55% of that for white
families.
Unemployment rate generally was twice that of
whites
WATTS RIOTS
 August
8, 1965: 5 days after Johnson signs
the Voting rights bill. In Watts, African
American neighborhood in Los Angeles, a
riot occurred over allegations of police
brutality. More than 14k National Guard
and 1500 law officers would be needed
to restore order.
KERNER COMMISSION



Johnson will appoint Governor Otto Kerner
over the National Advisory Commission on
Civil Disorders to study the causes of urban
riots.
Kerner Commission blames racism for most
of inner-city problems.
Committee recommended the creation of
inner-city jobs and public housing. These
recommendations would go unfulfilled due
to the spending of funds on the Vietnam
War.
SHIFT TO ECONOMIC RIGHTS


King began to focus on economic problems
faced by African Americans. To aide in drawing
attention to it he moved his family into a “slum”
neighborhood in Chicago.
A march was down in an all-white suburb of
Marquette Park was met by angry white mobs.
Mayor Daley met with King to set up a new
program to clean up the slums & associations of
realtors & bankers agree to open housing. The
theory was sound but what was put into
practice, changed very little.
BLACK POWER



Lack of progress led many urban young people to
look for other leaders & to move to other tactics.
Many leaders wanted to use more aggressive
tactics. Young African Americans called for black
power which had several meanings. Some took it
to mean implementing physical self-defense or
that African Americans should control the social,
political, & economic direction of their struggle.
Black power stressed pride in African American
culture. African Americans embraced their racial
distinctiveness by changing their name, hairstyle, &
clothing.
BLACK POWER


King considered black power as a philosophy of
hopelessness & despair & objected to this
movement as he believed that preaching
violence could only end in grief.
Black Panthers formed in October1966 by Huey
Newton & Bobby Seale to fight against police
brutality in the ghetto, advocate self-sufficiency,
obtain full employment & decent housing, &
maintain the belief that African Americans
should be exempt from the draft to Vietnam as
it was an unfair draft.
MALCOLM X



Born Malcolm Little in Omaha, NE
1946: sent to prison for burglary where he
educated himself & participated in the prison
debate society.
Joins the Nation of Islam. This is very different
from mainstream Islam as they preached about
Black Nationalism. Changes his name to
Malcolm X, the “X” symbolizing the family name
of his enslaved African ancestors. His criticisms
of white society & the civil rights movement
assisted in gaining national attention for Nation
of Islam.
MALCOLM X
1964: Broke away from Nation of Islam due to the
scandals involving their leader. Malcolm would no
longer promoted separatism after making a trip to
Makkah & saw first-hand that people could
worship together.
 He would continue to criticize Nation of Islam &
their members assassinated him in February 1965.
Malcolm X’s speeches & ideas influenced new
African American leaders like Huey Newton & Bobby
Seale who organized the Black Panthers who called
for an end to racial oppression & for control of major
institutions like schools, law enforcement, housing, &
hospitals.


KING’S ASSASSINATION




March 1968: King travels to Memphis, TN. To
support a strike from African American
sanitation workers.
April 4, 1968: King is assassinated by a sniper
while standing on the balcony of his hotel.
After King’s death, Congress will pass the Civil
Rights Act of 1968 that had a fair-housing
provision outlawing discrimination in housing
sales & rentals.
The Civil Rights movement would begin to lack
the unity of purpose & vision that King had given
it after his passing.