Chapter 4
Civil rights
The Civil Rights Struggle:
• After the Civil War, African Americans
routinely faced discrimination, or unfair
treatment based on prejudice against a
certain group.
• “Jim Crow” laws passed in the south required
the social separation of the races which was
known as segregation.
• It would take more than 100 years for African
Americans to secure their civil rights – the
rights of full citizenship and equality under the
law.
“Separate but Equal”
• “Jim Crow” laws had mandated the
“separate but equal” status for blacks in
America.
• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Beginning to Change
• Executive Order 9981 (1948) from President
Harry Truman ordered an end to
segregation in the nation’s armed forces.
• The biggest victory for equality of rights
came with the decision in 1954.
Brown Decision
• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS
(1954)
• NAACP lawyers successfully argued that
segregation in public schools was
unconstitutional.
• It violated the 14th Amendments principle of
“equal protection under the law”
Montgomery Bus Boycott
• In 1955, one year after the Brown decision,
an African American woman named Rosa
Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her
seat to a white man.
• Arrested for violating Alabama’s
segregation laws.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Her arrest spurred the local African
American community to organize a boycott
of the Montgomery, AL bus system.
• A year later, Supreme Court ruled that
public bus segregation was unconstitutional.
• Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
gained national prominence from their
actions
Peaceful Protests
• Dr. King was a Baptist minister and one of
the main leaders of the civil rights
movement.
• His ability to speak and his belief in nonviolent resistance helped move the cause.
• King helped organize marches, boycotts,
and demonstrations that opened people
eye’s to the treatment of blacks and that
change was needed.
Peaceful Protests
• Students were known for staging “sit-ins” at
lunch counters that served only whites
• African Americans and whites sympathetic
to the cause were “Freedom Riders” who
traveled together on buses to protest
segregation
• King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” was and
still is inspirational to those who hope for
racial equality.
Civil Rights Act of 1964
• In response to the growing demand for
government action, Congress passed the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• This law prohibited discrimination in:
- public facilities
- employment
- education
- voter registration
Civil Rights Act of 1964
• It banned discrimination by race, color,
gender, religion, and national origin.
• Strengthened the 14th Amendment
Other Steps to Equality
• Ratification in 1964 of the 24th Amendment
to protect African Americans when it came
to registering and voting; banned poll taxes
in America.
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 ensured all
citizens the right to vote, regardless of race.
Affirmative Action
• In the 1970’s, the federal government
created programs that were intended to
make up for past discrimination.
• These programs encouraged the hiring and
promoting of minorities and women, and
the admission of more minority students to
colleges.
Affirmative Action
• From the beginning, affirmative action has
been controversial.
• Critics complain that affirmative action
programs give preferential treatment to
women and minorities, amounting to
discrimination against men and whites.
“reverse discrimination”
Racial Profiling
• The struggle for equal rights continues
today.
• Each year, the federal government receives
more than 75,000 complaints of workplace
discrimination.
• Many people are subject to racial profiling
Racial Profiling
• Racial profiling is being singled out as suspects
because of the way they look.
• Some Americans are also victims of hate crimes –
acts of violence based on a person’s race, color,
national origin, gender, or disability.
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Explain the following terms in 3 paragraphs.
Civil Rights
Affirmative Action
Racial Profiling
Discrimination
Segregation